Football preview: Turnaround starting at Hudson’s Bay

Hudson’s Bay Eagles

Coach: Mike Funderburg

2010: 2-7, 1-5 3A GSHL.

Key players: Richard Carter, sr., rb; Jahmile Sipaia, sr., rb-dl; Emilio Alcantar, sr., qb; Josh Ingebretson, sr., ol; Micahel Devera, sr., ol; Jai Girod, sr., lb; Josh Friedli , sr., lb; T.J. Brumfield, jr., dl; Ian Buslach, sr., lb; Khoi Mai, sr., wr; Aneterea Sipaia, so., lb.

Season outlook: A new coach. A new attitude.

“I just think we’re going to be a whole lot better than people expect us to be,” Funderburg said. “I think people are going to be surprised.”

He expects his defense to be tough against the run.

While no one is predicting a playoff berth, the veterans of the program say they want to lay a foundation for the Eagles.

2011 SCHEDULE

Sept. 2 at Washougal

Sept. 9 at R.A. Long

Sept. 16 Kelso

Sept. 23 Battle Ground

Sept. 30 at Columbia River

Oct. 7 Camas

Oct. 14 at Prairie

Oct. 21 Mountain View

Oct. 28 at Fort Vancouver

Home games played at Kiggins Bowl

They have been there since the beginning of the latest era of Hudson’s Bay football.

A new coach arrived, they were there to greet him, to welcome him with perfect attendance at spring ball. They were there in the weight room all summer, never missing a workout.

And at the first week of practice, they were praised for their efforts. Seniors Mike Devera, Josh Friedli, and Josh Ingebretson were named team captains by coach Mike Funderburg.

“We’ve been there for Coach since the first day he came,” said Devera, an offensive lineman. “I like his new plays, and I like the new attitude for the team.”

The Eagles have struggled a bunch in recent years, and Ingebretson said they are tired of the losing.

“It’s our senior year. We always talked about going out strong. We needed someone to step up, so we stepped up,” he said.

Ingebretson, also an offensive lineman, is not promising a playoff berth or anything along the line of “X” amount of wins. He just wants to be remembered as the class that started the turnaround.

“Bay hasn’t had the best senior classes the last few years. We might not be a state-level team, but we can lay down the foundation for teams behind us,” Ingebretson said.

The three captains started that by making it to every day of the workout schedule.

“We want to win, but we want to earn it,” said Friedli, a linebacker. “We want to earn every step of the way to becoming a winning team.”

It has made for an easier transition for the new coach.

“To have kids right off the bat buy into the program gave us immediate credibility,” Funderburg said. “They’re the ones who started talking to other kids about what we were doing. They didn’t miss a day. They’ve been here the whole time.”

Friedli and Ingebretson said it was no problem for them to work every day. Friedli considers football a year-round sport, and Ingebretson is a three-sport athlete. Devera acknowledged there were days when he thought about taking it easy, but Friedli and Ingebretson pushed him, made sure he was there.

Now, they are the captains.

“He rewarded us for being there every day,” Ingebretson said of their coach. “He said, ‘You three are going to be the three who lead us.’ “

It is more than just making it to workouts and practice, though. The Eagles are trying to change a lot about the program.

“His No. 1 rule is don’t embarrass the football team,” Friedli said. “We stand by that.”

And, of course, there is that work ethic.

“Bay’s program is going to go somewhere in the future,” Ingebretson said.

“In a way, we’re role models to the freshmen,” Friedli added. “We want to set the right tone.”