Evergreen seniors Makhi Miller, from left, Josiah Alanis and Mark Williams pose for a portrait Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, at Evergreen High School. (Taylor Balkom/The Columbian)
Makhi Miller sensed a mindset shift within the Evergreen football team over the summer when players were in the midst of running a grueling McKenzie Mile.
The Plainsmen insisted on tackling the conditioning challenge every week, which entails running up, down and around the McKenzie Stadium stairs during the dog days of summer. Though it was common in previous years for some players to stop after one, this time everyone went the extra mile.
“Every week we go up one, so if we had two (assigned) by the coaches, we would run three as a team,” said Miller, a senior defensive end. “So, it’s just stuff like that that I think plays a part, the biggest part, in the changes that we’ve made as a team.”
“That right there,” senior linebacker Mark Williams said, “it really takes a lot of grit, a lot of strength and you really gotta push one another. You can’t just give up on each other.”
In other words, Evergreen was moving together as a unit, with players holding each other accountable to reach a common goal.
The same mindset has carried over to Evergreen’s defense, where the program has spent multiple years investing in a culture built around that side of the ball under head coach Christian Swain and defensive coordinator Daniel Segar.
This season, the Plainsmen are seeing good returns on that investment. The program was abuzz after its first-ever victory over district rival Union on Sept. 6, in which Evergreen’s defense pitched a shutout for an 18-0 win. Friday’s Week 3 matchup against North Thurston will put the Plainsmen’s resolve to the test after they suffered a 37-13 loss to Puyallup last week. They hope their defense, with eight returning starters and an offseason dedicated to working together, is now ready for those challenges.
“Defense is not where you get all the headlines for scoring touchdowns,” Swain said. “But you gotta be tough to play defense. You gotta be willing to stick your face in there and tackle and do all those things. And also work hard, run to the ball and be relentless. Those are things that coach Segar has done a fantastic job of — building the culture of toughness and holding them accountable every day.”
While building toughness, the Plainsmen have also embraced the word love. To have a successful defense, Segar believes an essential component is having players who love one another as people and love playing for each other on the field.
Players and coaches worked toward fostering that environment during the offseason, and after their Week 1 win over Union, talked about how love set the tone for their defense.
“Love, it comes with a whole lot, but it comes more with sticking together,” Miller said. “If we don’t stick together, we’re going to fall back, so we need the love. That’s been the biggest thing for us over the past summer and now.”
In recent seasons, Evergreen has been flush with talent on both sides of the ball and checked a lot of boxes as an overall program, but they’ve underachieved on the field, Swain said.
The Plainsmen lost playoff-clinching games late in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, then twice fell into three-way 3A Greater St. Helens League tiebreakers to determine which teams moved on to the postseason. They lost both tiebreakers to end their seasons.
“Coach Swain always talks about taking everything on the table,” said senior linebacker/safety Josiah Alanis. “You don’t want to be in the end zone crying with your brothers after a loss. You want to end the season with nothing on your plate. You don’t want to be crying because you know you left something on the table.”
Last season stung a little more. Following winter break, Swain began meeting with seniors like Alanis, Williams and Miller to assess what went wrong during the season, what goals they wanted to set for the coming year, and how to go about achieving them. Those conversations set a higher bar for an offseason players and coaches agree changed for the better.
The McKenzie Mile was one example of those elevated expectations coming to fruition.
Another change came in the weight room over the offseason, and it’s continued into the season. Many players lifted earlier in the day prior to the team’s season opener against Union, which was unheard of before this season.
“From the weight room, to practices, to the team meetings, the whole energy is completely different from years past,” Alanis said.
At practice, Evergreen maintains a high level of energy that translates to games. When the defense forces a turnover, everyone yells “got one!”— a tradition that started a couple seasons ago, according to Williams, and one they hope continues after this group graduates.
“That’s a huge thing for our defense,” Miller said. “If you don’t say it, then you can sit on the sideline.”
Evergreen’s defense, known as the “spill and kill,” has veteran depth at every position.
In addition to Miller on the defensive line, transfers Tru Feldman and Mo Maiava have also shined early. Williams, Alanis, a Boise State commit and Ryder Keplar, an Air Force commit, lead a versatile linebacker group. On the back end, Jakai Clardy, Jaysaun Scott and EJ English are performing in key roles.
“We really don’t have a weak link on that side of the ball,” Swain said. “Everybody contributed last week (against Union), everybody played well. I could name them all.”
Players have earned a lot of praise for improving the Plainsmen’s defense, but they’re also quick to credit coaches, several of whom have been on staff for multiple years to give the program some much-needed continuity.
“Shout out (coach) Segar, just being the engine to this whole vehicle,” Alanis said. “Coaches put so many hours into film and just being around us. … The coaches are just awesome. They pour so much time, energy and love into this.”
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