Rebuilt and steady: Anacortes football back in a big way

An 8-0 run through the first two months of the season has set Anacortes High School up on a date with top-ranked Lynden this week for the 2A Northwest Conference title

ANACORTES, Wash. - For all the things going right this season for the Anacortes High School football team, it sure didn't look like the run the team is on was possible just a few years ago.

With only 10 seniors and juniors combined turning out for spring ball in 2019, a combination of coaches and school administrators made the decision to not field a varsity team that year.

Senior Chase Moehl remembers that decision well.

Moehl was a soon-to-be ninth grader, but his older brother was heading into his senior year.

"He had nowhere to go because he was an upperclassman and couldn't play C-team or JV," Moehl said. "He couldn't play football his senior year. It was scary, but I always knew our class had potential with sports."

That potential has been put on full display this season.

Three years removed from canceling its season entirely, Anacortes football returned to the 2A Northwest Conference this year.

Since that canceled season in 2019, former assistant coach Justin Portz has taken over as head coach. He's put together all the pieces of a team ready to show everyone its not the same program teams used to beat up on every year.

In fact, the script has been flipped entirely.

The Seahawks are a perfect 8-0 heading into the final week of the regular season. Also 8-0 is Lynden, the defending Class 2A champion, whose coming to town this week to play for the 2A NWC title.

Maybe the biggest sign of things to come was last season where the Seahawks went 9-1 playing an independent schedule. 

Players and coaches saw the talent they knew they had come together, but if you had told anyone on the team before the season that they'd be in the position they are now, they wouldn't have believed you.

"I probably would have said, 'Heck yeah, that's how we drew it up,'" Portz said. "The reality is we didn't really know how we would compete in the Northwest Conference."

What Portz and the rest of his coaching staff did know was they had a lot of young, talented skill players to go with experienced upperclassmen.

The two groups' personalities on the field and off couldn't be more opposite, but when game time comes, they blend together perfectly.

"The sophomore class we have has a ton of talented players and when they were first coming in, I wasn't sure how it was going to work when you have some young freshmen who we knew were going to be a little more electric than some of the older kids that have been here," Portz said. "We, as a staff, worried a little bit if that was going to create conflict when this freshman kid is starting to take reps from this senior that's been here the whole time."

Instead of hurt egos, the coaching staff saw senior leadership take over.

"(Seniors) just kind of stated the obvious saying, 'Hey, so and so is a really good player. He probably should be getting some reps over me,'" Portz said.

That team-first attitude is a big part of the culture Portz and his coaching staff have put together.

Portz, however, gave credit to his players when talking about the team's culture.

"The confidence and some of the swagger – that's me allowing them to make this their team," he said. "If I'm coaching here four years from now that could look different with the kind of players we have. I can't take credit for it happening, it just kind of happens. I let it happen, I don't try to be overbearing. This is their team."

Portz's be-yourself, have-fun, everyone-playing-for-one-another philosophy has created an undeniable chemistry with the team.

Junior quarterback Rex Larson described the team's run this season as surreal.

"My whole life, (Anacortes football) had never been overly successful," Larson said. "There weren't many winning seasons, so it was always like, 'Do we really have what it takes to turn things around and be successful at that level?' It was scary. It's a sport that we all love very much and put a lot of time and effort into, so we were afraid if it was going to work or not."

To be part of the group that has not only put Anacortes football back on the map, but has made the Seahawks a state contender isn't lost on the team.

"It's something I'll never forget and always cherish. It's super special with the memories we'll create and the relationships that are made," Larson said.

Moehl said it means a lot to the team and a ton to the community. They know just how much a league title would mean, as well.

"From where we were two years ago, playing really small schools and barely above a .500 record, it would mean a lot," Moehl said. "To beat Lynden in Week 9 and they're undefeated and we're undefeated? A couple years ago I would've thought you're on something."

(Featured photo by Christina Olson)