Here are the 2 Washington high school football teams that have not started 2-0 in more than a decade

One school has registered blowout victories in its first two games while the other program needed a defensive stop in closing minutes last week to remain undefeated

South Kitsap's Josaiah Aseuga is one of the top defensive linemen prospects in Washington. / Photo by Todd Milles

After two weeks, there are 105 teams in Washington high school football with 2-0 records.

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Two of them - Hazen and South Kitsap - have not had starts like this in more than a decade. Here is what is behind their sizzling two-game stretch:

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Hazen is off to its first 2-0 start in football since the 2011 season. / Photo courtesy of Hazen athletics

HAZEN HIGHLANDERS (4A)

Last 2-0 start: 2011.

Who did they beat that season: Blaine and Cedarcrest.

What about this fall: Wins over Liberty of Issaquah and Cedarcrest.

Skinny: Coach Chris Bennett is a pass-first guy. Loves to spread defenses out. And that is the style he incorporated at Hazen when he was hired in 2016. But last season, he noticed there weren't a whole lot of fire-away quarterbacks coming through the system or even in the local pipeline. So he made a bold decision - switch to the Wing-T scheme. "We have not had a true quarterback in the past few years," Bennett said. "And last year, we had decent linemen and running backs." So how did he go about installing a new offense? He asked for advice from the coach whose team he had tried to stop over the past few years in 3A KingCo - Bellevue's Michael Kneip (as well as help from former UPS assistant Rob Clements, who utilized it coaching at Raymond). In 2023, the Highlanders went 4-6 with it in place - and returned four starting linemen as well as fullback Isaac Rose and halfback Malik Gilbert. Both running backs have posted games of 100 yards or better in each of the team's first two games this fall, including Rose, who has outings of 191 and 202 yards with four touchdowns. "I tell my coaches all the time, I am so uncomfortable calling 'iso' (run) on third-and-6," Bennett said. "It is a total mind change."

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Franklin Fox will start 2024 as South Kitsap's starting quarterback. / Photo by Todd Milles

SOUTH KITSAP WOLVES (4A)

Last 2-0 start: 2012.

Who did they beat that season: Kentridge and Newport of Bellevue.

What about this fall: Wins over Kentridge and Mount Rainier.

Skinny: Back in the program's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, South Kitsap ALWAYS started 2-0 (and regularly swept the September slate). But the program has fallen on hard times over the past decade or so. Enter second-year Sean Banks, an alum who has taken pride in rebuilding the culture with hard work, discipline and togetherness. "The thing we've tried to hammer home is that great programs are not built around great players," Banks said. "They have a system, an identity and belief - and you see that on both sides of the ball." So far, the Wolves have scored 115 points in their two wins, and have a stabilizing force leading the offense in running back Brycen Clay, who has 352 yards and 10 touchdowns so far. "What I love is that he lets me coach him really hard ... and we've had pointed conversations throughout the offseason," Banks said. "He grew up in the same neighborhood as I did, and he is a tough kid. And that is what we've wanted. He has great center-of-gravity and great vision."

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