Garfield-Palouse aims to build on solid year with old coach back at helm

Garfield-Palouse football coach Willy Woltering threw away all of his old playbooks and drill sheets.

Now that he is back to coaching on Fridays, he wishes he hadn’t done that.

After two years in coaching retirement, Woltering is once again Gar-Pal’s football coach.

“It was a little daunting there for a while, I kind of forgot a lot of things. But I didn’t necessarily forget, you know, any of the main offense that I’ve always ran,” Woltering said. “I was just trying to remember some of the drills, you know, because, stupidly, I threw away all of my old stuff, all of my paperwork and my old playbooks and my old drills.

“I didn’t think I was going to do it again and it was just taking up space. So I pitched it all, and then I regretted it, but it’s coming back.”

Woltering said his predecessor and friend, Garrett Parrish, is now his assistant coach once again — and athletic director — so he has had very little trouble picking up where he and the team left off.

Because of the pandemic and subsequent low turnout, Gar-Pal did not have a football team for several years. When the program returned in 2022, Parrish coached the team, leading the Vikings to a 1-8 record. Then, the Vikings made a big jump up to 7-2 in 2023.

Gar-Pal’s lone senior last year was an offensive lineman who the team will miss, Woltering said.

With their old coach back at the helm, the previous coach still around and every player except for one graduating senior returning, Gar-Pal finds itself in a solid position to contend entering 2024.

It’s unparalleled continuity at a school that temporarily did not have a football team at the start of the decade.

Gar-Pal returns 19 letterwinners from 2023, including three freshmen who played and lettered last year as eighth graders.

“We’re pretty athletic,” Woltering said. “We’re not big, but we’re not tiny. You know, we don’t have one kid that’s just an absolute speed demon. But we have overall a fairly good team speed.”

With a team of solid athletes convening in Palouse, Wash., Woltering will turn to his senior starting quarterback Bryce Pfaff, who brings experience and size to the Vikings’ huddle.

“He runs well,” Woltering said. “And he’s a big dude.”

Pfaff leads an experienced offense which includes junior tailbacks Lane Collier and Kaleb Kelnhofer and senior speedy wide receiver Macent Rardon.

Woltering said Collier has the toughness suited for eight-man football.

“Lane Collier, you know, he’s just a solid, tough nut,” Woltering said.

Woltering said he has coached a vast majority of the Gar-Pal juniors and seniors in various youth sports, including senior tight end/-defensive end Landon Orr in basketball.

The returning coach has coached for about 18 years at various levels, not including his brief retirement.

“We’re still going to run the same offense we’ve ran since 1998,” Woltering said.

That offense figures to be a balanced attack with a slight preference for the run. The exact calls have shifted from year to year depending on personnel, but this year’s team gives reason to believe in the balanced approach.

“I really honestly think that we’re going to be an extremely competitive team,” Woltering said.

Gar-Pal will open the season with four challenging opponents, including Liberty Christian at 7 p.m. Friday in Palouse.

This year’s junior and senior classes have been starting since they were freshmen and sophomores given the nature of not having a program for several years.

“I don’t think they liked it very much,” Woltering said of Gar-Pal not having a football team immediately after the pandemic. “They wanted to play. There just wasn’t enough older kids to play with them. So I think they’re really happy to get a football team back. I think we’re really happy.”

GARFIELD-PALOUSE

COACH — Willy Woltering (First year back, sixth year overall)

LAST YEAR’S RECORD — 7-2 overall and in league

RETURNING LETTERWINNERS — Bryce Pfaff, sr., QB; Nick Meeuwsen, sr.; Landon Orr, sr., TE/DE; Macent Rardon, sr., WR/DE; Aden Bolyard jr.; Lane Collier, jr., RB; Rowan Edwards, jr.; Kaleb Kelnhofer, jr., RB; Drew Montgomery, jr.; Lyman Olson, jr.; Preston Olson, jr.; Riley Pfaff, jr.; Cason Sperber, jr.; Eldyn Fiscus, so.; Max Mitzimburg, so., OL; Cooper Parzuchowski, so.; Wyatt Cooper, fr.; Lincoln Pfaff, fr.; Cooper Wells, fr.; (Freshman letterwinners lettered as eighth-graders).

SCHEDULE

9/6 — vs. Liberty Christian, 7 p.m.

9/14 — at Almira-Coulee-Hartline, 5 p.m.

9/20 — at Wilbur-Creston, 7 p.m.

9/27 — at Pomeroy, 7 p.m.

10/4 — vs. Dayton, 7 p.m.

10/11 — vs. Waitsburg, 7 p.m.

10/18 — at SJEL, 7 p.m.

10/25 — vs. Tekoa-Rosalia, 7 p.m.

11/1 — Grape/Wheat (Crossover), 7 p.m.

11/8 — North (Crossover), 7 p.m.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.