JOYCE — The Crescent Loggers will be experienced this year, bringing back most of their players from a very young team last season, but the players they lost were huge cogs on the 2023 team and will be tough to replace, said coach Brian Shimko.
The Loggers went 4-5 last year with wins over Oakville, Charles Wright, Lummi and Concrete. Usually a staple of the postseason, Crescent just missed the postseason last year in the expanded Northwest 1B League. This year, the league gets even bigger.
The Loggers have 17 players on their senior-heavy roster and graduated six players from last year’s team.
“For me, that’s a big group of seniors,” Shimko said.
Crescent must find a way to replace a couple of big playmakers — Conner Bauers, who was a do-it-all player at receiver, quarterback and defense, and Lukas Love, who was nearly unstoppable on two-point conversions and contributed a lot of big plays all season long. Tommy Leonard and Carter Clifford are another pair of seniors who have moved on.
But Shimko, who is entering his 10th year leading the Loggers, said the most difficult player to replace is Owens, who anchored Crescent’s offensive line for 3½ seasons.
“Replacing that will be hard,” Shimko said. “Everything starts with the center. They don’t get enough credit. They’re a huge part of the offense. If it doesn’t start right up front, you can’t run your offense.”
The Loggers do return starting senior quarterback Henry Bourm, who had nearly 1,000 yards passing last year and was one of the leading rushers for Crescent.
“He’s grown a little and is a little bigger,” Shimko said.
In fact, Bourm is one of six seniors on this squad. Most of them have been with the team for four or even five years.
Speedster Dominiq Sprague returns for his senior year. Sprague will get a chance to use his speed to break off big plays on the outside.
Shimko expects Josh Berson to be a big contributor on both sides of the ball. He will be expected to play running back. Logan Simons will play a lot on the offensive line and tight end, and Owen Jackson will play tight end. Jeremy Charles is the other senior on the team.
Younger players expected to contribute include Lukas’s younger brother Mikah Love, a junior who saw time last year.
“He has some big shoes to fill with his brother,” Shimko said. “No one could cover Lukas on extra points because he was so tall [6-foot-2].” He is hoping the fade in the end zone is something the 6-foot-3 Berson can take over this season.
Dominiq has a couple of younger brothers on the team — eighth-grader Liam and freshman Jax. Shimko said Mason Harris, a sophomore, will be expected to contribute this season.
The Northwest 1B League keeps getting bigger, adding Muckleshoot and Charles Wright this season to expand to nine teams after adding Darrington, Concrete and Lummi since the COVID-19 pandemic. Shimko said this puts a lot of travel pressure on the Loggers with games in Concrete and Darrington and two in Tacoma.
He also said Charles Wright used to be a 1A program which has dropped down to 1B to play eight-man football. In past years, Charles Wright was in the same league as Port Townsend and Chimacum.
Last year, the Loggers had a tough break as their 4-5 record wasn’t good enough to make the postseason. That would have qualified them for the district playoffs in nearly any other season.
“I hope with nine teams that there’s extra seeding,” Shimko said.
The Loggers’ season begins with a game on the road Sept. 6 at Muckleshoot. They get their first home game Sept. 14 against Tulalip Heritage. They get their old North Olympic League rivals Neah Bay on Oct. 12 in Joyce and rival Quilcene on Oct. 26, also in Joyce.
Crescent Loggers
• Coach: Brian Shimko (10th year, 42-36 overall)
• Last year’s record: 4-5
• Key returners: Henry Bourm, Sr., QB, CB; Dominiq Sprague, Sr., RB, LB, CB; Josh Berson, Sr., DE, WR, TD; Mikah Love, Jr., QB, CB, TE; Jeremy Charles, Sr., DL, OL, RB; Logan Simons, Sr., C, DL, OL; Owen Jackson, Sr., OL, DL, DE; Levi Bourm, So., WR, CB, TE.
• Newcomers: Jax Sprague, Fr., WR; Mason Harris, C, DL, OL, So.
• Strengths: Very experienced team with six seniors. Team returns starting QB Henry Bourm, who had nearly 1,000 yards passing from last year.
• Areas to improve: Needs to find a way to make up for the loss of important players Lukas Love, Conner Bauers and Wyatt Owen.
• Outlook: Crescent is consistently a “tough out” among the 1B schools, giving all of their opponents a hard game. They have a tough travel schedule, with four long road trips, but they do get Neah Bay, Lummi and Quilcene at home. They have two more tough league foes in Muckleshoot and Charles Wright, a 1A school, and it that makes it harder to qualify for postseason.
• Schedule: Sept. 6, 7 p.m., at Muckleshoot; Sept. 14, Tulalip Heritage, 1 p.m.; Sept. 20, at Concrete, 7 p.m.; Sept. 28, at Darrington, 1 p.m.; Oct. 5, LaConner, 1 p.m.; Oct. 12, Neah Bay, 1 p.m.; Oct. 18, at Charles Wright, 7 p.m.; Oct. 26, Quilcene, 1 p.m.; Nov. 2, Lummi, 1 p.m.
