OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies are coming off a 9-2 year in 2022, which featured an appearance in the 2A state quarterfinals. While excitement around the program is high, they enter the 2023 season after graduating 22 seniors from last year’s roster.

Othello defensive coordinator Kevin Hale said last year’s success has served as inspiration for this year’s incoming Huskies, many of whom will be stepping into starting roles on the varsity level.

“It motivates them, they want to be better than that,” Hale said. “They want to leave their mark and they certainly can. We’ve got the athletes, we’ve got the players to do it. I fully believe these guys can make it just as far, if not further. We’ll surprise some people.”

For a Huskies defense that allowed less than seven points per game during regular season contests a year ago, the team is looking to replace nine starters from last year’s roster. Othello gets two returning starters back, and Hale said his simple scheme allows for the younger, incoming players to adapt quickly.

“Even last year’s team — they were so good, but they didn’t have to think too much because of the way we play defense,” Hale said. “Having such a young defense, that is absolutely key because those guys need to understand situations, they don’t need to be thinking about scheme too much. We’re going to go after them, we’re going to be good and we expect to hold teams to 14 points per game — that’s the goal.”

Senior defensive end Steven Carmona said the Huskies can return in 2023 with a strong defense if everybody plays their role.

“It’s just going to take everybody to do their job,” Carmona said. “We need people to step up, even if they don’t know what they’re doing – just learning and doing their job.”

Othello had eight players recognized on last year’s Central Washington Athletic Conference all-league lists, six of whom graduated — including the 2022 CWAC Offensive Player of the Year Sonny Asu. The two returners are junior offensive tackle/defensive lineman Mason Perez and senior running back/defensive back Alex Mendez.

In a run-heavy offense that Othello typically brings out, Perez said the offensive line aims to dominate again this season.

“Just do what we did last year,” Perez said. “Have a tough line and do our jobs.”

“The run game’s looking pretty good this year,” Mendez said. “We were a little shaken up in the beginning of practice, but we’ve got our stuff together and a lot has opened up. A lot of different plays.”

With the loss of the large senior class, many underclassmen will be stepping into contributing positions this fall. Mendez said the younger players have been getting caught up to speed at a quick rate.

“These guys, they learn really fast,” Mendez said. “What we did last year, they know what it takes. We work hard, we’re trying to be the same team as last year — we’re trying to work hard to get there.”

Hale described the transition of the new roster as a “process,” evaluating talent on both sides of the ball to see who will start on the field for Week 1 against Connell.

“We’ve set it up where there’s a lot of competition,” Hale said. “No one has a spot assured. We have a lot of spots on both offense and defense, and it’s just a matter of seeing how guys respond during different situations in practice and see if they’re mentally focused.”

That evaluation process breeds competition, which has spread off the field as well.

“We all push each other every day,” Mendez said. “In the weight room, that’s where we really push each other. We compete with everybody, rack as much weight as we can — see who’s the strongest. The best thing we’ve got right now is we compete with each other every day.”

Othello begins the 2023 season at home against rival Connell. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

“You know you’re going to be in a battle when you play Othello,” Hale said.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Othello Football Schedule

Sept. 1 — vs. Connell — 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 — @ Royal — 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 — vs. Ephrata — 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 — @ Selah — 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 — vs. Grandview — 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 — @ Prosser — 7 p.m.

Oct. 13 — vs. Ellensburg — 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 — vs. Kelso — 5 p.m.

Oct. 27 — @ East Valley (Yakima) — 7 p.m.