'Let's take it beyond that'
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year AGO
Brent Cox, during his time as the head wrestling coach at Warden High School. He said he is looking forward to starting a new chapter in his coaching career and hopes to build up the football team into a strong, winning culture.
FILE PHOTO
WARDEN – Former Warden Athletic Director Brent Cox has been selected as the new head football coach at Warden High School.
“I’m happy to be head coach, and I want these kids to compete and get after it,” said Cox. “We’ve got to change the culture a little bit around Warden and get these kids thinking bigger, instead of just being part of a football team, I want them to be part of a winning program.”
Cox said he is a graduate of Warden and has worked as a middle school coach, assistant football coach, and wrestling head coach over the years, along with being the athletic director. When the position of head football coach opened during the offseason, he decided that it was time for him to take on a new coaching experience once again.
As the new head coach, he said he hopes to begin building a culture like he did with the wrestling program during his time as coach. He said he wants to bring love for the sport back for both the athletes and the community.
“When I was a wrestling coach, I wanted these kids to grow up and be good sons and good fathers, and that’s what I want to do for this football program,” said Cox.
During the first year, he said he is just planning on putting a focus on discipline and making the players accountable for what they’re doing.
“We always want to just go out and win games, and that’s easy to say, but my biggest thing is I want these kids to grow up, have love for this sport and be able to have a good experience that they want this sport to be part of their lives,” said Cox.
Warden plays in the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference, which has historically been a tough league in the 2B, he said. Going forward, he would like the team to make deeper runs into the playoffs and put more points on the board.
“It always just seems like we’re in the middle of the pack and I’m ready for this football team to grow and be better than that,” said Cox. “We’ve always been around .500 for many seasons, and it’s like, ‘Let’s take it beyond that.’”
Warden High School began its first football practices of the year with “two-a-days" starting Wednesday and will continue with those until Saturday.
ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Tigers Cross Country ready for their biggest season yet
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Cross Country team is already hard at work to be in top shape for the 2026 season. With a strong group of returning runners alongside a solid group of new faces, the Tigers are eager to hit the ground running this year. “I’m feeling energized,” said Tigers Head Coach Lyndsy Roberts. “We’ve got a good group, one of the largest groups we’ve had in a long time.” The Tigers roster has over 50 athletes that have been participating in early season practices between the boys and girls, who Roberts said have all been mixing together well.
Lions set with smaller but strong squad
MOSES LAKE — Despite seeing a smaller roster this year, the Moses Lake Christian Academy Lions volleyball team is looking to build off their success from last season. With strong returners, the Lions are on track to stay competitive. “We lost some people, but we’ll be able to fill in, so that’ll be nice. Not quite at the numbers that we normally have, but we’ll make it work,” said Lions Head Coach Dean Spurbeck. The Lions concluded their 2025 season with a 10-8 record after battling through a tough Central Washington B League. MLCA entered into the postseason district tournament where they entered as the fourth seed and fell to the fifth seeded Pateros in the second round.
Huskies bring in senior experience for the coming season
OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies girls soccer team is preparing for another tough season in the Central Washington Athletic Conference. This year the Huskies are returning with an advantage as they bring back their full roster from last season. “We’re looking good; we’re trending in the right direction,” said Huskies Head Coach Victor Quiroz. “We’re bringing everybody back that we had last year on our varsity team, so we’re super excited. That makes it a lot easier going into the season.” Last season, the Huskies completed the regular season 6-9-1, which earned them a spot for the district tournament. Othello was eliminated in the first round of districts after a tight game against Prosser that ended in a shootout with a final score of 2-1.