Ellis Henderson has the crowd-thrilling speed, the electrifying moves, the “it” factor on the football field.
Karl Graves is the route master, using precise movements to get open before catching just about every ball that touches his fingers.
A year ago, the two combined for 24 touchdown receptions and more than 1,600 receiving yards, helping the Skyview Storm reach the Class 4A state semifinals for the first time in the program’s history.
This season, the duo might mean even more to the Storm.
Forget about the numbers for a minute, Henderson and Graves are also team leaders. In fact, all of the seniors at Skyview know what is expected of them. It is their responsibility to maintain the excellence established in recent years.
The Skyview Storm have won three of the past four Class 4A Greater St. Helens League championships. In 2006, the Storm reached the state quarterfinals. Then last year, the program reached new heights.
How does a program sustain such success? It is more than just talented athletes. It is more than solid coaching. The key is for new leaders to emerge, to go from the young up-and-comers to the present-day seniors.
“Our leadership last year was just so good,” Henderson said. “I’m just trying to be the same way they were to me. I’ve got an amazing template to follow.”
Henderson and Graves bring more than statistics into the 2010 campaign. They bring a philosophy.
“I’m really proud of both of them,” Skyview coach Steve Kizer said. “They each spent 250 days in the weight room. Karl plays three sports and kept his grades up. Ellis has been a good student and he’s been an all-league center fielder. I’m really proud of them no matter what they do this season.”
What they do this season, though, will have a say in what they do next season, in college.
Henderson has received offers from several Division I programs. At 6 feet with a 4.45 time in the 40, he is being recruited as a multi-purpose athlete. Last season, he caught eight touchdown passes and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. One of the best defensive backs in the region, he also returned an interception for a TD in 2009.
Wide receiver, return specialist, defensive back — take your pick with Henderson.
While no college decision has been made and he is thrilled with the attention, he cannot understand why his teammate, Graves, is not getting as many looks.
“Karl runs the best routes and he has the best hands out of our age group,” Henderson said. “I think he could be a Division-I level guy. If he has the same season he had last year, people will come around.”
In fact, that is exactly what Graves was told by at least one college coach.
At 6-3, Graves has the height for college football. He is not as fast as Henderson, but he is no sloth. A year ago, he got open often enough to catch 16 touchdown passes.
“I’m not the fastest, but I run crisp routes,” Graves said. “That allows me to get open against maybe a player who is faster than me.”
That’s the advantage the offense has over defense. The offensive guy knows where he is going, so a head fake there or a sharp cut here is all that is needed to break free. Then it is all about making the catch.
Graves is like glue.
Through basketball season and then track and field with the Storm, Graves said he had a football with him just about every day. Gotta keep the feel.
Both athletes spent the months after last year’s playoff defeat thinking about football, working on football.
“Coming off that semifinal loss, we had a lot of motivation,” Graves said. “We wanted to get all the younger guys in the weight room every day.”
Henderson remembered his freshman year, the talk then was to “be like the ’06 team.” That was the year the Storm reached the 4A quarterfinals. Same thing happened when Henderson was a sophomore, 2006 was “the year we always referred to.”
Then came last season.
“It’s not like we were getting sick of it, but we took it as a challenge,” Henderson said. “We wanted to be better than the ’06 season.”
Skyview made it past Thanksgiving Day in 2009, losing a 46-41 contest against Ferris of Spokane.
“It was cool to travel that far, and to be in that environment, and it was a really good game,” said Henderson, who had 130 yards receiving and two touchdowns in that season-ending loss. “We got better because of it.”
Skyview is being touted as one of the top teams in the state again. But like every team, there are holes to fill. There will be a new quarterback, and some new linemen who must gel to ignite the offense.
Kizer said the defensive line should be the team’s strength, and he hopes his three new starting linebackers get adjusted to varsity intensity in a hurry.
All in all, the Storm are confident, but they are not ready to crown themselves with anything.
“We want to get back to where we were last year,” Graves said. “But preseason ranking is what everybody else sees us. We’re trying not to pay attention to what other people are saying about us.”
