What’s old isn’t exactly new again with the Columbia River Chieftains.
Rather, it’s familiar.
“It feels good to see the old,” senior Koben Jamison said.
You see, that ‘old’ Jamison speaks of is welcoming the return of the spread offense he and the rest of his senior class were accustomed to under former coach John O’Rourke as freshmen and sophomores.
That’s what second-year coach Christian Swain will instill as part of a two-part multiple-set. He hopes it will cure the up-and-down 2016 offensive season, when River was shutout twice in five losses and didn’t win consecutive games after September.
Swain didn’t go as far as a guarantee, but he did say matter-of-factly the following:
• River will be more explosive offensively.
• River will have more big plays.
• River will be a better passing offense.
“We’ll score a lot more points,” he said.
One more thing: River won’t be massive.
Well, they will be numbers-wise; they’re still the largest of any 2A GSHL team. The Chieftains took 85 to team camp, and cleared 105 over the summer, an increase of nearly 30 from last season. What they won’t be is massive up front, thanks to the graduation of a large offensive line.