WP Gridders Dominate at Camp

WAITSBURG - Twentynine WP gridders traveled to the Tri-Cities last week for their annual five-day spring football camp, where they played the majority of their games at Hanford High School. "It was a very productive week and competition was very good," said Coach Jeff Bartlow whose team has attended the camp eight of the last nine years.

Bartlow was pleased with the numbers and acknowledged that it is difficult for both the kids and the coaches to commit to. "Track and baseball just got over and in just a few days we are asking a lot of the kids to come back and get right back into it . . . and they do every year, and it's paying off. I strongly believe it is a huge part of our recent success. I'm proud of them," said Bartlow. Practice sessions were held prior to camp where as many as 37 participated.

Bartlow was pleased to share that his team didn't lose a contest all week. WP played a different team each day including: Connell, Wahluke, Kennewick JV/ HermistonJV and Tri-City Prep. WP faced Grant Union High School - the defending State Champion - on Saturday morning at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick and both Varsity and JV teams walked away with wins of 3-0. "The Saturday morning game is a big deal and a final scrimmage where we have referees and everything," said Bartlow. "We had 40 snaps - 20 on offense and 20 on defense. The JV's had 10 snaps on both offense and defense.

During the varsity scrimmage, Owen Lanning threw (off of a scramble) a 16 yard TD throw to Devin Acevedo in the first round of 10 and then threw a screen pass to Chance Leroue for a 35- yard TD later on. Talen Larsen also caught a TD pass from Jacob Dunn probably about 15 yards out. "Our defense did not give up a TD and hardly any yards. Jason Carter got an interception, too. Lots of great plays on our defense," said Bartlow.

In JV action, Travis Crockett caught a TD pass from Jacob Dunn on the first play from scrimmage to get things going. Nick Wilson then caught a 30-yard TD pass from JV quarterback Travis Crockett, who also plays wide receiver. Travis also had a long TD run. "Travis came along very well at JV QB and will be our guy in the fall running the JV team. He is from Jubilee and is doing very well," said Bartlow.

"The varsity guys, again, looked very well. Owen Lanning and Jacob Dunn, both competing for time at QB, looked very good. Both will play there in the fall. We came out and on that first day kinda set the tone . . . we lined up with Connell who was State A champ in 2011 -- the same year we won it -- and is a quality opponent. We beat them 2-0 and that got our guys going. They had big smiles on their faces after that. Chance Leroue dominated all week and is looking to lead our team this year. He is a very good player and a very good B2 player. He will be a horse for us all year. Our guys had a great week and we are looking forward to a great season!" said Bartlow.