Mountaineers spend early July prepping for fall camp

On Wednesday morning, July 2, the Rainier football team continued its string of practices in preparation for fall camp by taking on a formidable, yet instructive, foe — the Fisher Hedgehog.

The Hedgehog, a modern tackling dummy, looks a lot like a massive jack from the classic kid’s game. It tumbles like one too, depending on the angle and force of the tackle. The four-headed Hedgehog isn’t a cinch to bring to the ground, either. Launch your body without a solid base and you may find yourself slipping face-first onto the grass, the tackling dummy looming over you, silently taunting.

The Hedgehog allows the entire Rainier football team to participate in a continuous situational tackling drill that is more dynamic than the traditional sleds that have populated practice fields for decades. Built for high repetitions, the four-way tackler is perfect for conditioning and working on fundamentals — without the same risks that come with live man-on-man tackling drills.

Rainier football coach Andy Bartell loves it for those very reasons. At a time when other teams have retired their pads (and tackling dummies) for the summer to focus on offseason workouts, Bartell is utilizing the Hedgehog, and the practices he has available, to develop that “muscle memory” going into fall camp.

“We just did about four days in the early spring where we went to a passing league at Olympia High School,” Bartell said. “So, we did all our non-padded practices then, and then we got about nine practices before we go to camp here. So this is when we're kind of really ramping up. Next week we'll do more hitting and kind of defense install. But right now, we're just getting our offense put in and our blocking scheme shored up.”

Rainier is coming off a 6-4 season that ended with a 69-12 loss to Adna in a district crossover playoff game that sent the Mountaineers home and the Pirates to the 2B state tournament.

Though the Mountaineers lost just four seniors to graduation, all played important roles. Receiver Hunter Howell and offensive lineman Kieler Jackson were first-team All-C2BL in 2024. Jake Meldrum was a three-year starter at quarterback. Brayden Walker, a linebacker and running back, was a team captain.

Bartell said the competition to replace Meldrum at quarterback is “very open,” with three vying for the job: senior Jordan Pringle, a receiver and defensive back who has experience playing quarterback for the junior varsity team; junior Bryce Keller, a linebacker and former tight end; and incoming freshman Jackson Stockdale.

“We’re going to give everybody an opportunity to win a job,” Bartell said.

One player whose role is secure heading into fall camp is senior Dorien Cano, Rainier’s running back and all-league defensive lineman. Cano said his goal for the team this year is to win that crossover game.

“Because we've been doing it for two years now, where we've gone to the crossover game and we haven't won, I just want to know what it feels like to at least win that first playoff game,” Cano said.

As far as individual season goals, Cano hopes his physical running style will net him 15 rushing touchdowns — or more.

“If I see you and you're in the way, I'm going to run right at you,” Cano said with a smile.
The 2023 C2BL Defensive Player of the Year said that, despite having a young team, he’s been impressed with the attitude and discipline of the younger players, including the freshman.

One of those younger players could be a team leader by the first day of fall camp. Rising sophomore Kaynen “Tootsie” Barger is a state champion powerlifter who started as a guard during his freshman year at Yelm High School. Now a Mountaineer, Barger is bringing high-level playoff experience — and a whole lot of size and strength — to a Rainier team in need of all three.

“He's strong as an ox,” Coach Bartell said. “So you just hope that some of that mentality that he brings from what they've built over there (at Yelm) to us, you know, and our linemen kind of see what he does and what kind of mentality he has and how he plays with some nastiness and it wears off on some of our other guys. They see that they can do it even though, you know, we're 2B, but it just depends on how hard you play, how hard you work. It doesn't matter where you're at.”

Bartell said that Barger will start the season off at left tackle. He’ll also play an important role along the interior of the defense.

“He'll be our big, strong anchor in the middle of our defensive line,” Bartell said.

The Mountaineers are set to finish their July practices by the 15th. They begin fall camp Aug. 20.