Coming off back-to-back 4A state-championship-game appearances and being undefeated in Kingco play for two straight seasons, the Bothell High football squad has proven not only that 2006 was not a fluke, but that the Cougars are among the state’s elite football teams. But if you ask head coach Tom Bainter, it’s back to square one come August, when 120 kids showed up to the first team practice with hopes and dreams of someday being able to play for a state title.

Bothell (13-1 last season) will kick off its season by hosting Issaquah at 7 p.m. Sept. 4 at Pop Keeney Field.

“You have to remember that you’re not as good as when the season ended the year before,” Bainter said. “You got to start back, and sometimes we, as coaches, have to remind ourselves.”

Bainter, who has an outstanding 75-17 record during his tenure at Bothell, still maintains that his team’s goals are the same that they always are. He says his athletes need to take the season one game at a time, with long-term goals of winning the league championship and making it to the playoffs. When that time comes, he said, goals can be re-established.

“Sometimes when you play for the state title twice in a row and you didn’t win, the goal is to win the state title, and that can’t be your goal because that’s so far away,” Bainter said. “The playoffs will get here, if that’s to be, but we have to be our best so that when get there, we perform. We don’t take anything for granted.”

Although the Cougars return five starters on defense and six on offense, they undoubtedly lost a lot of leadership and talent with the graduation of players like starting quarterback and Bothell Reporter Athlete of the Year Johnny Hekker and running backs Jon Kirchner and Kingco 4A defensive player of the year Cory Burk. Bainter believes the depth of his team, when combined with its postseason experience, will be more than sufficient to replace last year’s graduating class.

In fact, the Cougars have played 10 playoff games in the past two seasons, which equates to more games than a normal Kingco league schedule.

“I think that (playing in the postseason) helps your kids understand a lot, they grow a lot, and we have a lot of kids that have played and participated in big, meaningful playoff games,” said the eight-year Bothell coach. “They were led by those great leaders, as they were led by people before them. You just assume a position where you kind of follow, and become a leader yourself.”

Bainter cited speed and experience as his team’s primary strengths going into the season. Many players possess both, but perhaps none more so than Patrick Ottorbech, a running back/linebacker that came into his own particularly in the postseason, scoring three touchdowns in the state quarterfinal against Oak Harbor and two in the 4A title game last season.

“Patrick is an explosive kid … he catches the ball, runs it well, returns kickoffs and punts, and he’s going to start on defense,” Bainter said. “We need him to lead by example and what he does.”

With the graduation of Hekker, who walked on to Oregon State University as a punter, Bainter wasn’t even sure himself last spring of who would earn the role of starting quarterback for the Cougars, but that problem has since been solved.

“James Korn has emerged as the starting quarterback, and he’s doing a great job,” Bainter marveled. “He’s worked extremely hard in the past year to prepare himself, he’s got good feet, throws a good ball, and he’s very smart … we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.”

Bainter was also excited about Trey Burwick, a fullback/linebacker and “another guy that leads by example,” as well as two-way starters Jackson Pierce, Robby Storm and Kurt Stottlemyer, the latter of whom is a 4.0 student-athlete.

League play should be particularly interesting this season with the new Kingco 4A alignments. Defending 3A champion Skyline, the highest-ranked football team in the state, has entered 4A along with two formidable Eastside teams, Issaquah and Newport, which Bainter believes will make a potential playoff run a survival of the fittest.

“When you add that to the guys that are already here, it makes our league the toughest there is,” Bainter said. “If you get out of your league and into the playoffs, you’re a very good football team … you get better by playing teams better than you, and if that’s the case then this is a great league to be in.”

The fans have plenty to be excited about for the 2008 Cougar football campaign, as the team got new uniforms and are sure to get some thrills by watching players like Ottorbech weave through defenders and hopefully into the end zone.

“I think speed is fun to watch on the football field,” said Bainter, who was a defensive back and free safety for Western Washington University.

Having been a football coach for the last 18 years, the vocal Bainter has enough experience to not let the high expectations surrounding the powerhouse Bothell football program affect him, or his players.

“The highest of expectations come from within,” Bainter said. “Our expectations don’t have anything to do with wins and losses. As a staff, our expectations are to practice at a game-like tempo and speed, to stay focused like you would in a game every day, to hustle and give it everything you got.”

Bainter is a firm believer in the adage that a football game is not won solely on Friday night, but through the practice and preparation that took place every day that week.

“The expectations from the community, school and all that, I think it’s wonderful, but any external expectations don’t affect us,” Bainter admitted. “The bar is high, and I’d rather have it no other way.”