Teams to watch in the 3A class

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As players wrap up their 7v7 seasons and wrap up attending camps and showcases, I wanted to take a look into each class within the state and see which teams that you need to keep an eye on as the season goes along. This is just a couple teams listed, there will be more who will be at the top of the class.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Yelm HS</strong> - Last Season: 14-0</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Yelm dominated in almost every single way last season on the field. They don't have many players who aren't returning from their squad last year, so I assume they will be just as competitive next season. They nearly scored 60 points every single week, which is absurd. Their closest game game in the 3A state championship game where they defeated Eastside Catholic 20-13. [player_tooltip player_id='115328' first='Brayden' last='Platt'] ('24 LB) is a top player in the entire country and should have another dominating senior year. [player_tooltip player_id='338788' first='Isaiah' last='Patterson'] ('24 LB), [player_tooltip player_id='643362' first='Tyler' last='Blevins'] ('24 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='643363' first='Damian' last='Aalona'] ('24 QB), [player_tooltip player_id='158380' first='Landen' last='Barger'] ('24 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='158385' first='Kenji' last='Scanlan'] ('24 LB), [player_tooltip player_id='338812' first='Onyx' last='Carter'] ('24 DL), [player_tooltip player_id='338811' first='Marius' last='Aalona'] ('24 ATH) will also be returning to help Yelm go back to back. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>O'Dea HS</strong> - Last Season: 10-2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>O'Dea is stacked with talent from top to bottom every single season. Last year they lost both their games to Eastside Catholic, one coming in the regular season, and the other coming in the state championship game to Yelm, 13-20. With [player_tooltip player_id='115335' first='Jason' last='Brown'] ('24 RB) returning for his senior year, O'Dea is going to run the ball through him and force teams to stop him but, not many will be able too. [player_tooltip player_id='158323' first='Isendre' last='Ahfua'] ('24 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='643364' first='Kai' last='Holec'] ('24 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='158345' first='Kyan' last='McDonald'] ('24 DB), [player_tooltip player_id='338815' first='Antone' last='Araujo'] ('24 DB), [player_tooltip player_id='338848' first='Zach' last='Proctor'] ('24 DL), [player_tooltip player_id='726171' first='Griffin' last='Matzen'] ('26 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='402788' first='David' last='Schwerzel'] ('26 DL), and [player_tooltip player_id='643406' first='Luke' last='D'anna'] ('24 QB) will all be coming back in an attempt to win the 3A state championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eastside Catholic HS</strong> - Last Season: 12-1 </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eastside Catholic is another team that is competitive every single season within the 3A class. Brady Mckelheer will be a name they will need to replace but, Jake Tiryakiglu ('24 QB) should be ready to take on the workload. They only lost in the 3A state championship gamer to Yelm by a score of 13-20. [player_tooltip player_id='338789' first='Tyson' last='Weaver'] ('24 DB), [player_tooltip player_id='158333' first='David' last='Lene'] ('24 LB), [player_tooltip player_id='643348' first='Ambrose' last='Marsh'] ('24 DB), [player_tooltip player_id='158370' first='Jayden' last='Reyes'] ('24 WR), [player_tooltip player_id='693726' first='Jojo' last='Matautia'] ('25 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='536980' first='Kodi' last='Greene'] ('26 OL), and [player_tooltip player_id='402799' first='Wassie' last='Lugolobi'] ('26 LB) are all names to keep an eye on as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bellevue HS</strong> - Last Season: 9-3</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bellevue is always a top team within the 3A classification as well. They played a top team in the entire country week 1 last season in Central Catholic HS (OR) and lost a tough game to Lake Stevens the following week. They gathered themselves and went on to not lose a game until the state semi-final round when they went up against Yelm, losing 27-28. [player_tooltip player_id='115338' first='Hogan' last='Hansen'] ('24 TE), [player_tooltip player_id='338808' first='Carson' last='Rubin'] ('24 RB), [player_tooltip player_id='338859' first='Colin' last='Miller'] ('24 DB), and [player_tooltip player_id='301972' first='Lucas' last='Razore'] ('24 QB) are just a few names to watch next season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Garfield HS</strong> - Last Season: 6-4</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Garfield is the only team on this list that didn't make the state tournament last season. They started off the season well last year but had a 3 week stretch losing to Eastside Catholic, Rainier Beach, and O'Dea all consecutively. The Bulldogs have so much talent all over the field, on both sides. They will be led by Ej Caminong ('24 QB) and [player_tooltip player_id='115327' first='Rahshawn' last='Clark'] ('24 ATH) but also have [player_tooltip player_id='338799' first='Reggie' last='Witherspoon'] ('24 WR), [player_tooltip player_id='115346' first='Elijah' last='Napihaa'] ('24 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='158390' first='Pule' last='Leatigaga'] ('24 OL), [player_tooltip player_id='158374' first='Mario' last='Murphy'] ('24 DB), [player_tooltip player_id='158381' first='Elisha' last='Ese'] ('24 OL), and [player_tooltip player_id='693689' first='Jerimyah' last='Mitchell'] ('25 DB) will all be back to help bring the team back to the state tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->