The Prosser football team will look inward to replace a legend.
Former player and assistant coach Benji Sonnichsen has been recommended to replace Tom Moore, who ended his highly successful 23-year reign over the Mustangs program two months ago.
The Prosser School Board has a meeting scheduled Tuesday and will consider the recommendation.
Sonnichsen didn't want to talk too much about the position earlier this week, except to say he was thrilled to become head coach of the Mustangs.
"You betcha," he said. "I'm excited about it."
Sonnichsen was a quarterback and safety for Moore in the mid-1990s and went on to play safety at Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, winning an NCAA Division III national title with the Lutes in 1999.
He was the special teams coordinator from 2002-04 at Prosser and coached running backs and safeties. He was the head coach at Mount Vernon from 2005-07 (his teams were 8-22), then returned to Prosser as an assistant last season.
Moore raised the Prosser program into a perennial state championship contender in his 23 seasons, rolling up a 234-38 record. His teams won four state titles, were state runners-up four more times and collected 21 league titles and 22 playoff berths.
The 53-year-old announced his resignation in March -- months after his Mustangs lost 35-34 to Lynden in two overtimes in the 2A title game -- so he could spend time watching his sons, Kellen and Kirby, play at Boise State.
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PROSSER -- Here is today's Class 2A first-round preview of the Prosser Mustangs vs. West Valley (Spokane) Eagles:
* Time, date, place: 1 p.m. today, Art Fiker Stadium, Prosser.
* Head coaches: West Valley, Craig Whitney; Prosser, Benji Sonnichsen.
2A semifinal preview: Prosser vs. Archbishop Murphy
2A semifinal preview: Prosser vs. Archbishop Murphy
KENNEWICK -- Here is a preview of today's state 2A semifinal of the Prosser Mustangs vs. the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats
Time, date, place: noon Saturday, Lampson Stadium
Head coaches: Archbishop Murphy, Dave Ward; Prosser, Benji Sonnichsen.
Prosser's run to state final ends (w/ gallery)
Prosser's run to state final ends (w/ gallery)
KENNEWICK -- There is no way to sugarcoat Prosser's lop-sided loss to Archbishop Murphy in the 2A state semifinal Saturday at Lampson Stadium.
It was every bit as one-sided as the scoreboard said: 50-14.
The Wildcats (12-1), who will play Lynden (13-0) in the championship game next weekend at the Tacoma Dome, scored almost at will throughout the day.
2011 preview: Prosser Mustangs
2011 preview: Prosser Mustangs
Here is a preview of the Prosser Mustangs for the 2011 CWAC football season:
Coach: Benji Sonnichsen (3rd year, 16-4).
Last league title: 2010.
Raap lives up to family rep for Prosser
Raap lives up to family rep for Prosser
Being a Prosser football player the last couple of years has featured some heavy duty pressure.
Being the younger brother of a NCAA Division I athlete has its own unique pressure.
Danny Raap isn't just surviving that pressure, though. He is excelling under it.
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