Southridge football gets major overhaul, but pieces are falling into place

Aaron Sonnichsen is the new kid on the block in the Mid-Columbia Conference, but that doesn’t mean he nor the Southridge Suns are going to back down from a fight.

Sonnichsen, who took over the Southridge program after Keith Munson’s teaching contract was not renewed, has mixed emotions going into the season opener Friday at Wenatchee.

“I am excited about a lot of things,” Sonnichsen said. “We have a lot of athletic ability and they guys are buying into things. I like how the pieces are falling into place — the identity is there and I have a great staff. They are working hard to get guys in the right spots.

“But I am frustrated with our complacency. You have guys with starting spots who may not be working as hard as they could.”

The Suns are coming off a season where they finished 7-5 overall and 4-3 in the MCC. They lost a 34-17 game to Lakes in the first round of the playoffs.

New to you offense

While the Suns are starting anew with their coach, the offense also has a bunch of new faces.

Gone are quarterback Mason Martin, who threw for 1,062 yards and 15 touchdowns, and All-MCC running back Zayid Al-Ghani, who ran for 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns.

But, there is a Mason at quarterback — Mason Perez. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior played a lot of junior varsity ball last year in preparation for this season.

“Mason has really developed his role,” Sonnichsen said. “He is comfortable back there, and his football intelligence is off the charts. He is making the right reads and doing good stuff. He takes ownership of his mistakes and stays upbeat. We definitely have good pieces in place and we have a fast tempo to our offense.”

With a few veterans back on the offensive line, including senior center Flynn McPheron, Perez said the transition to being a varsity starter has been pretty smooth.

“I trust my guys, and they trust me,” Perez said. “We will get the job done. Our O-Line is very good in pass protection and I’m comfortable in the pocket. They give me enough time to get the throw off. We are going to compete. We have a good tempo, but to have success, we have to get things done.”

Ready to catch passes from Perez is fellow senior Thomas Hancock.

“He has come out of nowhere and he keeps getting better every practice,” Sonnichsen said.

Also part of the aerial attack are seniors Peyton Monson and Eric Stayrook, and juniors Mikael Failor and Alex Teal.

In the backfield, senior Jake Newbry (5-9, 165) will do his best to chew up some yards, and may catch a few balls just to throw defenses off their game.

“I’ve been bouncing back and forth between wide receiver and running back,” he said. “I can do either. I do like running back better — you can control the ball and pound it hard. We have good enough linemen to open holes. Once they do, I’m gone.”

The Suns also will have Newbry in the secondary.

“I love to run the ball, but I also like to hit people,” he said. “I love football in general.”

D-D-D Defense

The Suns were in the middle of the pack when it came to defense last year in the MCC, allowing 337.8 yards per game. Sonnichsen said fans should see an improvement this season.

“I’m an offensive guy, but I’m excited to watch them play,” Sonnichsen said of his defense. “We are going to be really tough. They are filling holes and making plays.”

Failor will line up at safety, as will Newbry, with three juniors — Hayden Brimberry, Mason Bond and Jayden Walters — filling linebacker spots.

“Failor is such a good athlete, you have to get him on the field,” Sonnichsen said.

Sonnichsen can throw out all the names he wants on defense, but when it comes right down to it, Stayrook is the man.

The 6-3, 205-pound senior defensive end, who was a second-team All-MCC selection last year, will knock you into next week and have you praying that he’s not coming back anytime soon.

“He is someone who will be unblockable and cause a lot of havoc for offenses,” Sonnichsen said. “He is a hard hitter. We have gotten to the point in practice, if we want to get a play off, he has to go at 75 percent, or he is in the backfield or in the quarterback’s face. If I was a coach getting ready to play us, I would make the play go the other way.

“He put in a lot of work this summer. He was fast already, and he is playing physical. He’s one of those kids you see and say ‘are you a college player?’ I’m glad he’s on our side.”

While taking snaps on offense is fine, Stayrook prefers the physical aspect of playing defense.

“When you make a play, there is an adrenaline rush,” Stayrook said. “The crowd goes crazy and the team is pumped up. I like that.”

Not so special teams

Sonnichsen isn’t sure who will be taking care of kickoffs, extra points, field goals or punting. All-league kicker Hunter Spiva took care of things for so long that having a contingency plan never occurred to anyone.

“We offered to let anyone and everyone try out, and didn’t have any takers,” Sonnichsen said. “We may have a freshman kicker on opening night.”

In McPheron, the Suns have a two-time Ray Guy Prokicker.com Top Prospect Award winner at long snapper, but that means little without a guy at the other end.

Raiding the soccer team might prove worthwhile, but getting in 10 practices still would leave the Suns two games into the season with a void in their special teams.

Sonnichsen joked that if all else fails, they may have to just onside kick and go for two.

This story was originally published August 27, 2017 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Southridge football gets major overhaul, but pieces are falling into place."