Ex-Trojan Gordy Wood having fun in San Diego sun

Now that Olympic High has an opening for its football job, it seemed like the right time to make a call to Gordy Wood to see if he might have any interest in returning to his alma mater.

“I don’t know,” said Wood, a 1986 Trojan grad who’s coaching football and teaching math at Helix High in San Diego. “I don’t think these kids would let me go right now. And I don’t think I could leave this sun.”

Wood, a former tight end who went on to set receiving records at the University of Wyoming, has no intention of leaving Helix.

Why would he?

The Highlanders, also known as the Scottie Dogs, won 19 straight games under Wood before tasting defeat three weeks ago.

Helix, the No. 1-ranked team in the San Diego Union-Bulletin’s high school rankings, begins defense of its Division II CIF-San Diego Section football championship next week. The Highlanders got a bye this week.

Wood lasted two months in training camp with the Miami Dolphins after leaving Wyoming. When that didn’t work out, Wood returned to Laramie, Wyo., to finish his education.

He got his first coaching job in Wyoming, then worked a couple years in Nevada before becoming the offensive coordinator at Chula Vista High in San Diego.

Doug Smith, the principal at Helix, lured Wood away two years ago.

Doug Smith? Yeah, that’s the same Doug Smith who coached Wood at Olympic High. Smith had the Trojans contending for state titles in the mid-80s. Olympic reached the semifinals during Wood’s sophomore year and the quarterfinals his final two seasons. The quarterbacks were Ron Whited, Paul Reyes and Joe Trull. Running back Steve Fagaau, lineman Bob Garman, a Washington State standout who is now coaching football in Alaska, were other standout Trojans from the era. So were Mike Ellis, Paul Bidinger, Tommy McGill and Mike McCorkle.

“I give Doug a hard time,”Wood said. “I tell him he just had great athletes. And I tease him because he couldn’t win the big game.”

One of Wood’s top players is Doug’s son, senior quarterback Alex Smith, who’s already been offered scholarships by Utah and Fresno State. Alex Smith is on a recruiting trip this weekend to Louisville, which happens to be coached by Doug’s brother, John Smith.

“He’s very intelligent,” Wood said of Alex. “The Ivy Leagues want him, too.”

Another Scottie Dog, junior Reggie Bush, is considered the top running back in the San Diego area. Another honors student, Wood said Northwestern and Stanford plan to offer him scholarships this summer.

“We’ve got two other running backs, who as sophomores, were members of the 4x100 relays that won the state title. I can’t take credit for what’s happening down here,” Wood said. “These kids just make you look good.”

Helix was ranked sixth nationally in one poll before its loss.

“We should be 10-0,” Wood said. “We put the ball on the carpet five times, and we were still in it. We had over 500 yards of total offense.”

Still, 22-1 over two years.

That’s more wins than Olympic High has had in five years.

Hilary was a keeper

Klahowya senior Hilary Crisman remembered how nervous she and Erica Langdon were as freshman before soccer tryouts.

“We were jumping around,” Crisman. “We didn’t know what to expect.”

The year before — Klahowya’s first as a school — the Eagles’ girls didn’t win a game. In fact, they scored just one goal the whole season.

In Crisman’s first game as a freshman, the Eagles trailed Orting 2-0, but came back and scored seven goals to beat Orting.

“That was the first clue we were going to have a decent team,” coach Troy Oelschlager said.

Crisman scored two goals that day. A lot of people might be surprised to know that Crisman was used as a goalie in the second half, the position she originally tried out for. It was the last time Crisman was used as a keeper.

Crisman finished with a 104 career goals, leading the Eagles into the postseason four straight times. The Eagles won the 2A state title in 1999 and placed fourth in 2000.

Crisman plans to attend Western Washington, where she’ll tryout for the soccer team.

And, no, it won’t be as a goalie.

Quick Hits

The Central Kitsap Reporter is sponsoring the first of what we hope becomes a winter tradition: the Kitsap Classic, a boys basketball tournament. The first event will be held Dec. 28-29 at Olympic High. The varsity and junior varsity teams from Olympic will be joined by Auburn-Riverside, Thomas Jefferson and Ellensburg. ... Becka Beard, the pint-sized point-guard from King’s West, isn’t playing basketball at Seattle Pacific this year. ... Another former King’s West guard, Natasha Beals, broke her nose shortly after making the Washington State women’s varsity basketball team as a walk-on. She’s walking around with a helmet/mask contraption that makes her look like a character out of a bad science fiction movie. ... Jamil Al-Agba, the homeschooled 16-year-old tennis whiz who splits time between Los Angeles and Bremerton, is ranked No. 1 in the Pacific Northwest, No. 2 in Southern California and No. 6 nationally in his age group. ... Gold Mountain Golf Complex has tentatively set Nov. 28 as the date it will begin operating out of its new $3.5 million clubhouse. The ribbon cutting ceremony’s set for Dec. 18. ... The Bremerton Athletic Roundtable has expressed an interest in putting together a high school all-star fastpitch doubleheader for graduating seniors in the spring. The idea’s been pitched to area coaches to see if there’s any interest. The BAR already sponsors a high school baseball doubleheader. The top baseball players are nominated for the state coaches association’s annual all-state games.

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