Quincy football coach thinks players can meet challenges of new league

QUINCY — It’s not only a new season but a whole new league for the Quincy football team. Coach Russ Elliott said the Jackrabbits’ success or failure might be more about themselves than their opponents.

“It’s not really about them. We’ve just got to take care of our stuff and try to learn the game as much as we can, work as hard as we can, and just go out and compete,” Elliott said. “And our guys have done that at times.” 

The Jacks finished the 2023 season with a 5-5 record, with two wins and two losses in the Class 1A Caribou Trail League. However, the quadrennial reclassification by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association pushed Quincy into the 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference.  

The CWAC is different from the CTL. 

“To me, the parity in that league is pretty tight, not a lot of separation from top to bottom, and that’s something we’re going to have to deal with,” Elliott said. “The last two years we’ve had two non-league games against the CWAC, and we haven’t done well. So we definitely have to improve.” 

The Jacks lost 42-14 to East Valley (Yakima) in the opening game of the 2023 season, then were defeated 35-12 by eventual CWAC champion Ephrata.  

After multiple winless seasons, Quincy won four games in 2022 and five in 2023. The Jacks are improving, Elliott said, but there are parts of the game they’re still working on. 

“I think consistency is what we’re looking for, every game with the same effort and the same attitude,” he said. “And we weren’t always consistent last year. I thought sometimes we might have overachieved, but sometimes we maybe underachieved. So we need to be more consistent.” 

Improvement requires more work, and Quincy players are doing that, he said. 

“We’ve had more kids in the weight room, and we attended a football camp in Wenatchee for the first time in the recent past. We had about 34 kids go, and that’s positive,” he said. “We’ve got to continue to get better — it’s just plain and simple. It takes hard work, but I think these guys are up to it. We’ve had really good leadership from our seniors this year.” 

Senior linebacker and tight end DJ Frerks received all-league recognition in 2023; so did senior offensive tackle and defensive lineman Jayden Lopez-Garcia. Running back Jaxson Ferguson, also a senior, “has taken a stronger leadership role,” Elliott said. 

So has senior Brian Lera, who will be starting for the first time this season.  

“He’s kind of emerged as a vocal leader,’ Elliott said. “Another kid that has really been working hard is Diego Vasquez. He was probably our most improved player last year and he’s continued to kind of double down and work harder.” 

Elliott said the season is really in Quincy’s hands. 

“We’ll look at (Quincy opponents), we’ll scout them, but it’s really about what we do,” Elliott said. “So that’s where our focus is. I think we’ll go as far as we want to go. It’s going to have to be a team effort.” 

Quincy Football Schedule 

Sept. 6 — vs Selah – 7 p.m. 

Sept. 13 – at Ephrata – 7 p.m. 

Sept. 20 – vs Toppenish – 7 p.m. 

Sept. 27 – vs Wapato – 7 p.m. 

Oct. 4 – at Prosser – 7 p.m. 

Oct. 11 – vs Ellensburg – 7 p.m. 

Oct. 18 – at Grandview – 7 p.m. 

Oct. 25 – at East Valley (Yakima) - 7 p.m. 

Nov. 1 – vs Othello – 7 p.m. 

    Quincy Coach Russ Elliott said Jayden Lopez-Garcia (54), pictured stopping a Medical Lake runner in the Jacks’ win in 2023, was one of Quincy’s most improved players in 2023. Lopez-Garcia will be one of the anchors on the Jacks’ defensive and offensive lines.