Jim Shapiro has a simple philosophy when it comes to helping players become two-sport athletes.
“I’ve always said I can make a good soccer player into a good football player,” the King’s football coach said.
Shapiro’s latest example is Ryan Fransen, a standout soccer player for the Knights who has also become an all-conference wide receiver and defensive back for King’s.
“He’s always been a competitor,” Shapiro said. “He plays select soccer — and will probably play soccer in college. A kid that’s always up, always smiling, always working hard, does a really good job in the classroom and translates that to the football field.”
Fransen grew up in the same area as Shapiro, with both families living in Mill Creek. Once he graduated from Northshore Christian Academy, a kindergarden through eighth grade school in Everett, Fransen went to King’s where he was always planning to play football for the Knights and Shapiro.
“I just always wanted to come play,” Fransen said. “I always knew that when I came to King’s freshman year I would play football. I just started playing freshman year and have played since.”
Fransen has continued to excel in his senior season, with a team-high 37 receptions for 539 yards and four touchdowns. Fransen and fellow receivers Karl Sather and Jackson Hand were three of the most productive receivers in the Cascade Conference this season.
Junior quarterback Koa Wilkins leads the conference with 1,892 yards passing.
“He understands space. He knows how to move and jump just going for headers and different things,” Shapiro said of Fransen. “He knows how to get into the open space. He has good size, at about 6-foot-1, and plays both sides of the ball for us. He’s also our kicker. He’s just a kid that understands sports.”
“I’ve actually been friends with him since first grade. He’s a super cool guy,” said senior wide receiver/defensive back Alex Thiel. “An amazing athlete and just an amazing person. He cares for every person on this team.”
Fransen, Thiel and the rest of the King’s seniors find themselves back in the 1A state quarterfinals this Saturday. It is the sixth consecutive season the Knights have made it to the round of eight. King’s has yet to win a quarterfinal game in that span.
“At the end of the year last year, I probably would have said we wouldn’t have been this good,” senior Jacob Hatloe said. “But as the year develops, you really see guys step up and growing up and playing bigger than they did last year. I’m sure a lot of people are surprised by it but not here.”
“Now is this the one we get over?” Shapiro said. “I can honestly say this: Emotionally maybe my third or my fourth time I would be emotional about it. I care about this week and we’re just leaning on what you hear from the upperclassmen: We’re just going for 1-0.”
Several coaches preach the “1-0” concept, but Shapiro has taken it to another level.
“I’ve been buying fake trophies at Goodwill every Friday before games,” Shapiro said. “I go in and say, ‘You guys are playing for this trophy.’ This week is just another trophy. Another thing that’s going to rust in a couple years. I think they’ve bought into the philosophy.”
The players say the weekly trophy, of which the Knights (9-2) have nine this season, helps the team focus on that one game.
“It definitely helps us stay in that 1-0 mindset week-to-week,” Hatloe said. “We like to play for those trophies.”
King’s next chance for a trophy comes against Cascade Christian, the No. 1 team in the final Associated Press state 1A poll of the season. The Cougars defeated King’s 37-13 in last year’s state quarterfinals after the Knights won 28-7 in the first round of the state tournament in 2012.
“It’s super different being lose-and-you’re-done,” Thiel said. “Especially for us seniors. You lose and you’re probably never playing football again. It’s a lot of pressure to perform well. … We’re really motivated and really ready. We’ve been watching tons of film. We’re practicing that much harder.”
“They’re a high-octane offense,” Shapiro said of the Cougars. “They put up 40 or 50 points on teams so I think keeping the ball out of their hands would be a good idea. Defense will be the big deal.”
Fransen and the seniors hope to get past the quarterfinals and “leave that legacy” of getting at least to the semis.
Where the Knights hope to collect a couple more trophies.
“Our goal is a big trophy at the end of the year,” Fransen said. “But one game at a time.”
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