EasternWA notebook: No longer panic-stricken, Kamiakin back to winning games

Entire offensive backfield of returning starters transferred out during offseason, but Braves leaning on program seniors to lead way

All-4A/3A Mid-Columbia Conference wide receiver Mason Severson was part of a group of seniors who kept things moving at Kamiakin after key playmakers transferred out during the offseason.. (Lauren Smith / VarsityWA)

Scott Biglin doesn’t get spooked often or easily. But he had a pit in his stomach during the spring about what was going on with his Kamiakin High School football program.

It was supposed to be an offseason of retooling a top-10 team coming back in 2026. The Braves had won a pair of loser-out games in the postseason to reach the WIAA Class 4A playoffs last fall, before losing to Lake Stevens.

But, the Braves began losing the core of their returning playmakers. Leading passer Jagger McEwen, a dual threat, transferred within the Mid-Columbia Conference to Chiawana. Both leading rushers Korbyn Hopwood (went home to Prosser) and Diego Vargas (moved out of state to Texas) also departed.

And Michael Kori, one of Kamiakin’s top perimeter players on both sides of the ball, was also looking at other options and missed a series of team activities.

“It was a very crazy offseason for us,” Biglin said.