Elgarico competes in All-State football

For most area high school seniors, the last opportunity to compete in football this year is long gone. For a select few, the Summer Classic stood alone as the game that would mark the end of high school football, taking place in an East vs. West showdown on Friday, June 21.

MOSES LAKE — For most area high school seniors, the last opportunity to compete in football this year is long gone. For a select few, the Summer Classic stood alone as the game that would mark the end of high school football, taking place in an East vs. West showdown on Friday, June 21.

Arlington’s Skylor Elgarico, who wowed the Western Conference as the Eagles’ starting quarterback last fall, was chosen to compete for the West in the All-State game.

“I think I found out in February,” he said. “I was really honored. I know a lot of people don’t get a chance to do that and only a select few can, so it was great to be a part of it.”

Coached by Lake Stevens’ head coach Tom Tri, Elgarico and more than a dozen Wesco players represented the area in a week-long stay in Moses Lake.

“The game was on Friday and we arrived in Moses Lake on Monday with all the West team,” said Elgarico. “We practiced two times a day, each day, for two hours each practice.”

Elgarico is no stranger to drills and plays, having started his football career at “the youngest age you can do it.” He played on the freshman team his first year at Arlington, playing one varsity game that year. He started in JV as a sophomore, and started on both sides of the ball for varsity in his final two years at AHS.

“It wasn’t really a huge turnout of players for our team the last few years,” he said. “We didn’t have nearly as many as opposing teams’ sidelines, and we had a lot of injuries. It was kind of something that happened the last two years.”

Despite not making into the state championships with the Eagles, Elgarico had the opportunity to represent Arlington at the East-West All-State Game on June 21.

“I mean, the [All-State] game brought back memories,” he said. “I’ve never played with the other players that were on the team, but I definitely knew a lot of them, and quite a few were from Wesco, so it was really easy to get along with all of them.”

Although the West team ultimately was defeated by the East, in a 38-21 game, Elgarico was glad for the opportunity to play football once again as a high school senior.

“The game didn’t turn out how we wanted it because we lost, but the whole week beforehand — the preparation, getting coached by a different coaching staff — was all a really cool experience “

Elgarico will now prepare for fall season, but this time it will be as a player for Linfield College, but he won’t forget the town where he grew up and spent his Friday nights on the field.

“I just want to give a huge ‘thank you’ to the coaching staff at Arlington — they definitely helped get me to where I am today  — and to all the players I wish them good luck in the future.”