Led By Twins Colten And Caleb Kuhl, Ridgeline Offensive Line Clears Path For Falcons Playoff Drive | State Football

Nov. 5—If you ask anyone around the area, or state, about the Ridgeline football team, they would probably start off talking about the Falcons' offensive line. With the size, experience and football intelligence of the five starters, it's a good place to start.

It's a departure for a program that in the recent past has been known for a quick passing offense, but it has also brought big dividends — the school's first Greater Spokane League football championship.

The Falcons have a chance climb even higher and advance to the State 3A bracket, something they've done just once in the program's history. They host Gig Harbor (5-3) in a Round of 32 game Friday night, with the winner moving on to the state playoffs.

First-year head coach Andy Olson was previously the team's offensive coordinator, so he's been the architect of changing the personality of the team from pass-happy to run-heavy. A lot of that had to do with his college-sized linemen and two in particular — twins Colten and Caleb Kuhl.

Colten, the team's center, is listed at 6-foot-2, 283, while the slightly younger Caleb is 6-2, 266. Both are headed to George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon next year to play football. Both decorated students, Colten plans to study electrical engineering and Caleb want to get into business finance.

"They've obviously been together their whole lives," Olson said. "They've been communicating on the football field their whole lives, and so that's a huge advantage for us. They're the foundation of the offense."

"It's great to have them," junior running back Jaxin Fieser said. "They're big dudes. ... I've just got to follow them. If I'm in trouble, I just find one of them and follow them. They move their guys around pretty good."

Caleb concedes that Colten is both the faster and stronger twin.

"I used to significantly faster, but he's caught back up," Caleb said. "And he's just he's abnormally strong."

"It's all the work in the offseason," Colten said. "We're all here every single day. Me and my brother — we don't miss lifts. It all starts in the offseason and how committed you can be."

The twins both said they don't need to talk on the field — with a look or a nob they know what each other is going to do. Something about that "twin ESP," but also a lifetime of playing football together — the sons of former player and coach Rick Kuhl.

"We see what we're lined up against and maybe say two words, and we just know," Caleb said. "We're thinking the same thing."

"We don't need to communicate," Colten said. "We've played football next to each other since we were little kids, so we know what each other does, and we know our habits, so we know where we need to help each other."

The other starters are fellow seniors Brogan Traugutt (6-2, 210) and Cole Taylor (5-9, 245) and junior Mitchell Crowley (6-4, 240), the younger brother of Ridgeline's all-time leading girls basketball scorer Madilyn Crowley, who is now on the women's rowing team at Michigan State.

"I've been coaching a lot of years," offensive line coach Dave Lombo said. "This is one of the most cohesive and biggest and strongest groups we've had, and that's a testament to the kids. They've put in the work, especially this last offseason, getting bigger, faster, stronger, and they've gelled really good as a unit."

"It's not just a given because of our size that we're bigger, faster, stronger than everybody else," Caleb said "We just flat out put in the work.

"All five of us, we lifted together every day, worked out together every day, focused on each other's footwork with each other every day. And when we weren't working out and being focused on football, we were just having fun together, and we just worked together 24/7. And that really brought that group together, and that really carried out into the rest of our team."

Ridgeline beat Cheney 28-20 at home on Oct. 29 to secure the program's first league title in just its sixth season. The Falcons have come a long way from that 1-9 start in 2021 when its only victory, coincidentally, was against Cheney in its first full season in 3A.

"We've had some great kids come through this program in the short six years we've had here," Lambo said. "We had some playoff success a few years ago, and a couple of these kids were part of that. But this group has been especially dedicated. They've been through a lot of different adversity, and not just in-season but out-of-season. ... I'm just excited for the whole program."

"I was here for the team that went to state playoffs the first time (in 2023)," Colten Kuhl said. "And it's just a completely different energy and team chemistry. ... There's a lot of belief (in the coaches), and they put us in the right situations, and they believe in us, and they're going to get us to the right spots every game."

Fieser, listed at 5-9, 198, has become a workhorse for the team, leading the GSL in rushing with 1,123 yards on 167 carries (6.72 yards per carry) and 15 touchdowns, while adding 16 catches for 126 yards and two more scores.

"I think in high school football, for the most part — at least in this area — if you run the ball and you stop the run, you're going to win most of the games," Olson said. "And that's really kind of been what we've been talking about since the spring. ... If we can force quarterbacks to throw the ball, we feel like we have the advantage in that case."

"The new coaching staff, they bought into us players. You know they care about us players," Caleb Kuhl said. "They put in all the time they physically can into us players, and we reciprocated that. We put all of our trust in our coaches, staff. We put all of our trust in each other, and that's really what helped build this up this year."