JH/HS Boy's Football
Coach: Mark Smith
Coach Smith has been the Athletic Director for 3 years at TBS but also is the head coach for JH/HS Boy's Football. TBS is especially thankful for the leadership, integrity and passion Coach Mark Smith has bought to the program. Parents, staff and other school teams respect Coach Smith for his influence beyond just the game…on and off the field; Coach Smith has molded the character of his players and created young men who succeed as athletes, students, citizens and most importantly, Christians.
Football begins its 18th year as a sport at Tacoma Baptist High School. The sport has had one coach, Mark Smith, throughout the history of football and has developed into a program with a rich tradition of competitive and spiritual success. Football seeks to further the Ministry of Tacoma Baptist High School by promoting the spiritual growth of our athletes through the sport of football. The football team at TBHS has made state playoffs 14 out of the 17 years it has been a team, competing 3 times in the state championship game. Football is an integral part of the fabric of school life at Tacoma Baptist and will continue to be a program of spiritual and competitive excellence.
The 2008 Football season will mark the start of the 18th year of Football at Tacoma Baptist High School. Our record stands at 129 wins and 61 losses. For the first 31 years, Football was not offered at the school but in the fall of 1991, it officially became a big part of the sports program.
First Game, First Season
TBS played its first Football game on September 8, 1991 against the Crescent Loggers. Though the Crusaders lost 14-0, the game was a milestone marking the culmination of efforts that raised over $21,000 to make Football a TBS reality.
Don Linkem and Mark Smith, who later became the Athletic Director for the school, saw Football as an opportunity to provide another ministry for TBS to help train up our students to grow in their walk with the Lord and to understand how Christian body life works through the model of team sports. That first year was both exciting and challenging. The Football team was learning how to play the game and the school was learning what it meant to have Friday night and Saturday night Football. Even though the record wasn't great, the experience of having Football at TBS was.
The Second Year
In 1992, the sport began to really take off when TBS made the state playoffs in its second year of existence. In 1992, TBS started a string of 10 consecutive trips to the state playoffs in both B and A classifications. During post season play, the Crusaders have had a record of 17 wins and 14 losses, highlighted by the fact that they have played in 3 state championship games, 1 at the B level and 2 at the A level.
In the past 2 years, TBS rasied the bar when the team had its first two Division 1 recruits from the team, Josh Bousman (University of Idaho) and Neil Boyce (Montana State). The team has also seen many players go on to play college ball at the local and national schools such as PLU, UPS, Azusa Pacific and other schools.
