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It may not have been the sort of realization that redirects the life of a young person, but it was a realization nonetheless to a young Boden Gardner that his first name wasn’t spelled exactly how his parents really wanted it to be.
“I found out growing up that I was supposed to be called Bode, so I’m gonna roll with that,” Gardner said Wednesday on a sunny spring day at Roos Field.
“My mom thought Bode was too hip, so they threw an ‘n’ on,” Gardner said. “I just go by whatever.”
Around Eastern Washington practices, Bode without an ‘n’ has stuck. It’s what head coach Aaron Best calls him, anyhow.
But call him whatever: The redshirt freshman wide receiver Gardner is having a great spring for the EWU football team.
“Bode might play chaotic at times, and he’s just getting his footing,” Best said on Wednesday. “He’s only been here less than a year … but he’s found a way to move the sticks and break some tackles, and he did that again on Friday.”
Gardner, who graduated from Mt. Spokane High School less than a year ago, hasn’t caught a pass in an actual college football game. But last Friday – the day Best was referring to – he caught three passes for 114 yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ first spring scrimmage. They have another scrimmage at 3:30 p.m. Friday, and the Red-White Spring Game will be one week later, on April 18.
At 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Gardner is one of the taller of the Eagles’ 11 receivers. But he also has the speed – he anchored Mt. Spokane’s 4×400 relay for two state championships – which is an enticing combination for an Eastern team that has struggled to complete long passes over the past few seasons.
Best pointed to a number of reasons for that lack, whether it be the offense’s scheme, the way opponents have played…
Source link : http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/apr/10/mt-spokane-grad-boden-gardner-making-strong-first-/
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Publish date : 2025-04-11 02:06:00
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