Former football player Jeff Scott began his Northwest Football League (NWFL) career as the Defensive Coordinator for the NWFL Seattle Blue Devils, a position he held from 1996-1999. Prior to the start of the 1999 NWFL season, Coach Scott began negotiations with the Blue Devils management to purchase the organization. An agreement could not be reached and Coach Scott left to form the King County Jaguars.

DeWayne Buckley (#4) Two-Way All-League in 1999

This would be the second iteration of the Jaguars moniker in the 1990's, but was not an extension of the 1995 South King County Jaguars owned by Harold Metcalf which became the 1996 Federal Way 49ers franchise.

In their maiden season of 1999, Owner and Head Coach Scott lead the Jaguars to a 3-6 record bookended by wins over the Oregon Panthers and a 36-0 domination of Scott's former Devils.  Five players would earn all-league honors in the inaugural season led by free safety Chuck Jackson as a second-team selection.  The 2000 season saw the Jaguars finish with a 5-7 record in an up-and-down season.  Following a tight 7-6 win over the Bellingham Eagles, King County ended the year on a three-game slide.  On the upside, eleven Jaguars were recognized by the NWFL as all-league selections.

A 4-0 start to the 2001 season was brought to a halt with back-to-back losses to the Pierce County Bengals and Puget Sound Jets.  A 7-4 finish would be secured when the Jags lost two of the last three games missing a shot at the NWFL playoffs.

During the 2002 season, the Jaguars went 5-4 for the season and French Field, located at Kent Meridian High School in Kent, became the official home field of the Jaguars.  After rushing for over 800 yards, power back Malachi DeWalt was named Northwest League MVP edging out rushing leader Ty Williams while three defenders were in the final voting for defensive rookie of the year.  Malachi, Hakeem McCallister and Richard Black would be the first in the franchise to be recognized nationally on All-America lists.

In 2003 the King County Jaguars acquired several players from the powerhouse Puget Sound Jets which had folded following the 2002 season finishing the NWFL regular season with the best record and won their first ever NWFL playoff game against the Multnomah County Buccaneers on September 6, 2003, by the score of 24 to 7. The Jaguars then advanced to the NWFL Championship game but came up short of the NWFL title losing to the Eastside Hawks, owned by the then Seattle Seahawk, Sam Adams, by a score of 27 to 17.  The Hawks were well known to the Jaguar players as many had been teammates on the Jets the prior season.

The 2003 season also brought the King County Jaguars their first ever North American Football League (NAFL) playoff game against the South Ogden Rhino-Raiders in Utah. The Jaguars traveled to Utah and lost 20-2 in their first regional road game.  Coach Jeff Scott would be named NWFL Coach of the Year, return specialist Milton Myers earned MVP honors with Delano Edgecomb winning offensive rookie of the year honors in NWFL voting.  Twenty-one players were named to the All-Northwest League lists.

In 2004 the Jaguars finished the NWFL regular season with an 8-2 record and an 8-4 overall record, however, the Hawks had reloaded with more firepower including former Jags star MVP Milton Myers, and dominated the NWFL and the NAFL enroute to a national title. The Jaguars again traveled to play the South Ogden Rhino-Raiders in NAFL playoff game and lost 34-18.  By comparison, the Hawks defeated the Rhino-Raiders 41-7 in the next round.  Career sack leader Jackie Triplett also made the move over to the Hawks for the 2004 season.  Dion Alexander and Malachi DeWalt would be named defensive and offensive players of the year respectively for their 2004 efforts.

With the Eastside Hawks moving indoors, the 2005 Jaguar organization brought on a new General Manager, Lorrie Jean Rarey. Ms. Rarey, a Certified Public Accountant with a firm in Auburn, Washington was a valuable addition to the business side of the organization. Rarey brought on a skilled (volunteer) staff to help with the organizations administrative duties and game day preparations. With the business administration, staffing and finances of the organization being handled by Rarey, Coach Scott was able to focus his full attention on the team. He then compiled a team of players including those who had played for the National Champion Eastside Hawks which had disbanded following the 2004 season, and a coaching staff with years of football experience. This nucleus of combined talent produced the greatest team in King County Jaguar history.

2005 saw the Jaguars win the NWFL Championship 21-6 over the West Sound Saints of Silverdale, Washington. As league champions the 2005 King County Jaguar team entered into the NAFL national tournament as had been set-up by former NAFL Commissioner and Hawks owner Sam Adams. The Jaguars held home field advantage and advanced all the way to the NAFL Championship game at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida after wins over Dallas and Arkansas. There they competed against the three-time NAFL Champion Central Pennsylvania Piranah team that had just dropped the crown to Eastside the year before. The Piranah defeated the Jaguars by the score of 28-3 to reclaim their title from the Northwest.

By defeating two undefeated teams: the Dallas Diesel 27-24, and the Arkansas Rhinos 55-22, The King County Jaguars ended their 2005 season as the Minor League Football News #1 AAA Ranked Western Regional Summer/Fall Semi-Professional football team. The Jaguars had their best winning season ever with an overall record of 13-1 and Jeff Scott won his second Coach of the Year award while Lorie Rarey was awarded GM of the Year by the NWFL.  Twelve first-team All-NWFL selections, including the return of 3-way threat Milton Myers (free safety, kick return, punt return).  A regional road victory still eluded King County.

In 2006 the King County Jaguars defended their 2005 NWFL title, again defeating the West Sound Saints in the NWFL Championship with a score of 14-7. In that same year the King County Jaguars became members of the Minor League Football Association (MLFA West). The Jaguars played for the MLFA West National Championship against the Bay Tickets Inc. 49ers at Golden Gate Park's historic Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, CA. In this championship game the Jaguars held the lead against the home town 49er team at 14-13 for most of the game, but with 7 seconds remaining in the game the 49ers kicked a 25-yard field goal to win the game 16-14.  The Jaguars pulled out of the NAFL playoffs after being asked to travel to Dallas to take on the Diesel even though Dallas had made the trek to Kent the prior season.  Dion Alexander would win his third-consecutive league defensive MVP award (2004, 05, 06) while Coach Scott won his third Coach of the Year award.

2006 Northwest League Champions

For 2006, the Jaguars were also the champions of the first-ever Kent Cornucopia Bowl. The Jaguars finished their 2006 season with an overall record of 11-1.  On July 29, the Jaguars opted not to play league opponent Multnomah in favor of a more reliable opponent in the EFL's Yakima Mavericks after the Bucs forfeited their 2005 game.  Many of the players were also playing in the spring league with the Seattle Stallions during the 2006 season with some staying on when the Stallions joined the NWFL for the 2007 campaign.

On April 1, 2007 the structure and ownership of the Jaguars changed. The team was owned and operated by King County Jaguars Football, LLC, an ownership group that consisted of Jaguars long time owner, Jeff Scott, General Manager, Lorrie Jean Rarey and her husband Rob Rarey and Norm Larson and his wife Kim Larson.

In 2007 the King County Jaguars won their third consecutive Northwest Football League Championship but after a scheduling oddity had the Jaguars playing a Minor League Football Association playoff game against Cascade Football League runners-up Olympic Peninsula.  The Jags destroyed the weaker Eagles 70-0 before starting the NWFL playoffs against the Willamette Raiders.  After defeating the Oregon Thunderbolts in defending their NWFL crown, the Blue Mountain Stars, disbanded for nearly 90-days since their league finale, gathered up a core of players along with some of the Evergreen League players for depth and traveled over the hill to Kent, losing the MLFN Western Championship game 29-0 to the Jags who also claimed the NAFL Pacific Coast Division title. On October 27th, the Jaguars faced the defending NAFL National Champion, Dallas TX Diesel, in round four of the NAFL playoffs. The Jaguars scored late in the 4th quarter to take the lead on the Diesel 19-18 but on Dallas's next possession, the Diesel drove the ball down field getting close enough to kick a 31-yard field goal with 34 seconds remaining in the game. The Jaguars were unable to get within field goal range and lost fell 21-19. The Jaguars finished the 2007 season ranked #5 in the nation by the Minor League Football News poll and #1 of all 5 Northwest leagues, (a total of 38 teams) with a 13-1 season record.  Of all the accolades and success, the one thing that remained unattained by the Jaguar franchise that the Jets and Hawks had achieved, was winning on the road outside of the Pacific Northwest.  The Jags were 0-4 all-time outside of Washington and Oregon.

After the Jaguars heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Diesel in that 2007 NAFL playoff game, owner and Head Coach Jeff Scott made the difficult decision to retire from coaching after posting a 72-21 record with the Jaguars. He subsequently relinquished his remaining ownership in the organization that wanted to pursue a more national-profile league, turning the Jaguars over to Rob and Lorrie Rarey.  Scott would be convinced to start a new team in the Northwest Football League called the Puget Sound Titans.  The Titans would feature nearly every award winning player from the 2006-2007 Jaguars squad and win the NWFL championship again, Jeff Scott's fourth Coach of the Year award, and win the Far West Football Alliance Championship over the Mile High (CO) Grizzlies.

The new Jaguar ownership group led by the Rarey's, had made the decision to leave the Northwest Football League, where the team had played since inception in 1999, and moved fully into the North American Football League.  The move would cost the Jaguars as the expected success did not materialize over the next two seasons as evidenced by the number of players who left to join the Titans and Stallions and remain in the NWFL.

On November 12, 2007 King County Jaguar reciever Anthony Montgomery, who had joined the Jaguars after his Valley Mustangs were defeated in the Pacific Northwest Conference championship, was named the 2007 North American Football League National All-Star Player of the Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Some of his fellow Mustangs jumped on with the Jags and Stallions in time for the NWFL regular season including Mitchell Johnson an all-conference defensive tackle and punter who also earned second-team honors with the Jaguars.  Mitchell would go on to continue playing and coach well into the 2020's.  On December 8, 2007 Jaguars long time Coach Jeff Scott was inducted into the Minor League Football News Hall of Fame in Mesquite, Nevada.

On January 4, 2008 the King County Jaguars announced the hiring of veteran player and coach, Mike Astley, as the Jaguars new Head Coach.  Astley began his career with the 1993 Everett Tramps as a barefoot kicker.  The Jags struggled in the NAFL Northwest eventually playing its final games of 2008 with only 17 players but inexplicably had 25 "All Star" selections from a 4-6 team while Champion British Columbia had only one.
 
2009 did not start out any better as the Jags were blasted in their first three outings by a combined 134-0.  They finally broke through in the win column with a victory over the hapless Thunder of the CFL.  The Jags finished 2-10 in 2010, their final defeat coming at the hands of the 6-6 Portland Raiders in the NAFL Northwest playoffs.  The old road woes had gotten worse as the Jaguars lost five straight games outside of Washington's borders and nine-consecutive games to non-Washington based opponents dating back to the Dallas loss.
 
Following the 2009 season, Coach Astley left to form the Eastside Xtreme, the Rarey's closed up shop and the Jaguars franchise slipped into history as one of the best Northwest League teams of the mid-2000's when their core and their coach were leading the powder blue to back-to-back-to-back NWFL titles during a 37-3 run from 2005-2007.

DO YOU HAVE INFORMATION TO CONTRIBUTE?  CONTACT US! (email)