Coming off a 7-2 campaign, the Savage football team looks to have an even better season in 2010. The Warriors return a strong nucleus of upperclassmen from last year’s team.

“Practice has been going very good so far,” first-year head coach Bart Haflich said. “The boys have come in and worked real hard. They are a motivated group.”

Expectations have been raised as the Warriors return all six starters on defense and five offensively. “There are no excuses this season,” Haflich said. “The last two seasons, we’ve been young and have made some youthful mistakes. They’re juniors and seniors now, the bar has been raised.”

Returning to give Savage leadership will be seniors Matt Trzinski, Clayton Eskridge and Kyle Vaira. Trzinski is a returning All-Conference receiver and linebacker while Eskridge earned All-Conference honors at running back last season. Vaira saw a majority of his playing time on the defensive line.

Juniors Braden Ler, Chris Reynolds and Shad Stanford are returning two-year starters. Ler, who earned All-Conference honors last year, brings size and strength at tight end and linebacker. All-stater Reynolds is speedy at running back and defensive back. Stanford gives the Warriors an accurate, efficient quarterback and a strong linebacker. Rase Basta, a running back and defensive back, is also a junior.

Sophomore Wyatt Hagler is a returning starter that has good size and speed. The 12-man roster is rounded out by freshmen.

One strength of the squad will be natural speed.

“We have a lot of good team quickness and have several players that are very fast,” Haflich said. “It’s something we would really like to utilize offensively and try to get to the outside.”

Savage is excited to face its first test of the season Friday, 7 p.m., at home against a team that is new to the six-man ranks: Stanford-Geyser. Last season the squad made the state eight-man playoffs, so Haflich expects a tough test.

“It should be a really tough game, and I know the kids are really gearing up for that first game,” he said. “I think they are ready to start hitting other people besides their teammates.”

In fact, every game should be tough as the Warriors will be in one of the toughest conferences in the state. Haflich expects Hysham, R&L, Ekalaka, Terry and his team to all be in the mix.

“From top to bottom it’s going to be just an excellent conference this year,” he said. It’s going to be a real dogfight.”

The Warriors are excited for an enjoyable season.

“Everyone’s just really looking forward to getting the year under way,” he said. “We’ve done great in practice, but you never know until the games begin.”