Nearly 11 months after playing their final game of the 2012 season, the Estevan Comprehensive School football team returns to the field on Friday.
The Elecs will kick off the Moose Jaw High School Football League regular season at home, taking on the A.E. Peacock Tornadoes at 4:30 p.m. at Dana Quewezance Memorial Field.
The Elecs were still hoping to add a few more players leading up to the opener, as 33 players picked up equipment, but only 25-27 were firmly committed as of Saturday.
"There was a lot of uncertainty over the summer in terms of how many players we would have, so we're pretty happy with our overall numbers, now it's just a matter of getting them out on the field and getting them prepared for (the season opener)," head coach Mark Schott said during a training camp session on Thursday.
"It's going great. We've got some really good athletes. Trying to figure out where everybody fits in is one thing because there's a lot of new faces to us. There's a big group that came up from the bantam Steelers team (and) a lot of new, inexperienced football players that have been in ECS but just have never played before. Overall, great athletes, but we're still kinda in that feeling out stage, trying to figure out where everyone fits in."
The Elecs went winless last year and lost a number of key players from that team, meaning there will be new blood at some crucial positions.
Justyn Taillon and Matt Haux, two newcomers from the Steelers, are battling for the Elecs' starting quarterback job, vacated after Kolby Fleury graduated. Taillon was the Steelers' starting pivot last year, while Haux starred for them as a receiver.
"There's a good healthy competition going on between the two of them, which will make them both better and will really strengthen that position for us," said Schott. "They're athletic, they're really quick learners and they're coachable players, so they're really easy to work with. They've shown us a lot out here, so we're pretty impressed with both of them so far."
They aren't the only players from the Steelers who could make an impact, with Mitchel Clark, Kolby Dyck, Austin Haukeness and Kyle Harron also among that group.
"There are some great athletes in that group, a lot of highly skilled players that will fit in quite nicely with us," Schott said.
Cole MacCuish was a key player for the Elecs last year on special teams, and Schott said he will be relied on heavily.
"He's going to be a guy who's all over the field for us, special teams, offence and defence. He's got great speed and good hands, so we're hoping he can help break some tackles for us when he's on the offensive side and make some big plays for us on the defensive side of the ball," Schott commented.
Returnees Austin Garchinski (receiver), Kaleb Memory (running back) and Colten Brokenshire (lineman) will also be expected to lead this year.
Coming off a 2012 season that represented a step back from 2011, when the Elecs won three games, Schott said there are two key areas where improvement would go a long way toward fielding a better squad.
"We need to finish drives. We were great at moving the ball within the 30, but once it got into the red zone we had trouble putting the ball in the end zone. We need to put up points," he said.
"Defensively, we need to eliminate that big play against us. It seems to crush our momentum. There's a lot that goes into both of those things, but hopefully we can improve in both those areas and lead to better results."
Schott said it may take some time for the team to gel, but once that happens, he hopes his club can improve on last year's showing.
"With the athletic ability that's out here on the field, it's just going to be hopefully a matter of time before things start to click and athletic ability and natural skill take over. Hopefully that leads to some wins and we can take some big steps from last year."
