Entering his ninth season Mac McLean is blessed with a large senior class of 26 players and many who have played for two to three years and they are ready to take the next step.

“I think playing in the second season is our main goal. We want to play when other teams put their equipment away , we’ve done enough years in a row and we wanna be in that tournament that’s where we are setting our sites is to be playing when it gets cold.”

Mac Mclean

His players agree the focus is to get to the postseason.

” Last year I think we under achieved so this year we need to get more than five wins be better than five hundred we’ve been 5-5 and 5-4 so we need to get a better record this year and we want to make the playoffs this year.”

Braylen Sperringer

” We feel good but were not going to get our heads too big anything can happen last year we struggled with injuries but were coming in healthy this year and were going to get it done.”

Tyler Wise

To help get it done they return nine players on offense.

Starting with third year starting quarterback Braelyn Sperringer, seniors Jace Campanelli and Gavin Moore return at running back. With seniors Gus Gilbert, Anthony Bachinski, and Garrett Hornick at receiver while along the line they return seniors Blake Cole, Bryce Bateman, Joey Clemm, and Mason Reese.

The veteran leadership is key for this unit.

“It makes this part of the year a lot easier, they come in with a lot of built in knowledge as opposed to next year when they are all gone . It helps and because they have that knowledge and because they are a really good group of seniors they help the kids below them.”

Mac Mclean

Defensively they will be led by senior defensive end Tyler Wise who earned all-OVAC honors as a junior. Also returning from last year’s D are fellow seniors Gilbert and Bachinski in the defensive backfield, Moore at linebacker along with juniors Bear Moore and Dante’ Tulenko also at linebacker Slater Schroeder at the other end, and Triston Stevens at a corner.

” I think the defense finished sixth in triple – A last year and we have three guys we had to replace off of that defense and that’s who we hung our hat on last year and they really turned into a solid unit.”

Mac Mclean

The Bruins will debut their new turf on the 25th when they host Ripley.