The Warriors are certainly confident of what they can do on the offensive side of the ball.
"We put in a new offense last year and we've got about five or six kids coming back on offense," 13th-year Head Coach Steve Winiecki said. "We had a great summer camp and were really able to lay a good foundation and move forward without having to reteach a lot. We're definitely well ahead of where we've been in years past."
The Warriors return their leading rusher from last season in Jeremy Kritt, who ran for over 500 yards and nine touchdowns. They also bring back senior quarterback Brad Holway who racked up close to 600 total yards and four touchdowns last season. Mark Pagano will help lead the Warriors passing attack, after hauling in five touchdowns a year ago.
After finishing the last season with two losses to Highland Park and Glenbrook North, Deerfield finished with a 5-4 record and just one playoff point shy of the post season. Those losses are helping provide motivation for the Warriors this season. And they believe this year's team is already ahead of where they need to be.
"We came into camp in good shape so we were able to spend more time coaching football than coaching conditioning," Winiecki said. "It's little things like that that really help out this time of year."
Like most high school football teams, the Warriors have goals of a 9-0 season and a conference crown. But they also know what it will take to get there.
"If we don't do what's right in front of us then we're not going to win," Winiecki said. "We talk about winning the practice and if we don't win the practice, we don't win the day. And if we don't win the week, we don't win the game. Then we can't go 9-0 or win the conference championship."
Deerfield will host Zion Benton Friday night in the season opener and they're primary concern is simply letting the bumps and bruises heal.
"We've got to get healthy," Winiecki said. "There's nothing big, but there are a lot of little things and we need to get back to full strength. Other than that we just need to tighten everything down. We've got a good Zion Benton team that's coming here and we need to start switching our focus to scheming against Zion Benton because they're always a great challenge for us on opening night."
To hear more from the Warriors on their aspirations for this season, click on the video link above.
