Pewamo-Westphalia had a down year to its standard only making it to the district final. While most teams would be happy with that level of performance, the Pirates are looking for more this year. They return 16 starters from last year's team and are hoping that experience pays off.
"A lot of these guys got quite a bit of playing time. So when you have that coming into the season it's something that you can build off of last year," Head coach Jeremy Miller said. "So far they've had a pretty good camp. It's nice to look around and see those faces and know they have been through some of those games."
There has been such a standard of making a deep playoff run. All of these seniors were on the 2021 state championship-winning team. They know what that feeling is like and also know what it's like to go home early.
"It motivates us all a lot. It left a really bad taste losing to New Lothrop last year. I think we are all very experienced now and have the ability to make it farther than that," Quarterback Dylan May said.
"It would mean everything. We all saw what the seniors our sophomore year had and we want to be like them," Offensive lineman Trevor Spitzley said.
The Pirates travel to North Muskegon for the season opener on Thursday, August 24th.