Lovett has a little bit of a task in front of him, as Cameron County, which went 5-4 last season, has to replace its starting quarterback and its top rushers from a year ago.

Gone is quarterback Gideon Hornung who passes for 626 yards and four touchdowns in 2001 in addition to rushing for 130 yards and a score and running backs Scott Horning (437 yards, 4 touchdowns) and Gary Clark (307 yards, 6 touchdowns rushing, 15 catches, 111 yards receiving, 1 touchdown).

The Red Raiders do return their top receiver from 2001 in senior Scott Aikens (10 catches, 292 yards, 2 touchdowns.)

Quarterbacking Cameron County in 2002 will probably be either junior Eric Campbell or junior Kyle Vogt. Vogt saw limited playing time last season completing 2 of 12 passes for 20 yards while throwing two interceptions. He also ran the ball 15 times for 29 yards and two scores.

The leading candidate to replace Scott Horning and Clark at running back is last year’s third leading rusher Adam Kesterholt. Kesterholt rushed 42 times for 136 yards last season and also caught three passes for 40 yards. Kesterholt has decent size for the back position at 5-11, 170. Aikens is another candidate to touch the ball out of the backfield having run the ball 12 times for 54 yards in 2001.

Keith Horning (6 carries, 52 yards) and Ryan Clingan (3 catches, 38 yards) could also see playing time at the skilled positions.

Where the Red Raiders could be solid is on the offensive line with three seniors and a junior considered to be key returning players there.

The seniors are Jon Doud (5-11, 210), Pete Malize (5-10, 180) and Randy Vodenicher (5-10, 230), while the junior is Tom Malizia (6-1, 190).

On defense, Kesterholt will probably anchor the unit in the secondary. He was second on the team with three interceptions in 2001.

"Our players are working hard and coming together as a team," Lovett said.