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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Much of the state may consider the Thompson Warriors to be on a revenge tour after falling just short of their fifth straight state championship in 2023, but while they’re partly using last year’s loss as a motivator, it’s business as usual this year.

Coach Mark Freeman’s goal is to put 2023’s shortcomings in the past and focus on one day at a time throughout the year to not suffer any drop-off.

“We’re looking at today and trying to get better today and then looking at tomorrow,” Freeman said. “I don’t think we’ve looked back. I think maybe week after the season we looked back, and we all know how that last season went, but don’t get lost in that, we did play in a state championship last year. There’s not a whole lot of things to change. We’ve just got to go and get back to the things that we do.”

The good news is, with a lot of key pieces back from last year’s team, including Trent Seaborn, Anquon Fegans, Cam Pritchett and Mike Dujon, there is a dynamic foundation to build off of and ensure continuity from last year’s team.

Seaborn wasn’t at media days this year, but Freeman said that he’s growing both mentally and physically and is more reliable as a signal caller, which will be needed after losing his top three receivers Kolby Hearn, Deuce Oliver and Colben Landrew.

“He had a great offseason,” Freeman said of Seaborn. “He’s learned a little bit more than last year. He’s up to 6-foot-1, about 193 (pounds) now. He’s mature and going to 10th grade and a great leader, great person, somebody that you can feel really good at on Thursday night that he’s home doing what he’s supposed to be doing.”

Seaborn coming back and the rest of the returning foundation means that in Freeman’s eyes, not much needs to change, but he is still focused on shoring up any weaknesses, particularly in the run game after that played a factor down the stretch.

“We’ve got to run the football this year and I think if we could run the football better last year in certain situations, we had a chance last year to do it again,” Freeman said.

That run game starts with an offensive line led by center Dylan Marquess, Braydon Saylor and incoming transfer AJ Williams.

Marquess believes this year’s group is one of the closest he’s been a part of, which means their communication has come leaps and bounds since last season and complements their physical growth from the offseason.

“Our communication from starting to this point last year is thousands of times better than where it was last year,” Marquess said. “I think we’re a much smarter offensive line. I think we’re able to do different things that we’ve done in the past just because we’re communicating better and playing at a smarter level.”

Size was also a problem for the defense last season as even linebacker Vini Pires admits they were undersized. However, that has changed and he believes that their playmaking abilities will make a difference up front in the run protection.

“We were kind of undersized with our defensive line,” Pires said. “We were good, but this season we’re going to be great. The size we have is going to allow the linebackers and DBs to make a lot of plays in the secondary, and it’s going to open up a lot more plays for us. Teams are not going to be able to run the ball on us. We’re going to stop that.”

New players are coming in at each level of the defense, but particularly at defensive line with Jared Smith and Nik Alston entering their first seasons with the Warriors.

With that, Payton Lewis has worked alongside the linebackers and defensive backs to shore up the coverage and allow the line to get opportunities to make plays.

“With new players coming in, stepping up on defensive line, this allows us as DBs and linebackers to really focus on coverage and receivers, guarding receivers, and it’s allowing us to make more plays in coverage,” Lewis said. “So, I would say we’re focusing more on stopping big plays from happening, not just the run, and working the way down the field.”

Freeman’s longtime message to his team has been that winning is not a guarantee, even when they reigned atop Class 7A for four straight years. Now that they are no longer on top of the mountain, he said that message has gone down easier.

However, in the process of recovering from that failure, the team has gotten closer to each other. Freeman believes the bonds on this team are some of the strongest he’s seen in his time coaching.

“They’re a great team,” Freeman said. “It’s probably one of the best bonded teams since I’ve been here from top to bottom as far as friendships, supporting each other, and really truly being friends to each other.”

The hope is that those bonds lead to better team chemistry and another trip to the place the Warriors have called home for the past six years: the Super 7.