Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Helena Huskies may just be one day into fall practice, but they’re ready to get going and build off of last year’s success.

While Helena had to replace multiple key pieces from a talented senior class, including quarterback Carson Acker and All-County talents Jordan Washington, Joseph Roberto and Nate Thomason, this year’s seniors are motivated to go even further and leave their own mark, including JT Alvis.

“Looking back at last year, we could have went way further,” Alvis said. “So, for this year, that’s motivation for us, because I think we’ve replaced all the missing pieces very well with all of the whole team, so I think we’ll go farther this year and just get over that hump.”

To do that, coach Richie Busby knows it comes down to the fine margins. Last year, those margins were tough losses to Benjamin Russell, Vestavia Hills and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, the three playoff teams that they fell to in 2023.

His goal is always to go deep in the postseason, but the goal is to first make the playoffs, and that means taking every week as its own challenge.

“Our goal is to get in the playoffs every year,” Busby said. “That’s our main goal, and then a region championship and then obviously the state championship, but we can’t worry about that until we get in, and that’s our goal, and hopefully we’ll continue to progress as a program and be able to move further along in the playoffs.”

Senior Kevin Pinkard sees it as getting everyone on the same page throughout the season, starting with the newcomers around him at linebacker and cornerback, and maintaining that through November to achieve their goal.

“I would say from last year, just when we get to the playoffs, everybody’s got to be on the same page and keep pushing,” Pinkard said. “Last year, there were some people on the team that really didn’t care, so when we got to the playoffs, we just didn’t play as well. But if we get everybody on the same page this year and they know what the true goal is to make it to the third round, the fourth round, the state championship, then we’ll go far.”

Torrey Ward believes that will come from up top from the seniors as they seek to take charge and lead by example. As a group, they have a great bond and want that to be exhibited from the top down.

“We need to stay in the best condition possible so we can be good when it’s when it’s go time for playoffs. And I think the team will only go as far as the senior leaders want it to go because if the senior leaders are out there joking around and they’re not taking it seriously, then what is everybody else going to be doing?”

That leadership will be key with young skill players coming up through the ranks.

The Huskies will be aided in the run game by rising running back stars Jeremy Spratling and Domynyck Santiago, who Busby hopes to split the load between similarly to in 2022 behind an offensive line with three returning starters in Josue McNeal, Grant Vines and Eli Berry.

Over on defense, an experienced offensive line and secondary will join a rising linebacker corps led by Jonathan Roberto, one of last season’s breakout stars as he follows in his older brother Joseph’s footsteps as a defensive game wrecker.

Those newcomers mean the theme at Helena will once again be reloading, but with a track record of success and a promising crop of rising talent, the Huskies still set their expectations high as they aim to keep the just over a decade-old program moving forward.