The guys have been receptive to (Jennings) in doing what we ask. We have primarily three seniors and a host of juniors on defense, but they've come together well, too.

It's been a blur after having three tough years. What really makes it bad is the success that these guys are having now as opposed to the first three, and you hate to see it all end. You'd like to see him go through four years like this with this kind of attention and this kind of coach. But it's been great and fun.

I said during the summer that our target is the playoffs — and that would depend on how we start off if we are going to see this thing through. I'm very pleased with the start because I have never been in this position before. I'm not surprised, but just satisfied that we've come together as a team.

I always thought we shouldn't have been in 4A in the first place. In '99, we skipped from 2A to 4A. We struggled in 4A for a while. I feel like now we are right where we belong.

It's going to be important that they want more and they're hungry. The seniors are not real vocal guys. How they develop as leaders, how demanding they are, how hard they compete in the workouts and the practices will be key.

To be quite honest, just being here the last three years, to host hasn't ever been a beneficial thing.