Baldwin High is bracing for Paola.
The Bulldogs, coming off a 1-8 season, hung tough with the Panthers in last year's football opener before falling, 28-13.
BHS opens again with the Panthers. Kickoff is 7 tonight at Liston Stadium.
"Last year I said it was good for us to find out how good we were and we played tough," second-year BHS coach Mike Berg. "It's the same situation this year. We're going to find out how good we are. We've done extra work preparing and we're going to find out if the work has paid off."
Baldwin's roster includes a whopping 75 players, including just 15 seniors.
"They're very anxious," Berg said. "They're tired of practicing. They're ready to go full speed against somebody else. The intensity is there."
Berg plans to rotate several players at running back. Taylor Reed, Adam Turk, Nathan Floersch, Adam Guss and Tyler Craig are expected to share the rushing load.
"We're real team-oriented," Berg said. "We're counting on our linemen coming through and opening holes for our new backs."
Junior Heath Knight, a 6-foot-5, 185-pounder, will quarterback the Bulldogs.
"He's tall and that's good because we have some tall linemen," Berg said. "He's really agile for his height and is good at running the option."
Paola returns 17 letter winners, including seven offensive starters and seven defensive starters from a 6-3 team. Steve Shay is back at running back after averaging 7.7 yards a carry last season.
The Bulldogs will debut their new-colored helmets tonight. Instead of wearing its traditional silver, BHS has opted for Northwestern purple.
"We voted on it as a team and the kids wanted a change," Berg said.
-- Steve Rottinghaus' phone message number is 832-7152. His e-mail address is srottinghaus@ljworld.com
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