Eudora High football coach Gregg Webb has few questions about his offensive backfield at the outset of the 2005 season.

Quarterback Kyle Brouhard returns after racking up more than 1,200 yards of total offense during his junior campaign, including more than 900 through the air.

When he hands off the pigskin, he’ll have a choice between fellow seniors Luke Abel, a 1,300-yard gainer at tailback in 2004, and bruising fullback James Mills.

The trick for Webb this season will be figuring out how to get the talented backfield trio downfield.

Unlike his first three seasons at the helm – two of which saw the Cardinals advance to the sectional round of the Class 4A playoffs – Webb doesn’t have the luxury of a collection of space-clearing behemoths who allow the teammates lining up behind them to do their thing.

It’s a painful admission for a coach who, in his own words, loves to “pound the ball.”

“This year, our linemen aren’t nearly as big,” Webb said. “I’m not sure we can just line it up and knock people down with this team.

“We’re throwing in some stuff and we’re running some formations you never would have seen me in a couple of years ago.”

Tonight marks the coming-out party for Webb’s new-look outfit, as Frontier League rival Wellsville visits Laws Field for the 2005 season opener. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Eudora opened last season with a 21-0 shutout against the Eagles on its way to an 8-4 finish, and the Cardinals own a six-game winning streak in the series. Eudora’s current run of success – not just at Wellsville’s expense, but the rest of the Frontier League – has caught the eye of Eagles coach Bill Oshel.

“Eudora’s a good ball team, coached well, good kids,” Oshel said. “Right now, they’re kind of on a roll, got some kids believing in the program.”

What the Cardinals lack, besides beefy bodies in the trenches, is experience, with just two starters returning on offense and three on defense.

Oshel will counter with a stockpile of seasoned veterans who return from last year’s team that finished 4-6. While Wellsville’s quarterback battle is still a work in progress, whomever emerges as tonight’s starter will enjoy the services of tailback Kyle Rush, who started as a junior, fellow seniors Travis Messer and Austin Bloss at wide receiver and a senior-dominated front line.

Experience is also a buzzword for the Eagles on defense, where a quartet of seniors anchors Oshel’s 5-2 set.

It’s an overall package that has Webb envisioning a tight outcome to open the 2005 campaign.

“Coach Oshel does a great job with his kids,” Webb said. “You’re just not going to wear them down; you’re not going to beat them up. They’re hard-nosed kids.

“I think it will be a very, very good football game.”