photo by: Nick Krug

Lawrence High's Jacob Unruh gets down to put a hit on a tackling bag during Lawrence High's camp on Tuesday, May 31, 2016.

Tuesday morning was supposed to be the start of something new for Lawrence High’s football team.

But there on the LHS turf, as the nearly 100 Lions who will make up the 2016 squad ran through the first day of summer camp, were two familiar faces who could not be missed.

Departed seniors Amani Bledsoe (Oklahoma) and JD Woods (Missouri Western) showed up for the first day of camp, bright and early at the LHS field. Unable to participate, the offensive and defensive stars of last season’s 10-1 team did what they could to help the coaching staff and the young Lions find their footing during the first day of the weeklong, non-contact camp.

“They love Lawrence High, and I think they have a little ownership in next year’s team, too,” LHS coach Dirk Wedd said. “You kind of pass it on. You hope that all the qualities that were stressed during your four years rubbed off on the younger guys.”

Bledsoe and Woods’ attendance did not go unnoticed. Seniors-to-be Jacob Unruh and Trey Moore both said they were thrilled to see their former teammates show up at camp and added that they understood, Tuesday more than ever, that it now is up to them to carry the leadership torch passed down by Bledsoe, Woods, Price Morgan, Trey Georgie and the rest of last year’s LHS senior class.

“Those guys last year taught us exactly how to be leaders and who we are right now as a team,” Unruh said. “Me and Trey are two of the main leaders on this team, and we learned from those guys how to do it.”

Asked to elaborate, the hard-hitting linebacker Unruh pointed to the word “positivity,” while Moore, a running back, explained what he learned by watching that group in 2015.

“They just taught us that there is a big difference between being a boss and being a leader,” Moore said. “It was awesome to see them getting out of bed and taking time out of their day to coach us and help us.”

While a few of the key faces in red and black may look different, the expectations will not change. Unruh said the 2016 squad already felt a great deal of motivation from the chatter that the upcoming season can’t possibly go as well as the 2015 season did. While Wedd agreed to a certain point — “That stuff that happened last year, to have that many horses on one football team, that happens once every 20 years, maybe once in a lifetime,” he said — he also said he was excited to see the drive shown by the latest LHS football team.

“This is more of a Lawrence High football team,” said Wedd, again comparing the blue-collar group he will coach this season to the star-studded lineup he fielded a year ago. “This is what I’ve grown accustomed to, and it’s fun. They kind of decide who the leaders are, but I make the final decision. I’ve gotta trust them for them to be the leader of our football team. And there’s three or four kids that want people to look up to them and follow them.”

While Moore and Unruh certainly are two of them, one of the most intriguing names to watch in 2016 will be junior quarterback Dante Jackson, son of Kansas University football strength-and-conditioning director Je’Ney Jackson.

Jackson, who played inside receiver and cornerback for the Lions last fall, will play a new role in 2016. And from the early look of things, he seems to be transitioning nicely.

“Today was the first time that he’s ever taken a snap,” Wedd said of his dynamic and shifty quarterback. “But what I saw in him was a winner, a kid that will lead a football team, and he’s kind of a gym rat. He’s a coach’s kid, and there are a lot of good qualities that he has that tell me he’s ready.”

Added Unruh: “Give him a couple more weeks, and he’ll have the feel. I think he’s what we were last year as juniors. We were the leaders that would back up the seniors, and I think that’s what Dante is. I’m very excited to see what Dante can do at quarterback this year.”