Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Niles’ Micah Hackett is pursued and tackled by Nicholas Cvengros (10) and Vinny Dennis (17) during a practice on Aug. 5 at Bo Rein Stadium.

NILES — With two seniors on the roster, youth will be the name of the game at Bo Rein Stadium this season, but Niles won’t exactly lack experience.

The Red Dragons went 1-9 a year ago and suffered their fair share of injuries, including losing their starting quarterback after six games.

They took some lumps and were shut out in six of their nine losses, scoring just 48 points, 26 of which came in their lone win over Ashtabula Lakeside.

However, that allowed Jim Parry’s young roster to gain experience.

“I do feel like there’s no experience like being a varsity football player under the lights on a Friday night,” Parry said. “To get out there, and if nothing else, get those first-time jitters. A lot of these kids already had that experience, so it’s going to definitely pay dividends for them.”

Niles returns roughly five or six experienced players on both sides. Several of them will be sophomores and juniors after earning valuable playing time as freshmen and sophomores. Sophomore quarterback Joey Lehman will return under center after suffering an ankle injury that ended his season, wide receiver / defensive back Cash Carey-Hardin is back after starting 10 games as a freshman and Thomas Huffman, one of the two seniors, will anchor the offensive and defensive lines.

Other players with experience are sprinkled throughout Niles’ roster, but as they get set for another year, the longtime head coach has one thing on his mind:

“It’s the urgency of getting to compete at a high level because they don’t get that luxury of learning through junior varsity and freshman football … we’re just going to have to grow up fast,” Parry said.

In high school, some programs find themselves working through years like this. Young players make up the majority of the roster. They have to gather experience to put themselves in a position to succeed in the future, but Parry isn’t necessarily looking toward the future.

“I think you need to learn to compete before you think about winning. Winning and losing is a result of your competitiveness,” Parry said. “There’s no doubt, I think the next two years are going to be fun years around here, but I’m excited about the idea of getting it going this year and that’s what we’re working towards.”

OFFENSE

Niles’ offense will start with Lehman under center. The young signal-caller beat out two others to win the starting job last season but suffered a season-ending injury and missed the final four weeks. The offense mustered just eight points without Lehman.

Parry said Lehman brings a calm presence to the offense. It was one thing that set him apart heading into the season last year, and it is something Parry will count on again.

“His arm is a lot stronger this year. He’s worked hard at some of that, and his leadership has taken over,” Parry said. “But, I didn’t think the moment was ever really too big for him. He’s tough. If you’re tough, you can play this game, and he showed all of those things.”

To avoid a repeat of last year, Parry said they are giving multiple players reps at quarterback to find Lehman’s backup. They haven’t settled on one yet, but he said that player will likely be playing somewhere else on the field regularly.

There’s no Antuan Gardner this year, but Parry will rely on a trio of running backs to establish the ground game. Sophomores Nik Cvengross and Imari Boyd and junior Vince Broll will carry the load. All three played last year but will have bigger roles.

“We feel good by committee back there,” Parry said. “We won’t have an Antuan Gardner type of kid. But those kids will do a nice job.”

The Red Dragons will lean on a few young players on the outside as well. Carey-Hardin is one, while Micah Hackett, Takees Fambro, Mason Burns, Austin Reynolds and Broll will also see time.

Along the front five, Huffman is the old man of the group. He made a few spot starts as a sophomore before locking in a starting role a year ago. Junior Rylin Tvaroch will join him after filling in last year due to injury. Parry is still piecing together the rest.

Junior Brian Parsons, who got some playing time last year, along with transfer Nico Marchionte are competing for spots along with “a couple other kids that don’t have much experience that are going to be sophomores and juniors,” Parry said.

DEFENSE

Junior Brayden Crislip and several of the players who play offensive line will see time on the defensive side as well.

Of Crislip, Parry said: “Some guys are a little more instinctual defensively. He’s a quick kid that I think will give some people trouble.”

At the second level, Parry said there will be a group of five or six players in the mix. Sophomore Gavin D’errico, who started a few games as a freshman but suffered an elbow injury, will be part of the group. Cvengross, Reynolds, Broll, Boyd and transfer Jaden Burnett, who started as a freshman at East last season, will be in the mix as well.

“There are some kids there, we’re just trying to figure out who’s going to be inside and who’s more natural outside,” Parry said. “But, they are all willing tacklers, and to me, that’s the biggest thing from the linebacker room, just trying to get after the ball. I wish we had more of them, but I think the kids that are there are quality football players.”

Burns, Reynolds and Hackett will lock down the safety position while Fambro, senior Brycen Clinkscale and Carey-Hardin will play cornerback.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Red Dragons find themselves looking for a kicker after their kicker suffered a hip injury. So that is one question mark Niles needs to answer before the season opener against Howland.

Parry said Parsons will punt and Burnett has showcased a “live leg” during practices. As far as returning punts and kickoffs, Parry is still testing out candidates and will see what certain players can do during scrimmages. However, Burns and junior Juawaun Wright have been “very comfortable” doing that so far.