Correspondent file photo / Michael G. Taylor Garfield’s Brandyn Bogucki breaks through the offensive line to gain yardage against Champion last season.

For a coach, arguably the most fun position to be in is to have a team full of young players with varsity experience.

Going into the year with a solid foundation and having plenty to build on for years to come.

Entering 2025, Garfield fits that mold.

Graduating just seven players from last year, the G-Men return quite a few players with quality varsity experience.

“Coming back, we had about 54 on the roster, and we graduated seven last year. There’s a mathematical way of figuring that out I’m sure,” Garfield coach Mike Moser said with a laugh. “Last year, we played a lot of close games, and we found ways to win and I hope they (retained that.) The message that we’re trying to send this year is just how hard that is to not be complacent and that winning’s difficult. We play a tough schedule, and we play a lot of good teams, so we’re going to have to earn it every single day.”

Garfield has won at least nine games in each of the last six seasons. The G-Men can credit their success to a steady stream of talent coming through the program over the years, and the culture those teams have instilled.

“You lose kids every year and it, and we’ve lost a lot of good kids over the years,” Moser said. But some of these guys have been waiting patiently in the wings, and I’m excited to see what they do with their opportunity.

“These guys, I think they’ve had some really good role models. They’ve had guys to look at in front of them, they’ve had some opportunities on Fridays to play in some games. We work really hard year round and I think the kids are just excited to get their chance to show people what they can do. They don’t have to necessarily be rushed into it. They get a year or so to kind of sit and learn and play a lot of games on Saturdays.”

Despite the experience the kids have, the G-Men are still somewhat of a blank slate. Entering his 13th season at the helm of the Garfield program, Moser has seen a lot of different teams. Early on in camp, he’s still not entirely sure what to expect from this group.

“I don’t know (what this group’s identity is) yet, and that’s kind of one of the things you gotta figure out in camp,” Moser said. “I keep going back to hard workers and we are hard workers. I’m excited to see that identity as it comes out of camp. How physical are we? How fast off the ball are we defensively? How locked in are we? I’m excited to see all those things.”

No matter what shape the G-Men take this year, Moser’s goals are always the same. It’s the same three things as every year. If they can manage to do those things, Garfield will be in a great spot to keep its program success rolling.

“Goals never change, expectations never change,” Moser said. “We always start off with defending home field. We want to contend for a league title and qualify for the playoffs. We figure, if we do those three things, we’re going to be where we want to be at the end of the year. The expectations are just to get better every day. If we do everything we want to do, we have an idea where we have where we could put ourselves by the end of the year, but you got to earn the right to play in those games. I don’t believe in talking about championships or any of those things, and that starts off with week one with Edgewood. That’s where our focus is.”

As always, Garfield has a tough schedule designed to prepare them for Week 11 and beyond. With a much-improved league slate awaiting them, Moser says there’s no days off this year.

“It’s a loaded schedule,” he said of this year’s opponents. “Edgewood’s going to be much better. Then JFK and Springfield right out of the gate. Those are three tough games. The league is going to be the league, but Crestview brings back basically everybody and Liberty’s going to be a problem, so we’re going to have to be ready to play every Friday night and we know that the kids know that.”

OFFENSE

While not committing to Jack Neikirk as the full-time starter just yet, he is currently leading the battle for the quarterback position.

Jace Vanek and Colin McGranahan are also in the mix for the role.

With the offense Garfield runs comes plenty of opportunities for multiple different players to touch the ball.

This year, a lot of them return.

Neikirk, Devin Bates, Ryder Cain, and Brandyn Bogucki will all see carries this season. Logan Sell is the team’s main blocking back alongside Bruce Nelson and Evan Martin.

Having that many players able to carry the ball on a game-by-game basis has always been a big part of the G-Men’s success.

“That’s kind of always been us,” Moser said. “We’ve had some really good runners over the years, but we try not to overload anybody too much. Our offense dictates that a lot of guys touch the ball, so it’s kind of the strength in numbers thing with us. Normally, you know, six or seven guys touch the ball for us on a Friday night back there, so I think it’s an advantage for us.”

Henry Veccia and Colton Miller are going to play some tight end this year.

On the offense line, watch for Lucas Neiheisel, Caden Roman, Michael Huebner, Mason Kurtzman, Landon Joy, John Timmons and Jared Cardinal to fight for spots.

DEFENSE

Veccia and Miller are expected to be the middle of Garfield’s defensive front this season.

Timmons, Cardinal, Huebner, and Evan Martin are names to watch for to round out the defensive line, but all of them have a good shot at seeing the field.

“For an odd-front defense, we’ll probably play a lot of different guys up front,” Moser said.

Sell and Bates will once again anchor the team at inside linebacker. Sam Strahan will spell them when needed.

On the outsides, Nelson, Martin, and Colton Miller are in the mix.

The G-Men return everyone to the secondary from last year’s group.

Neikirk, Bogucki, Will Simon, Nathan Baczkowski, McGranahan, and Oliver Walker will all see significant time in the defensive backfield.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Currently, Hannah Timmons, who kicked extra points last season, is the favorite to win the placekicking role this season. Strahan will handle kickoffs.

Punter is still up in the air for the G-Men.