After six consecutive one-win seasons, Clements finished 2016 with a three-game winning streak to cap off its best season since 2009. Now, the Colts want to continue those winning ways as they kick off the 2017 season by hosting Danville on Friday.

Head coach Cody McCain said the players had a great spring practice and summer workouts, and that carried over into fall practices.

“The biggest difference I have seen is from a leadership perspective,” McCain said. “It helps us a lot to have a lot of guys returning from last year’s team. We have had to play so many young guys in the past. Leadership and experience have been the biggest difference for us.”

McCain said the experience of winning three straight games to close the season has given the players renewed enthusiasm and energy as they prepared for this season.

“They got a taste of winning last year, and saw that their hard work was beginning to pay off,” he said. “They enjoy that taste much more than going into the locker room after a loss.”

Clements’ players have also taken ownership of the program as they seek to build on last season’s 4-6 record.

“With the solar eclipse (Monday), school was optional for the students,” McCain said. “Kids could miss school and not be counted absent. In years past, we would’ve had 10-15 kids or more missing from practice. But every single kid was there at practice (Monday). It’s a big difference this season. From a leadership perspective, the kids have really bought in to what we’re trying to do.”

This is the second consecutive year Clements has opened up its season by playing Danville. The Colts dropped a 26-6 decision to the Hawks last season.

McCain said Danville plays a physical brand of football, led by fullback Jacob Morehead.

“They are a hard-nosed physical team,” McCain said. “The fullback they have will be one of the tougher runners we will see this year. He had a good game against us last year, and he’ll run in between the tackles behind their big, physical linemen. We will have our hands full there.”

Clements’ defense will be tested against such a physical offense, especially in the first game of the season.

“We will have to be extremely sound on defense,” McCain said. “You worry about how good your tackling is going to be, because we haven’t done much of it live since spring. If you miss tackles, you’re going to get yourself in a really bad spot.”

McCain said he hopes his team can avoid first-game jitters but knows there will be some kinks the team will have to work out during the contest.

“Offensively, you just worry about execution,” he said. “Most teams have a pretty slim playbook going into the first game because you haven’t had a chance to run a lot of offense, so you just run things you feel confident in what you can do. Special teams can also be hit or miss in the first game, with how little time you have been able to devote to kicking, kickoff and punt coverage.”

But if the Colts want to have a successful start to the 2017 season and continue their winning streak from last year, there is a formula they must abide by.

“You have to tackle well, not have any miscues on special teams, put points on the board and not turn the ball over,” McCain said. “Do that and we’ll have a pretty good chance.”