HASTINGS, Neb. – The Hastings St. Cecilia Football team is a storied program with three state championship titles and 31 playoff appearances in school history.

2024 was a memorable, and also not so memorable season at the same time, as the then young Bluehawk team failed to win a game in nine contests.

But after visiting preseason practice this week, players like Senior Aiden Schieffer say they started putting last season behind them right after the season ended, and immediately starting preparing for next year.

"We said we got to do something different, so we all got in the weight room right away, November, December, even during basketball I was in their four times a week lifting," said Schieffer. "If you want to be different you got to do different things, you can't expect the same outcome with doing the same thing, so I'm excited to see what we can do this year."

Last season, St. Cecilia only had six seniors on the team.

The roster this year has 33 boys, with most players returning, and many of them are noticeably bigger.

Head Coach Clint Head has noticed that as well, and says he's expecting that to make the team display more physicality this year.

"You can physically see that we've grown up. There's a big difference in a year with a 15-year old than a kid that goes to 16, or a kid 16-years old that turns 17," said Head. "Last year, I think we had one kid on the roster that was over 200 pounds. We've got three kids up front right now that are in the 215-220 range, and one of them at 260, so we feel pretty good about that."

With a smaller 11-man football team than normal, Junior Andrej Sabatka is one of the many upperclassmen who has helped the tight-knit team grow closer and stronger in the weight room, plus on and off the field.

"From last year, our leadership has gotten a lot better for sure. We've also had a lot of guys step up, some younger classmen step up," said Sabatka. "Those juniors last year going into seniors this year, they've really built more of a team aspect of it, and we're a lot closer as one. They've been very good in the locker room and weight room and everything we do."

Head and the players expect the Bluehawks to get back to a run-first offense, and to become more physical on the field to get back to their old winning ways.

St. Cecilia is on the road to start their season next Friday at Grand Island Central Catholic, which will be broadcast on ESPN KICS.