When you only have 23 total players on your team roster, the most important thing to work on in practice is conditioning, conditioning, and conditioning.

“Yeah, we have a LOT of two-way starters so we’re emphasizing conditioning and versatility,” said Joe Hayden, who enters his second season as head football coach at Madison, a school with an enrollment of 325 students.

If that wasn’t enough of a hurdle to overcome, the area which is most thin in terms of depth is also the one in which the Bulldogs have the most inexperience: the interior lines.

“We have good depth in the skill positions, but we only have 10 or 11 potential linemen and three of them have had almost no experience,” Hayden said. “We have sophomores starting at both tackle positions and another at guard.”

Hayden is trying to guard against potential line attrition problems by having all his linemen work out at different positions so they can fill in for anyone who gets injured.

“We don’t back off them. They work very hard,” Hayden said. “We don’t even have a chance to give them many breaks since we don’t have enough of them.”

Sure, the Bulldogs have some potential worries, but they’re not without their strengths. Madison returns 11 starters and has plenty of experience and maturity in the skill positions, allowing it to diversify and add to its offense.

“We have a few wrinkles we’ve added to the offense that we put in the last part of last season and this year that should help us address the scoring problems we had,” said Hayden.

Their 2-7 record wouldn’t hint at it, but the Bulldogs outgained opposing teams more than once last season and still lost.

“We couldn’t punch it in the end zone and fell short on the scoreboard,” Hayden said. “I think we’re going to have to have good ball control again, and turn those long drives into scores this time.”

The Bulldogs should be able to pass more this season with the return of 6-foot-3, 205 pound quarterback Dan Kalagher, whose size helps him spot receivers over the middle and break tackles while running out of the team’s option/veer formations. He will have a new mentor this season in quarterbacks-receivers coach Brian Luce.

Senior Tim Fortin is switching from fullback to tight end to better utilize his receiving skills, but will also see time at halfback and wide receiver and will be back for his third season as a starting outside linebacker.

Defensively, the “50” base will feature five players up front and three in coverage.

Senior Alex Grover switched from defensive tackle to end on the fly last year almost seamlessly and will be back at end this season, at least early on.

How much improvement the Bulldogs enjoy depends largely on how quickly and well the nine sophomores on the squad develop, especially the two-way starters like Dustin Whipple.

“The thing I like most about this team is the attitude. They do what you want, when you want it and however many times it needs to be done,” Hayden said. “It makes my job a lot easier.”

MADISON BULLDOGS

2004 results: 2-7,

Head coach: Joe Hayden, second season

Key players: Woody Noyes, HB-CB/LB, Sr.; Sam Wagg, WR/SE/HB-CB, Sr.; Tim Fortin, TE-OLB, Sr.; Alex Grover, OG-DL, Sr.; Mitch Steward, FB-OLB, Sr.; Dan Kalagher, QB-FS/DE, Sr.; Garick Brown, C-NT, Jr.; D.J. Doiron, WR-DB, Sr.

Outlook: The Bulldogs bring back plenty of players who endured a frustrating 2004 season in which they beat some teams statistically, but not on the scoreboard. That should be a source of motivation for a more experienced and accomplished squad.