HAMPDEN – After leading the Hampden Academy football team to a Pine Tree Conference Class B playoff berth last fall in his first year as the Broncos’ head coach, Harry McCluskey sought to build on that momentum with a little help from his friends.

So McCluskey, a longtime high school coach in Texas and Colorado, invited several of his former coaching colleagues to Maine this summer to conduct a two-week camp for his charges, and he followed that up in July with a once-a-week night of seven-on-seven scrimmages.

“It was a chance for the kids to spend more time playing football, spend more time thinking about football,” said McCluskey.

Last season’s postseason appearance, as well as a general increased knowledge of McCluskey’s system, have left the Broncos far advanced of their 2005 preseason learning curve as they prepared for their 2006 opener.

“We’re way ahead of last year at this point,” McCluskey said. “The kids have shown themselves to have a pretty good retention of what they learned last year.”

Seventeen seniors headline Hampden’s 33-player varsity roster, and most of them bring considerable experience and motivation from the progress they made a year ago.

“We’re returning so many seniors this year,” McCluskey said. “I think they’re fired up to do something.”

Things are looking up in the younger levels of the program, too, as between 20 and 30 freshmen are playing football in Hampden after going undefeated as eighth-graders.

“We’re keeping the freshmen separate this year,” McCluskey said. “Last year we had to use sophomores on the freshman team to have enough to play games.”

One of this year’s sophomores, quarterback Shawn Smith will play a pivotal role in the success of the 2006 varsity squad. Smith stepped into the starting role midway through last season, and that experience should serve him well this fall.

“He’s going to be a good quarterback,” said McCluskey. “Shawn has the confidence of a junior or a senior, and he’s going to get better as he gains more experience.”

And that’s the primary goal throughout the program, for with continued improvement, the results will take care of themselves, McCluskey added.

“We made the playoffs last year, and the kids went to Leavitt and gave it all, they really played together as a team.

“I’m looking forward to the season, because this is a great group of kids to coach and they’re fun to be around.”

HAMPDEN ACADEMY BRONCOS

2005 results: 4-5, lost in Eastern B quarterfinals

Head coach: Harry McCluskey, second year

Key players: Kyle Ross, FB-LB, Sr.; Craig Sarecki, WR-RB-S, Sr.; Bob Seger, RB-QB-DB, Sr.; Matt York, OL-DL, Sr.; Joel Ranger, OL-DL, Sr.; Mike Butler, OL-DL, Sr.; Luke Rancourt, OL-DL, Sr.; Eddie Becker, FB-LB, Jr.; Shawn Smith, QB, Soph.

Outlook: Things are looking up for the Broncos, both now and in the longer term. McCluskey has instilled optimism within the program, and in Smith Hampden has a quarterback to build around for three more seasons. The Broncos are poised for a return trip to the Eastern B playoffs. After placing seventh and hitting the road for its playoff game in 2005, Hampden hopes to contend for home-field advantage in 2006.