You wouldn’t think things would be so rosy in the preseason for the Purple Panthers.

Losing arguably your best player – an evasive and mercurial veteran quarterback who made Waterville’s option offense even more difficult to defend – would normally be a crippling blow, but you won’t find anyone shedding tears over it in the Elm City.

That’s probably because Dan Hussey’s replacement, senior Nate Lancaster, is already battle-tested, game-proven, and a trusted leader for the Panthers.

“Fortunately, Nate got some experience for us and started the last three games when Hussey was hurt,” said Waterville coach Frank Knight. “He doesn’t have the elusiveness and on-field savvy Dan had, but he’s a great leader.

“We’ll still do what we do, but you might see us run a little bit less option.”

Lancaster earned lots of respect as he helped lead Waterville to a No. 5 playoff seeding.

Hussey is still playing, but he’s playing for Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y.

With Lancaster as the signal-caller, Waterville’s offense will still be more wide-open than the typical wing-T. It will also remain potent as Lancaster averaged more than 100 yards per game passing and the new senior backfield of tailback Mike Bernhardt and fullback Chris Smith also gained a lot of experience at both positions last year.

“A lot of these guys started with guys hurt or played a lot last season, so we’re actually fairly experienced,” Knight said.

The Panthers don’t have a lot of holes to fill with seven starters returning on both sides of the ball, but they were dealt a bit of added adversity when starting tight end-linebacker J.D. Guiski broke his leg in a trampoline accident just before the first day of practice and will miss most of the season. Senior Shaun Stetson will switch from split end to tight end to replace him.

Having 39 players out for football doesn’t give Knight huge numbers, but he does have a lot of depth to go with the team’s extensive experience.

“We’re very strong in our offensive line, offensive backfield, and interior defensive line,” Knight said. “We think we have guys to rotate in and out, so we’d like to sub as many guys as we can to keep everyone fresh.”

An area of weakness, or at least concern, is the team’s overall size. The Panthers don’t have as many physically imposing players as they usually do.

“We have kids who can run, but not necessarily big and physical guys, so we’ll have to hide those guys in certain situations,” Knight said.

Waterville’s continuity continues as it employs a 5-2 defensive set and another positive is this being its second season in the PTC Class B ranks.

“Certainly, our familiarity is a little bit better now that we’ve seen teams like Brewer and Belfast, and know what Hampden does,” Knight said. “We know what we’re getting into.”

WATERVILLE PURPLE PANTHERS

2005 results: 6-4, lost to Winslow in PTC Class B semifinals

Head coach: Frank Knight, 17th year

Key players: Nate Lancaster, QB-DE, Sr.; John Ringer, OT-LB, Sr.; Chris Smith, FB-DE, Sr.; Mike Bernhardt, TB-OLB, Sr.; Paul LePage, C-NG, Sr.; Chris Genest, G-DT, Sr.; Jordan Shulman, OT-DT, Sr.; Nick Gatz, LG-ILB, Sr.; Caleb Johnston, RB-OLB, Jr.

Outlook: The Panthers return plenty of game experience from last season and look like a team loaded with versatile players. Knight wasn’t impressed with his first preseason scrimmage, but thinks his team is a playoff contender. Two-way junior tackle Derek Jolicoeur twisted a knee in preseason and is an early question mark. Senior Joel Allen is back after playing golf for two seasons.