Getting off to a good start isn’t just a hope or a clich? with Brewer High School’s varsity football team, it’s a necessity.

The early part of the season hasn’t been too kind to the Witches in recent seasons and fourth-year head coach Josh Emmett says it’s especially important they reverse that trend this year with a big, but young and inexperienced, squad.

“We have 50 kids out for varsity, but only five are seniors,” said Emmett. “We need to get some experience under our belt very quickly. That’s why we’ve scheduled extra scrimmages.”

With only three starters returning on offense and four on defense, the new guys will have to blossom early.

“We need to have success early. I’m quite pleased with the way preseason’s gone,” Emmett added. “Their enthusiasm is very impressive and I think our schedule bodes well for us, even though no game is easy.”

Brewer opens the season with Class C powers Mattanawcook of Lincoln and Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield and doesn’t hook up with the LTC B teams until the second half of its nine-game season.

“We had some great players last season, but we found out confidence is a very fragile thing,” Emmett said. “They had very high expectations for themselves, which they had a right to, but those expectations and confidence sort of fizzled after our first couple games.”

Brewer lost its first three games last year and started off 0-5 in 1999.

“As a team, we just need to forget everything. The last couple seasons haven’t been that great, but this year we’ve had a great start,” said senior co-captain Chris Cote. “We just need to forget about the past and look forward.”

It’s all about getting in the right psychological mindset, according to senior co-captain Ryan Hahl.

“I think some of our games last year, people just kind of died out in the last quarters because we had some frustrating games,” Hahl explained. “You have to feel what it is to win and then keep striving for it. You have to … change your mind.”

The Witches are going with a double-wing offense featuring two wingbacks (runners-receivers), a tight end, a split end, a quarterback, and a fullback in the backfield. The idea is to get more people involved in the offense after the graduation of all-conference standout Justin Spencer. Emmett says the new formation spreads the ball among four runners and allows the Witches to throw, something he thinks they’ll be more proficient at with the return of starting QB Sean Collins.

Defensively, Brewer will use a split-six alignment featuring four linebackers, an area of particular strength and depth for the Witches.

Overall, Emmett believes the Witches’ team strength is athletic ability, especially in the lines. Brewer’s linemen may not scare anyone, but the interior lines still average about 200 to 205 pounds per player.

The Witches are less bulky and maybe even smaller this year after Emmett instructed his returning veterans to show up a little leaner so they can be aggressive and “chase the ball down.”

The lack of any outside pressure or lofty expectations appears to be aiding Brewer’s players, who seem to have taken to the new systems very quickly.

“There’s a lot less teaching when it comes to offense and defense. It’s just like getting right into it a lot deeper the first day of preseason,” said Hahl.

Cote agrees, noting that preseason camp went by quickly.

“This seems to be a little smoother preseason because everybody knows the offense and, during the summer, we had a great weight room and conditioning attendance,” Cote said. “And I think there’s less pressure. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, but it should be easier for us to maybe get off to a better start this year.”

Emmett has noticed a stronger presence of enthusiasm in camp this year.

“We went up to Millinocket and I’d never seen that kind of spirit from the kids in Brewer,” he said. “Even though these guys are kind of young, they’ve got a little swagger to them and that’s good.”

The LTC Class B ranks have changed this season as Messalonskee has moved up to Class A and Mount Desert Island is back after playing a heavy Class C schedule the last two seasons. Plus, although they’re still technically Western Maine teams playing a heavy West regular season schedule, Leavitt of Turner and Morse of Bath will be eligible for one of the four playoff spots, which will be selected using the Crabtree points system.

“It’s going to be tough, but I think we’ve got a good chance to be successful,” Emmett said. “I sort of see us as playing a bunch of nail-biters all year. Every game we’re going to have to claw and scratch and dig to pull it out.”

BREWER WITCHES

2000 results: 1-8, sixth in LTC Class B

Head coach: Josh Emmett, 4th year

Key players: Chris Cote, WB-LB, Sr.; Ryan Hahl, C-LB, Sr.; Sean Collins, QB, Sr.; Andrew Boyles, TE-NG, Sr.; Ben Lam, SE-LB, Sr.; Josh Caldwell, FB-LB, Jr.; Seth Emerson, WB-CB, Jr.

Outlook: The Witches have depth in terms of numbers, but not a lot of experience, which they hope to overcome with a solid preseason in which very few penalties were committed on either side of the ball. Brewer’s sophomore class looms as a particular strength as they are coming off a solid JV season and appear poised to become the backbone of the team for the next two to three seasons. The Witches’ aim right now is to be in every game through the last downs and turn the frustrating losses of the last two seasons into nerve-wracking wins.