The Stanley-Boyd Oriole football team starts the season Friday with a home scrimmage at Oriole Park.
Orioles head football coach Brody Mahr shared more during practice last week.
“So one thing we did different this summer is with unlimited contact, get a practice lead,” he said. “So  we kept football on their mind through the summer, but you know with summer vacations and other sports, it’s really nice to have the entire group together. But whenever we enter fall camp, we start at the base level, start with the the very foundations, and then we build.”
With approximately 50 kids on the team this year, Mahr said the team had worked harder in the off season. The team has big shoes to fill with Willy Graham and Carter Hodowanic graduating last year.
“We have some big shoes to fill with Willy Graham,” he said. “Him and Carter were huge anchors on the offensive line, but we returned three starters on the offensive line,” Mahr said. Returning this year are Aaron Lew, Deven Parker, and Sawyer Boos.
Lew is staying at center, while Parker will be a guard. Boos and Blake Sokup will be offensive tackle this year.
“Lew is the center, and he’s staying at center, Devin was a guard,” Mahr said. “He’s staying at guard, and Sawyer actually it’s Sawyer and Blake Sokup kind of rotated. They’re both offensive tackle right now.”
As for expectations this year, Mahr emphasized tempo and speed.
“You’re going to see that our guys are, you know, playing with tempo, moving with speed, spreading the field apart,” he said. “We’re attacking it wide. We’re attacking it deep, and we’re creating conflict for defenders all the way across the field.”
Mahr made additional comments as well.
“We’re a young team and we’re still developing. Right now our focus is pretty simple — get better every day and compete. We know we have a lot of work to do, but I like the way the kids have approached things so far. We expect to continue to improve as the season goes on.
“We still have quite a bit of competition going on for starting spots.
“Porter Goettl will be our quarterback. On the offensive line, seniors Deven Parker, Blake Sokup and Sawyer Boos will give us some experience and leadership. We’ll have some younger guys around them who are still developing.
“Defensively, Oliver Hatfield at linebacker and Ryan Bowe at safety are guys we’ll be counting on. Aaron Fredrick brings some experience to the defensive line, but overall we’re still young on that side of the ball as well.
“Jesse Allard has a strong leg and has continued to improve. We think he has a chance to be a real weapon for us in the kicking game.
“I think this team is going to look different as the year goes on. We have a lot of young guys who are going to be asked to play, and they’re going to get better with experience. Right now, we’re not looking too far ahead. We’re focused on getting better every day, competing and seeing where that takes us."
The 2026 Oriole varsity football season starts Friday with scrimmage at Oriole Park. Start time is 10 a.m.