After going winless in 1999, coach John Garner and the East Prairie Eagles made noticeable improvement last season.

The squad earned just two victories, but competed well with several teams on the schedule, losing three games by eight points or less.

Returning much of its roster, Garner is hoping experience can turn those close losses into victories this time around.

"We've got some good experience coming back," said Garner. "We're looking for a very positive year. Last year we were much more competitive. Now we're looking to take that next step. Tradition helps teams, and that's what we're trying to build here in East Prairie."

The Eagles will start six seniors on both offense and defense.

Depending on D'

Like last year, East Prairie will look to its defense to keep them in games. Led by the senior linebacking corps of Josh Thurman, Chase Brewer and David Heath, the Eagles have few questions on that side of the ball.

"Those three have played for us since I got here when they were sophomores," said Garner. "They've all got the heart and they want to win ballgames. Hopefully, our defense is going to be pretty solid."

Last year Thurman had 90 tackles and was all-conference and all-region.

"We've got some good senior leadership on our defense," said Garner. "That is the strength of our team. Hopefully our offense can score enough points to put us in the win column."

Red zone problems

Last year East Prairie's offense was able move the ball, but struggled finishing off drives once inside the 20. The offense averaged 7.9 points a game.

"I think that comes with experience," said Garner. "We were very productive on offense until we hit what we called the red wall. We would hit the red zone, but just couldn't get past it. There were several games where we had 280 yards of offense, but had just 12 points on the board. We're hoping we can break that down."

After starting the final three games last season, sophomore Matt Boyer will be the team's quarterback.

And he will have an extra target this season as East Prairie switches to a Pro-I offensive formation, eliminating the third running back and adding a receiver.

"We may throw the ball a little more this year," said Garner. "We expect (Boyer) to be a solid player for us. We don't expect anything spectacular out of him, but we expect him to lead and do the things we ask him to do."

The Eagles will rotate four running backs in the backfield. Boyer's receivers are young. The offensive line has some experience, but doesn't offer up much size.

"We're not a big-play team," said Garner. "We've got to drive the ball down the field and we've got to get the ball in the end zone. If we can stay healthy, hopefully good things will happen for us."

Without much depth, injuries could be a major factor in East Prairie's season. If the Eagles are healthy for districts, they could be a factor in the wide open 2A District 1 race.

"Malden has always been out of everybody's league just because of their athletes, but they lost a tremendous amount of talent last year," noted Garner. "We were close in the first two (district) games last year. I would still probably give (Malden) a little bit of an edge because they've won it the last two years."

Although a district title is a season goal, just taking another step forward is priority number one for East Prairie this season.

"As a head coach, you always want it to happen faster, but I think we're on the right course," said Garner. "It's all up to the kids. They've worked really hard the last three years. We're going to keep playing hard-nosed football. We're going to run the ball, throw when we need to, and play good defense. This team can be a pleasant surprise."

EAST PRAIRIE

THE TEAM

P COACH: John Garner, third year

P ENROLLMENT, CLASSIFICATION: 316; Class 2A District 1

P KEY LOSSES: (RB) Cody Archie, (FB) Colby Archie, (WR) Paul Choate.

P RETURNING STARTERS: 12

LAST SEASON (2-7) THIS SEASON

at Hayti L 33-12

Corning, Ark. W 31-07

Scott City L 07-06

Dexter L 28-08

at Chaffee L 20-06

at Charleston L 24-00

Portageville W 08-06

Caruthersville L 08-00

at Malden L 44-00

A. 31 vs. Hayti

S. 7 at Corning, Ark.

S. 14 at Scott City

S. 21 vs. Fulton, Ky.

S. 28 at Dexter

O. 5 vs. Chaffee

O. 12 vs. Charleston

O. 19 at Portageville

O. 26 at Caruthersville

N. 2 vs. Malden

THE MAGNIFICENT ELEVEN

{PROBABLE STARTERS}

P OFFENSE

QB Matt Boyer (6-0, 165, jr.)

RB David Heath (5-10, 160, sr.)

FB Chase Brewer (5-10, 165, sr.)

LT Brian Rayburn (6-3, 230, fr.)

RT Travis Hammontree (6-0, 190, sr.)

LG Nick Rayburn (6-0, 190, so.)

RG Ben Gammons (5-9, 170, sr.)

C Brandon Grissom (5-10, 180, sr.)

TE Galen Jones (6-0, 175, so.)

WR Josh Boyer (5-10, 160, so.)

FL - Josh Shoffner (5-8, 165, sr.)

P DEFENSE

NG Cory Hutcheson (5-10, 180, sr.)

DT Jarrod Hutcheson (5-10, 185, jr.)

DT Ben Gammons (5-9, 170, sr.)

OLB Jacob Poore (5-9, 165, so.)

OLB Josh Boyer (5-10, 160, so.)

MLB Josh Thurman (5-8, 170, sr.)

ILB Chase Brewer (5-10, 165, sr.)

ILB David Heath (5-10, 160, sr.)

CB Josh Shoffner (5-8, 165, sr.)

CB Jeremy Boyer (5-11, 165, so.)

FS Brent Harland (6-0, 165, so.)

P KEY SUBSTITUTES: (DL) Aaron Gifford

P SPECIAL TEAMS: K Aaron Gifford, 6-0, 190, sr; P Aaron Gifford, 6-0, 190, sr.; KR David Heath, 5-10, 160, sr.; PR David Heath, 5-10, 160, sr.

THE GOOD

P With six offensive and six defensive seniors starting, East Prairie finally has some experience.

P Josh Thurman, Chase Brewer and David Heath will form the most formidable East Prairie linebacking corps in recent memory.

P The Eagles will rotate four solid running backs in Heath, Brewer, Josh Boyer and Brent Harland.

THE BAD AND THE UGLY

P East Prairie doesn't have much size on the offensive line. Four of the five starters weigh 190 or less and are at or below the 6-foot mark.

P The Eagles will be extremely young at receiver, and don't offer up much depth at any position.

P Considering the strength of schedule, East Prairie has no guaranteed victories.

HOW BOUT IT COWBOY?

{Inside the mind of senior DT BEN GAMMONS}

KEYS TO THE SEASON

P "Teamwork, hard work and determination. We have to

push ourselves to become better players."

P "We've got a good class of seniors that can motivate

the underclassmen and get them believing in what we're

doing."

P "We expect to have the best defense in the conference."

BEST THING ABOUT FOOTBALL

P "It's just fun to play. There is no better feeling than playing together with your buddies."

SUPERSTITIONS

P "I really don't have any. I just get mentally prepared before games, then go out and do my best."

PERSONAL GOALS

P "Of course I would love to be all-conference or all-state, but that's not really what I'm worried about. I would like to see us win our district and reach the playoffs. We want to win six or more games."

QUICK DRAWS

P East Prairie lost three games by a total of 10 points in 2000 ... East Prairie has had nine head coaches since 1985 ... Games will be broadcast on KYMO-AM 1080.