There will be plenty of new faces on the field when the Aberdeen Central football team takes the field Friday for the season opener against Pierre.

Second-year coach Justin Briese said he expects players to step up in key positions for the Golden Eagles this season.

“I’m expecting our underclassmen that didn’t get a lot of playing time are going to see improvement each week as the season goes on,” Briese said.

One of the team’s strengths will be up front on the offensive line, which returns four starters from last season, including tackle Bryce Beitelspacher, center Samson Flakus, and guards A.J. Prehn and Andrew Jorgenson.

“We’re going to lean heavily on our offensive line. It’s our most experienced group,” Briese said. “That’s going to be the strength of our team, and then to have them to lean on and be able to control the ball offensively is going to be big for us.”

Along with relying on a veteran offensive line, the offense also returns senior fullback Austin Erickson, who provides versatility for the Eagles.

“He does a ton for us – run game, pass game. He’s in the backfield blocking, he’s out wide running routes as well, so he’s going to be a kid that’s all over the place” Briese said. “It might be kind of hard to keep track of him, but he’s out there doing all kinds of stuff.”

The offense will feature several new starters at key positions. Senior Parker Lemer will take over the reins at quarterback, while fellow senior Avery Ligon will take over the starting running back duties. Briese sees potential in both players.

“(Parker) is a good passer and has the ability to use his legs to move the ball as well,” Briese said. “(Avery) runs the ball hard and runs the ball well.”

Briese also noted that junior Brody Aesoph will be a key newcomer at wide receiver for the Golden Eagles.

Defensively, the Golden Eagles will be young and inexperienced, and will need to have players step into big roles early in the season. Briese noted players such as linebacker Bodey Tracy, defensive back Oliver Rife, and defensive linemen Ayden Gisi and Jack Bertsch will be key newcomers for Central’s defense.

“Our only returner on defense is free safety Jett Carlson, so he’ll be out there with the most experience, but I think we’ve got a good group of sophomores and juniors that are ready to go,” Briese said. “We’ve had fall camp and we’ve had all summer to get them ready to go.”

Throughout the summer, the Golden Eagles have worked on developing their skills through individual workouts, which Briese says helps when it comes time for fall camp.

“We’ve been able to utilize a lot of offseason time to do a lot of skill developments in the summer, and so it helps us out a lot with that aspect,” Briese said. “That way when we get into the camp time when August hits, we can get into more team situations and not focus so much on the individual skills.”

During fall camp, the team has been working hard preparing for their first contest this Friday at Golden Eagles Field against Pierre. The Governors have won the past six Class 11AA state titles, and despite losing a plethora of talent to graduation, Briese knows his team cannot overlook its first opponent.

“Of course, Pierre being a pretty good team the last couple of years is a big one to circle on the calendar, and to start the season with them is always tricky,” Briese said. “But at the same time, we’ve got a whole new team and they have almost a whole new team as well, and it’ll be a good one. They’ve had a tradition, and that’s just what it is, but they lost quite a few kids, and I think if we play well, we’ll have a shot.”

The Golden Eagles’ ultimate goal, like any other team, is to win the state championship at the end of the season. However, Briese said the team is focusing on smaller goals that can help the Eagles be successful in the long run.

“Our goal has to be individually each play, each game working on doing what we can do to be successful,” Briese said. “We really focus on our kids, our team competing at the best of their ability each week, each play, each game, so that if they do those things well and they do them right, we’re going to set up the rest of the team for a successful season.”