Head Coach Dan Nault thinks the Wareham High School football team is going to turn some heads this season.

“My expectation is to be competitive in the league,” said Nault. “I think we’re a year away from being considered ‘the’ contender, but I think we're going to surprise some people.”

Nault said that last year’s team, which finished a disappointing 1-10, was made up of a lot of inexperienced players, but since most of the players will return this year, they will have an added year of experience under their belts.

“The attitude is very good, and the conditioning is ahead of last year,” said Nault. “From the middle to the end of last year, we had a very, very young team. They’re basically all back and have improved considerably.”

Nault said the team has been practicing since this past Monday, Aug. 18., and had its first scrimmage Saturday morning involving two other teams—Mashpee and Durfee—and the results were positive.

“It was a lot better than last year,” said Nault. “We scored about six or seven touchdowns and they scored about three or four.”

As of Saturday, Nault said he had two players slotted for the quarterback position, though he did not say who would start.

Junior Steven Toal, who played tight end, guard, linebacker and defensive back last year will be one of the QBs, with freshman Isaac Nascimento being the other.

He also said he expects the offensive line to be better this year, with six-foot, 215 pound senior Sean Clancy anchoring the group.

“I expect the offensive line a lot better,” he said.  "They’re all a year older and they’re all returning from last year.”

The Wareham High School football team will open its season at home against Stang on Friday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.