As the slightly cooling, afternoon rainstorm drifted off into the horizon, the Clinton Dark Horses galloped onto the practice field with high hopes for a competitive season.

According to head coach Steve Mallard, the Dark Horses are composed of 15 returners, or lettermen, this season, and while it is a mixture of juniors and seniors, he confirmed it is mostly seniors hitting the turf this fall.

While last year Mallard commented that the Dark Horses’ strengths will come from the returning players on both sides of the ball, his focus is on skill level this season.

“We’ve got more skilled positions and more skilled players than in the past,” Mallard said of the team. “I think our secondaries (cornerbacks, safeties and any other defensive backs used in nickel-and-dime formation), running backs, wide receivers and quarterback will be a strength for us this year.”

Of those strong positions, Mallard highlighted quarterback Dion Smith; running back Quentin Hill; wide receiver Tray Raynor; and offensive linemen Forrest Strickland and Terry Farrior.

While on the field this season, Mallard revealed that the Dark Horses will be sticking with a Wing T offense and a 5-2 defense.

Even though the Dark Horses have skill on their side this season, Mallard admitted that some weaknesses have surfaced.

Much like last season, Mallard stressed that the Dark Horses’ weakness is depth at all positions, especially the linemen on both sides of the ball, and even though Mallard moved up sophomores to fill the void, inexperience still plays a factor.

“I only have six men on both sides of the ball who have had a consistent playing experience from last year,” Mallard said.

Another area the coach believes to be a “work in progress” is conditioning.

“We’re not quite where I want them to be. We are implementing conditioning drills into the practice, but we also don’t want them to run out of gas,” Mallard stated.

Question marks for last year, Mallard said, were development of the kicking game and remaining injury free.

“I think we shored up the kicking game,” Mallard confirmed Wednesday. “All are returning and have experience; so, hopefully we shored that up from last year.”

Aside from the weaknesses, Mallard said, “We feel like we can be competitive. We got a tough non-conference and bar no injury, we should be competitive in the conference.

The Dark Horses, who play in the East Central 2-A conference, are paired against James Kenan, Wallace-Rose Hill, Triton and East Bladen in the non-conference games, and they will face East Duplin, Topsail, Northside, Croatan, Richlands, South Lenior and Swansboro in the conference.

“Northside, East Duplin and James Kenan will probably be our toughest games,” Mallard stressed, adding that these programs usually reload instead of rebuild.

Mallard also confirmed that the Dark Horses will participate in the Cumberland County Jamboree Thursday, Aug. 13, against Grays Creek, and they will see both Union and Lakewood at the annual Pigskin Jamboree slated for Friday, Aug. 14.

As for the upcoming season, Mallard stated that the Dark Horses are currently focusing on their matchup against a tough James Kenan Tigers team on Aug. 21, watching films from last year and reviewing the scouting reports.

With the logistics aside, Mallard expressed that the team is progressing.

“Some of the guys that were followers now are taking the leadership roles in practice. The enthusiasm is good. I think these young guys are looking forward to play,” Mallard voiced.

As for himself, he stated, “I am looking forward to the season — the new faces in the new positions. I am looking forward to seeing what they can do.”

Although Mallard looks forward to the upcoming season, he did reveal the Dark Horses biggest losses after the 2008 season were 1700-yard rusher Dexter Carr; quarterback Kevin Norris; defensive linemen Stephen Wiggins and James Hunt; and wide receiver Jarrell Henry.

With a roster of roughly 33 players as of Wednesday, the Dark Horses will step into two-a-days next week in preparation for the kickoff Jamborees.

Jessica Wagner can be contacted at 910-592-8137 ext.122 or reached by e-mail at siphoto@myclintonnc.com