Besides the obvious - they couldn't put up a lot of points and couldn't prevent their opponents from driving in scores - there was another vital factor - depth.

“I'd say the number one thing was our depth,” Littlerock head coach Robert Watts said. “We had a lot of guys that end up playing a lot of minutes. We didn't have a whole lot of backup guys that can go out there and give us quality minutes.

“This year we got a few guys that have some real good experience on varsity," Watts said. "We're going to lean on them. Our starters are pretty good but we got to get some more people behind them so we can create some depth. We're working on our depth this year.”

Brian Lattrell will return to the varsity line-up as the starting quarterback for the third straight year. Lattrell will have fellow senior running back Adam Castrellon. Running back Preston Price, who was the best offensive player for the team last season, and fullback C.J. Miller presence will be missed as both players have graduated.

“He had a pretty good summer,” Watts said of Lattrell. “We're hoping that he keeps progressing.”

The Lobos welcome back offensive/defensive lineman Matt Freeman, who is considered the anchor on both sides of the ball, and center/linebacker Anthony Mosqueda.

“We've been pretty much playing together since we were freshman,” Mosqueda said. “We have really good team this year. The chemistry is already there. We still have to work on our communication. If we can keep up the teamwork we can go far.

"All the pieces seem to be in place," Mosqueda added. "They have the senior veterans with the experience, a high morale, self- motivation and -determination, and wants to go out show that last season was a definite fluke.

"Physically we've gotten better,” Watts said. “We had a real good off-season, we had some guys take some really big steps toward being better football players. I'm excited to see what they can do this year.”