The Vanier Vikings made some good strides last season, winning twice and almost advancing into the semifinals with a close lose to Swift Current in the quarterfinals.

The key for the Vikings heading into the 2016 Moose Jaw High School Football League season is finding a way to build off the success that they were able to have last season.

“We’ve had the best camp that we’ve had in the last few years,” said head coach Ryan Gottselig. “We’re young in spots, but there’s a lot of athleticism out here, so we’re pretty excited.”

Putting together that two-game winning streak did a lot for the confidence of the Vikings’ program, which has struggled in recent seasons. Gottselig added that the way things ended in the quarterfinals gave the players some motivation in the offseason.

“Guys were disappointed in the way that the season ended, but certainly used that in the offseason,” said Gottselig. “We’ve had guys lifting and preparing for this year, so there’s a pretty good renewed enthusiasm around here.”

The biggest challenge for the Vikings heading into this season is finding a way to replace last year’s league MVP Kelton Kouri, who led the league with 1,239 rushing yards and was the focal point of the Vikings’ offence.

They have grade 11 quarterback Ryan Stefanovic back under centre for a second season and he’s going to be leaned on to get their offence going.

“Going into my second year, I should be able to improve on my first year – which wasn’t very good,” said Stefanovic.

“I was definitely a little nervous last year, going into my first year. I gained a lot of experience over the last year, played South Sask, went to Rams’ camp and have definitely improved from last year.”

With Stefanovic leading the way and a strong offensive line, the Vikings are hoping to take to the air a bit more this season.

“We’re still trying to find our identity, but our plan is to spread it out to a lot of different guys this season,” said Gottselig. “We have more athleticism in more spots this year, so it will just be on Ryan to get the ball out to different people in different spots and we’ll see how we evolve.”

Head coach Ryan Gottselig goes over things with his defence before the Vikings' season opener on Thursday.

Like their offence, the Vikings are still trying to figure out who they are on defence, but they know that they want to play aggressive.

“We’re bigger up front, which is good; our DBs are younger, but they’re all veteran just grade 10-11 kids,” said Gottselig. “We’ll be able to do a lot of things, last year we had to be really basic because we were so young and we’re already miles ahead of where we were. We’ll be exciting as the year moves on.”

Defensive lineman Brett Ross is expected to be one of the key cogs on defence for the Vikings. He said he’s excited about the possibilities in the unit.

“Our defence looks good, we’re pretty strong and we’re going to be physical,” said Ross.

The Vikings won’t ease into the season though as they face the four-time defending league champion, Peacock Tornadoes in their season opener coming up on Thursday afternoon.

They’re welcoming the challenge.

“Going against Peacock is always a measuring stick no matter when it is, but the kids are excited to lineup and see how we fair,” said Gottselig. “Our team is a process, we’re young and going to get better throughout the year, but Week 1, we’ll see where we’re at.”

The Vikings and Tornadoes kick-off at 4 p.m. on Thursday to open the 2016 season. There’s two out-of-town games that day as well with the Estevan Elecs hosting the Weyburn Eagles and the Yorkton Raiders heading to Swift Current to take on the Colts.