Head coach Curt Ware knows Oberlin’s history of success and he wants to add to it in his first season with the Tigers.

Oberlin has reached at least the regional round of the playoffs 11 consecutive years.

“I looked back over the last 10 years, Oberlin has, historically, won a lot of games,” Ware said. “I am trying to build on what they have already done in the past. Obviously, every coach is a little different.”

Oberlin went 8-4 last year, but several seniors graduated, leaving holes to fill and no more evident than on the offensive and defensive line. The Tigers return no starting offensive linemen and one on the defensive side in Kaden Darden, who will double as a tight end and anchor the offensive line.

“The skill guys are pretty good,” Ware said. “If we can just get in somebody’s way on offense, I think we will be OK on offense. I think it hurts more on defense because we play some teams that are hitting you in the mouth. If you don’t have any size, it can cause you some problems. We are just undersized. Depending on what we are facing, we may have to move around a little more than we would normally. We are going to try to play good, solid base defense. Moving around, we may have to do some different things as far as slanting and things.”

The lack of size and experience promoted Ware to switch the offense to the wing-T to take advantage of returning fullback Colby McMahon plus tailback Adarius Botley, fullback De’sean Deville and quarterback Seth Lyons. Kristoph Brandon returns at wide receiver.

“It is a little more modern,” Ware said. “It is not quite old school tradition.

“We do a few more things than that. I ran it in New Iberia and we had some success. I think it fits really good because at the end of the day it is an offense where your offensive line doesn’t have to be very good. They just need to be aggressive and need to be able to run. We do a lot of pulling and different things. If you have three good backs, I think you have a chance to be pretty good on offense.”

McMahon and Deville will also be the driving force on the defensive side at linebacker while Derrick Deville returns at free safety.