Caledonia, MINNESOTA (WXOW) Minnesota high school football teams open the season Friday night where every team starts from square one.
That's a fact not lost on two-time defending Class 2A state champion Caledonia.
The Warriors however look crisp in practice.
They return 14 starters to a strong program.
They say they're highly motivated by the fact they lost last year's opener and to not repeat the same mistakes.
Still, there's plenty of pressure following a state title win.
"It's added pressure, I guess because we're a whole new team this year. Seniors gone and stuff, so it's going to be different. We've got to work just as hard as every other team. It's not just given to us, so for everyone who thinks it's just given to us, we work hard all year," said senior Brad Strub.
"I think there's definitely added pressure that we have to talk to the kids about a lot. You know, basically just getting back down to earth. We talk about starting at the bottom of the mountain and climbing back to the top every year. I think our kids, after the scrimmage on Saturday, we came back real humbled and realize the work that we need to do before this Friday night. We're just focusing on one game at a time. I think our kids are really settling down and starting to do that," said head coach Brent Schroeder.
The Warriors open the season at home against P-E-M.
