ST. IGNATIUS - After a tailgate session put on by Mission parents, a crowd of between 50 and 60 people showed up for the Mission Towel Football Scrimmage last Friday in St. Ignatius.

"We had a lot of good things happen," Mission head coach Peter Hamilton said.

Standouts at the scrimmage included senior wide receiver/running back/defensive back Dakota Matt, junior lineman and linebacker Josh Durglo and junior back Austin Durglo.

"We're really young this year and there are still kids competing for spots," Hamilton said.

Mission went winless last year but Hamilton talked extensively during the preseason about how much he liked the young players on the team this year, and that they're building a strong foundation for the future.

Hamilton ran just the base packages from his playbook and split his starters between the teams in the scrimmage.

"We tried to get so their was success on both sides of the ball," he said.

While the defense looked good, Hamilton said he was still trying to implement some things on offense.

There was the small sloppy things like false starts that usually pop up during the first scrimmage of the year, but overall the Mission Bulldogs looked like they were ready for their first game against Boulder.

"For the most part, the kids knew what they were doing," Hamilton said.

Mission will start their season hosting Boulder at 7 p.m. this Friday.

"Last year they were a pretty competitive team," Hamilton said. "It will be a ground and pound battle."