Despite losing a host of talented senior starters from last year’s Montana 8-man football playoff team, the Blue Hawks of Thompson Falls appear ready to take flight again.

Gone from the team that went 6-0 during the regular season before falling to Scobey/Opheim in a second-round road game are behemoth lineman Cody Burk, quarterback Roman Sparks and running back Kade Pardee.

Also graduating were tight end/defensive ends Lucas and Derek Andersen, two-way lineman William McPherson, and Dane Chojnacky, who also played on both the offensive and defensive lines.

But state champion wrestler Trae Thilmony who also earned all-state honors as a running back/linebacker last year, returns with a solid, experienced group from the 2020 campaign.

The Blue Hawks will hopefully be able to find some playing time among the 35 student-athletes who turned out for this year’s first practice.

Having been limited to practicing mostly indoors for the first week of fall football camp due to heavy, unhealthy levels of smoke from nearby wildfires, the Blue Hawks finally made it outside as steady rain cleared away the majority of the smoke.

“We were hoping the smoke would go away soon because we had been inside for the first several practices,” head coach Jared Koskela said. “It was good to finally get outside.”

The improved air quality allowed the team to hold a full scrimmage this past weekend on the wet grass on the school’s well-manicured field.

Taking the reins of the offense this year in place of Sparks will be junior Elijah Ratliff, who also plays in the defensive backfield. Ratliff looked sharp in the initial stages of the Saturday morning scrimmage.

Up front, Ratliff and the Blue Hawks will be counting on a pair of underclassmen to provide protection for the passing game and open holes for the muscular Thilmony, who will anchor the running game, along with fellow seniors Jordan Fisher and Nathan Schraeder, both of whom also play on defense.

The new starting linemen are junior Beano Fisher and sophomore Hayden Hanks, both of whom will see action up front on both sides of the ball.

“We have speed on the offensive line,” Koskela said. “We also have a slew of players who want the ball and know what to do with the ball.”

Also expected to have an impact on the fortunes of this year’s Thompson Falls team are a pair of tight ends, senior Erik Strom and junior Breck Ferris. Strom also serves as a defensive lineman while Ferris is listed as a defensive back.

Koskela said one of the keys to success on defense will be the play of those in the backfield.

“Defensive backfield will be tested in our league so we must be prepared to not get beat on the pass,” he said. “And on the offensive side of the ball we need to get the offense to gel since seven of eight players on that side of the ball are new to starting.”

Koskela said Charlo, Mission and Superior will be the major tests his team will face in a conference that is loaded with solid teams.

“I would add Flint Creek to that list also but we don’t play them this year or they would be on the list.”

Koskela said he is hoping the blend of speed, talent and experience from several of the returning players will lead to another playoff run that can hopefully go deeper than last year.

“We have been ranked fourth in the state the last two years and are hoping to get over that threshold,” he said.

The Blue Hawks get the 2021 season underway this Friday evening when they travel to Charlo for an early season test with the Vikings. They stay on the road the following week for another tough early test against the co-op St. Regis/Mullan Idaho Tigers in St. Regis, Friday, Sept. 3.

Thompson Falls returns to open its home season Sept. 10 against conference foe Mission.