Last year was, by all accounts, a testing year for the Alberton Panthers football team.

Playing varsity football independently from other schools for the first time, the young Panthers were learning and growing.

And building Panther pride.

They played a two-game junior varsity schedule last year after several years of being in a co-op arrangement with I-90 neighbor Superior.

Gone is the “Mountain Cats” co-op mascot and back is the Panther. They lost both of their junior varsity games last year, but this year, with everyone back from that “experimental” team, the Panthers are now members of the six-player football scene, which includes a couple of Sanders County teams, Noxon and Hot Springs.

“Fortunately,” said Alberton head coach Jonathan Richards, “we were an extremely young team last year and did not lose anyone to graduation. We have all our players back from last year and still have no seniors on the team.”

What Richards does have is a group of solid players who are strong and athletic, such as junior Colton Baughman, who surprised a lot of people at last Spring’s track and field meets with his rapid improvement into a factor in the javelin event. Also buoying Richard’s optimism are juniors Camden Notley and Hunter Ray, along with a promising group of sophomores led by Shea Fredette, Cyler Stanley and Tater Herman. New to the team this year are Barrett Odell, Tiam Dao and Dylan Woerz.

“We are extremely excited about some of the new faces that came out this season,” Richards said.

The young team and the new additions are in the process of learning how to play together, one of coach Richards’ top priorities.

“We are still building team chemistry and trying to see where all of the pieces are going to fit,” he said. “We are going to play our hearts out no matter the situation. Our kids are very proud to be playing for Alberton after years of the school not having a team that was solely our own. That pride is going to show on the field this season.”

The six-player West and one of it’s long time members, Noxon, will be the first to get a look at Panther Pride when the two teams open their season this Friday night in Alberton.

Meanwhile, Richards said Alberton will be working hard to improve all facets of the game, including proper technique (blocking, tackling, etc).

“This will be our first season playing a full varsity schedule and being the new kids on the block we are expecting each and every game we play this season to be a challenge,” he said. “We are looking forward to competing and getting better in every game this season.”