After having a quality season last year, the Lafayette Lancer football team is hoping to improve upon that record and make a deep playoff run. In the 2015-2016 season, the Lancers went 7-4, including a four game winning streak midway through the season and a signature smash-mouth win over rival Marquette. Unfortunately last season, they were eliminated in the playoffs by the Kirkwood Pioneers, who knocked the Lancers out of the playoffs the year prior and defeated them once during the season.

The Lancers still have several returning starting players including seniors Kyran Ballard, Jackson Bartholomew and Austin Stofer, who are all returning third year starters at their positions. The starting quarterback this year is senior Ryan O’Connell, who was a backup last year.

Ballard, a returning starter at safety and wide receiver, is looking forward to the upcoming season, most notably the game against Kirkwood.

He said that one of his favorite parts of being in football this year was, “Us seniors coming together and making the team better by leading.”

When asked for a score prediction Ballard said, “Come and we’ll find out together I guess.”

The opening game is on Friday, August 19 at Timberland at 7 p.m.