Coming off the program’s most successful season in nearly two decades, the Evanston High School football team is looking to continue that momentum in 2024.

Practice began in earnest last week at Kay Fackrell Stadium, with attendance numbers nearing triple digits for the first time in recent memory. It’s a good problem to have, and one that comes with having a successful program, according to second-year head coach Steve Moore.

“We have 90 kids out, which is more than we’ve had in quite some time, I believe,” Moore said. “Our freshman and sophomore classes are big — freshmen at 30, sophomore’s at 25. Then we have 17 juniors and 18 seniors. So it’s been a good week. It’s been a whirlwind.”

Lightly regarded heading into the 2023 campaign, the Red Devils surprised the naysayers by advancing all the way to the 3A State Semifinals, coming within a game of playing for a state championship for the first time since 1997. The wild ride that was the 2023 season for the Red Devils came to an end in Cody, but not before a fire had been lit in the hearts and minds of returning players.

“The older kids are picking up where we left off, and the young kids, we’re trying to get them on track to how we do things,” Moore said. “It’s been good, so far.”

That said, graduation was tough on the Red Devils, especially on defense and among the skill positions. Gone are All-Conference and All-State two-way players like Kai Barker, Cohen Morrow, Brady Roberts, Drew Barker and Cole Robinette, though Moore said there’s no shortage of talent ready and willing to step up. And a big piece of the puzzle is already in place.

“We knew at the end of last year that our linemen were going to be a strength for us, coming back this year,” Moore explained. “We’re hanging our hat on that. Then skill positions — they may not have a lot of varsity experience, they spot-played for us last season — but they’re competitive. They were competitive in the JV games, and they put time in during the summer and in spring ball. They’re really coming along, and we’re pleased with where we’re at, and what we got.”

The Red Devils return all but one player to an offensive line that was responsible for helping Brady Roberts become a back-to-back All-State selection at running back, as well as turning the offense as a whole into a balanced attack, one that could hurt teams through the air, as well as on the ground.

Senior leadership will once again be counted on to help younger players get to where they need to be, and get there fast.

“We’ve got the linemen, the Welling boys, we’ve got Tarrin Haws — those guys are big returners for us, and will provide us with senior leadership,” Moore said. “We’ll have Braunson Sims at quarterback, and we have Clayton Cook, Brooks Searle — those guys will do some good things for us. Karter Moore is stepping up. That senior class last year did a great job of leading by example, and I think these other kids noticed that, and realize now what it takes to have success. It’s been good.”

Moore had a couple of players who came out as juniors last year who made an immediate impact — both for their athleticism, and for what they brought to the team in terms of hard work and coachability.

“Clayton Cook was a great surprise for us last year — he’s a basketball kid, but he proved he can play some football, as well,” Moore said. “Jordan Mendez was another first-year player last year that exceeded expectations, both as a kicker, and as a receiver and defensive back. He’s just an athlete, and just about automatic as a placekicker. And now, we had some kids come out this year that didn’t play last year, so that’s always good to see. Makes you think you’re doing something right, when kids want to be a part of your program.”

Younger players are also turning heads at practice, and Moore said their development has been impressive.

“Brayden Wallace is looking really good, he’s just a junior,” Moore said. “He’s put a lot of time in the weight room, and he’s looking strong. And he’s kind of a football junkie — he just loves the game. Brecken Rich — he’s going to be solid at linebacker for us. And we have some sophomores that are impressing us — Bridger Roberts and Timber Fitch are doing some good things for us. They’re solid kids who are just going to keep getting better, keep developing. And those younger lineman are developing, they’re spending time in the weight room, and coming along.”

The Red Devils changed their offensive philosophy last year, going from the triple option to more of a spread offense, designed to get the ball in the hands of their playmakers. Moore said that won’t change much this year.

“Our offensive philosophy will be similar to last year,” Moore explained. “We’re going to spread it out, do some play-action stuff. We’ll probably be more in a one-back alignment than last year. Just like last year, we feel like we have kids that we want to get the ball in their hands — we won’t be one-dimensional, we’ll spread the ball around and let kids do their thing. With that offensive line, I think we’ll be able to control the line of scrimmage, run the clock when we need to. I think we’ll have options. I like where we’re at with what we’ve got.”

Defense might take a little longer to get up to speed, but Moore said the tools are there.

“We have some growing to do on defense,” Moore said. “We lost a lot of our defensive guys, so we knew coming in we’d have to spend a little more time getting kids where they need to be on that side of the ball.”

The Red Devils open the season Friday at Ben Lomond in Ogden, Utah, a game that’s become a Zero Week tradition for Evanston. The Scots won last year’s contest at Kay Fackrell Stadium 39-21, but are 0-2 to start the 2024 season.

Returning to Moore’s staff are longtime assistant coaches Roy Barker, Garth Wagstaff and Jason Mitchell. Chris Link and Jeremy Fessler are back to coach the offensive and defensive line, and Rob Watsabaugh and first-year coach Michael Searle will coach the freshman squad.

“I couldn’t be more happy with this group of coaches — they’re awesome,” Moore said. “They do a great job. They’re good coaches, and they’re great people. You surround yourselves with good people, it makes things a lot better. Good things happen.”