Maple Grove High School football coach Craig Hansen will have plenty of teaching to do as he welcomes back a team that will feature mostly new faces with a handful of veterans sprinkled in.

The Crimson lost most of their starters from last year's 4-5 squad that finished second to Mounds View in the conference race. The only returning starter on defense is senior all-conference linebacker Andy Greeder. On offense, the Crimson return senior all-conference wide receiver Jake Johnson, senior all-conference running back Josh Throndson and senior guard Paul Jay.

The only other players with varsity experience are senior receiver Brent Sorbel, senior defensive tackle Kris Johnson and senior outside line-backer Dennis Bilancia. Hansen will look for many members of last year's sophomore team to step up to fill the many varsity openings. "We will have a young team,"

Hansen said. "We had a good sophomore team last year and those kids will move up. We have a great group of kids. They are very positive and very talented, but they lack experience. In this conference, game experience and seasoning are everything." The Crimson will have to learn while going against some of the toughest teams in the state. They will play in the new Northwest Suburban Conference against the giants from the Anoka-Hennepin School District (Anoka, Blaine, Champlin Park and Coon Rapids), Elk River, Osseo and Park Center. "There are some powerhouses in the conference, schools with great tradition," Hansen said. "It kind of reminds me of those Lake Red Conference days when we played Burnsville and Apple Valley. It's going to be great competition. It's going to be physical and there will be no rest. We have a lot of new starters and it will be tough at first. But down the road, if we can stay healthy, we should be improved and competitive." The Crimson open the season Friday, Sept. 1 at Edina.

Seniors on this year's Crimson football team in the front row include (left to right) Paul Webb, Reed Soefker, Rob McElroy, Mike Bahl, Scott Johnson and Scott Gilbertson.

Second row are (left to right) Trent Frazer, Josh Throndson, Tom Kotarski, Jake Johnson, Jake Nord, Ryan Koch, Chris Woo, Kris Johnson and Dennis Bilancia.

Back row are (left to right) Steve Ladd, Brandt Sorbel, Kevin Schwab, Dan Lemke, Peter Deering, Andy Bersheit, Jesse Johnson, John Dolan, Andy Greder, Paul Jay, Jason Karr, Joe Eckes, Brady Martinson, Josh Kuss, Lance Bauman and Rod Michael.