After losing 17 seniors off last year’s team that finished 6-5, Warrenton football Head Coach Steve McDowell wasn’t sure what to expect heading to the Southeast Missouri State team camp late last month.

“Coming away from that camp, I was really surprised where we were at defensively because you just don’t know,” he said. “We had been going up against each other and you don’t know how you’ll respond against different competition, but I thought we had a really good camp defensively.”

The Warriors played against teams from around the state during the two-day competition, and McDowell was looking for a gauge on where his team stood midway through the summer.

“Tyler Null had a great camp down there and looked really good,” he said. “Johnny  Wiltsch looked good at linebacker, too. Those are the kind of guys that don’t always get mentioned, but they played tremendous for us.”

McDowell was also able to see how new players to the program responded to new competition.

“Trey Taylor has been a nice welcome edition to our club, and Jacob Heap is out for his first time as a senior,” he added. “Those guys have really been stepping up. Eli Ecton has been a nice surprise for us during his first year, too.”

McDowell also mentioned sophomore lineman Logan Dowd, junior running back Jake Trittler and sophomore running back Dylan Smith as pleasant surprises at SEMO.

“A lot of kids are really stepping up in our program, and that’s really good to see,” he said. 

The Warriors are holding a team camp this week and begin fall practice July 31.

They head to a jamboree at Fort Zumwalt North Aug. 11 and host Wentzville Liberty Aug. 18.

“We’ve got a really good balance on both sides of the ball, and we have a lot of kids that are going both ways, so we have to stay in shape,” McDowell said. “I think both sides are where we want to be right now. Now that we have all of our base packages in, we can start adding a little bit more into it. So when Aug. 18 does get here, we’ll be ready to go.”