The South Whidbey High School football team started the first day of practice Wednesday.

Coming off a stellar 9-2 season last year, coach Mark Hodson said the boys are in better shape because of spring football, summer camp at the University of Washington and a strong desire to better last year’s record.

Hodson and offensive coach Andy Davis are taking a long look at Hunter Rawls and Luke Hodson, the coach’s nephew, as starting quarterback, but no decisions have been made.

On the field, Hodson and his assistant coaches integrated the newbies with old hands, using a mixture of humor and discipline to motivate the players. Hodson asked lots of questions to see if his team has been reading the playbook and, for the most part, they had.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30 the team plays a blue-and-white scrimmage, affectionally called the “Toilet Bowl.”

On Friday, Sept. 5 the Falcons travel to Cedarcrest for their first regular season game.