By Erik Lewis

Coming off a 7-3 season in 2012, the Warhawks are working to get back to the playoffs, something they have not had to do in a while. Last season was seen as a down year, especially following three Division-III Championships in the past four seasons.

“I feel like it was a down year for us from the expectations we have for ourselves to win a conference championship every year, and also compete for a national championship,” junior quarterback Matt Behrendt said. “We have, once again, high expectations for ourselves this year.”

Head coach Lance Leipold knows it’s going to be a challenge again this season, like it always is in the WIAC, and learning from some tough losses gave the coaching staff plenty of teaching points.

“The biggest thing we can learn from last season is that the difference of winning and losing any year that we’ve been here is a fine line,” Leipold said. “There’s a certain amount of plays that have to be made in a game that can turn it in one favor or another.”

That was evident, especially when the ’Hawks biggest margin of defeat was to UW-Oshkosh, 28-13. The other two losses were a 7-6 upset against Buffalo State College in week two and a 17-14 road loss to UW-Stevens Point.

The three losses were the highest in the program’s history since 2004. The first of those losses snapped the ’Hawks’ 46-game win streak. After losing two of their final four games, the quest for a playoff bid was lost.

“We were kind of spoiled for a while with a lot of games that weren’t always that close,” Leipold said. “I think things are kind of back to reality a little bit, and hopefully one day we have a chance to reflect on how special some of those teams were, but it’s time to get down to this season and get down to business against Washington University.”

Leipold is in his seventh year as head coach and has a 79-6 record.

The ’Hawks’ offense scored almost 25 points per game in 2012 and has six returning starters.

On defense, senior linebacker Kyle Wismer said shutting out their opponents is always their goal.

“It’s definitely the defense’s job to mostly hold the offense to zero points,” Wismer said. “If they can’t score, we’ll win. That’s our mentality.”

Last year, the ’Hawks came close to that number, holding opponents to only 10 points per game.

With six returning starters on offense and defense from last year’s team, the ’Hawks are ranked ninth in the D3football.com poll.

The WIAC will be competitive again this season. UW-Oshkosh was 13-1 and won the conference championship last year, and they are expected to be atop the conference again with their spread option attack on offense.

UW-Platteville is a preseason pick to win the conference after narrowly missing the playoffs last season.

“They’re going to be two good football teams, but we know in our league it can go either way so many different Saturdays,” Leipold said. “I think there are some other teams on the verge of turning the corner as well, so I think it’s going to be a heavy challenge for us to have a chance to win a championship.”

With camp coming to an end, many positions on the depth chart are being filled in, but some still haven’t been settled.

“I’m very pleased by the effort and attitude of our football team right now,” Leipold said. “We’ve got some new coaches and new players; everybody’s learning each other and adjusting to it.”

Last year the ’Hawks played Washington University, so the game planning will be based off that film.

“(They’re) a very good football team, not the biggest team, so they rely on quickness and movement.”

Here are some insights into what the ’Hawks offense, defense and special teams are looking like right now.

—The breakdown

Quarterback: Junior Matt Behrendt was named the starter for this season, with Chris Nelson backing him up. Starting the final three games last season gave Behrendt some experience, which was a big boost for him heading into training camp this summer.

“I learned the games a little faster, and you need to make the right decisions a lot faster than usual,” Behrendt said. “I think it’s very good for me to have those three games in the books, and coming into this season, I have enough experience where we can build on that.”

“I think he’s had a very good camp in many areas,” Leipold said.

Running back: The young corps of running backs vying for playing time include sophomores Nick Patterson, Jordan Ratliffe, Dennis Moore and junior Ryan Givens, who is back from injury.

“We feel confident that the group of backs can be very productive,” Leipold said. “We haven’t made any decisions who will be the first guy.”

The ’Hawks were second in the WIAC in rushing last season, averaging 187 yards per game.

Wide receiver: Returning wide receivers include Tyler Huber, who scored 10 touchdowns in 2011, junior Steve Morris, who led the team in receptions and yards in 2012, junior Jake Kumerow, senior Zach Howard and sophomore Joe Worth.

Leipold feels confident in the receiving corps because many of them have college football experience.

Offensive line:  The ’Hawks’ offensive line will be the biggest question mark this season.

“That’s going to be a position that continues to get better each week,” Leipold said. “We need to stay healthy there. We’ve got a lot of young players. We don’t have any seniors in the program and we have one junior, so it’s a young group.”

Leipold said the two players who have secured spots are Conner Peters at center and Lucas Skibba at guard.

Defense line: Senior Loussaint Minnett and junior Mykaell Bratchett will start across from each other at defensive end.

“I’m really looking forward to the year those two guys put together as defensive ends,” Leipold said.

Senior Marshall Rutherford also will be an important player on the defensive line. Leipold said there will be a bit of a rotation on the defensive line, which should benefit the run defense.

Sophomore Jon Groves is a backup defensive end who will give the ’Hawks the ability to rotate players on the defensive line.

Special teams: Kicking won’t be a problem for the ’Hawks. Senior Eric Kindler, the all-time leader in field goals made and extra points, returns for another season. Kindler will handle punting and kicking.

Linebacker: The ’Hawks have good, experienced depth at linebacker as well.

“Our front seven is going to be a very experienced group,” Leipold said. “I think our linebacker corps is as good in this league since I’ve been here.”

Senior Cole Klotz will be making the defensive calls, alongside Wismer, who played in all but one game last season, and senior Ryan Cortez.

Cortez was on the 2011 D-III National Championship team. Senior Josh Williams, who is another outside linebacker, will contribute on special teams and defense.

Defensive back: Senior Andrew Keister is one of the only returning players at safety who has gotten a lot of playing time, Leipold said. Juniors Marcus McLin and Brady Grayvold will see a lot of playing time at cornerback.

“We’re trying to find some answers in the rotation to go alongside him,” Leipold said.

“The biggest thing is we’ve got to take the right steps and worry about our own improvement. Come out and play assignment – sound, physical football and get this thing kicked off and really find out where we’re at against opponents and take the necessary steps as we go along, and this is step one of the journey.”