HOLLAND, Mich. - The Holland Christian Maroons won their first district title since 2009 last season, finishing 8-4 to round out the year.
The Maroons are returning 19 seniors from last year's team and hope to put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in over a decade.
"We had a lot of juniors that played last year on our team that made it to week three in the playoffs, and so they have a lot of experience," said head coach Chris Kuipers. "All those juniors and sophomores got three extra weeks of football, too, so that makes a difference."
Senior safety and running back Gabe DeBoer says the team has a great relationship together. They all push each other to be the best, and he's excited to get the season started.
"I think we go into (this season) with a fresh start knowing what our goals are, and we want to push for each other as a team and to motivate each other in a different way than just trying to make up for last year," DeBoer said.
"We just want to be as good as we can be this year."
DeBoer and the rest of the Maroons know the OK Green is a tough conference, but that will help get everyone on the team ready to go once the season starts on Aug. 30.
"We can't take any plays off because you never know in this conference. There's a lot of good players and at any time, something can change in a game," DeBoer said.
The Maroons open their season on Aug. 30 against Coopersville, a team they defeated in last year's opener, 33-24.
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