Mike Siejak, left, and Chris Evans battle for the ball during a drill while practicing with Iroquois’ varsity football team last Wednesday. Photo by John Normile Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com Most high school football coaches are happy when they return around half of their starters from the previous year, with the thinking being that the more veterans a team has, the better its competitive advantage.

So it’s easy to understand Iroquois’ coach Frank Payne’s confidence going into the season when you realize that the Chiefs, with an unheard-of 37 players returning of the 44 who make up this year’s squad, boast a starting squad, boast a starting lineup that will have nine returning players on offense and eight on defense.

If ever there was a case of now or never, 2010 is it for the Chiefs’ football program.

“We ’ve got depth all over the field,” Payne said. “I’ve never seen as many kids return from a single team as we have this year. The tough thing for us is that we don’t have enough plays to get everyone touches, offensively or defensively. We’ve got about 30 guys who could start for our program, or anywhere for our program, or anywhere else for that matter, but there are only 11 spots on the field on either side of the ball.”

To say the Chiefs are loaded with seniors doesn’t do the program justice; of the massive number of returning players, the greatest percentage is of those playing their final season of high school football. Among those seniors looking to cap their careers with a return to Ralph Wilson Stadium are Class A First Team All-Stars Brad Bowen (6-foot-2, 270-pound offensive/defensive lineman) and Luke Zaporowski (left guard), Second Team All-Stars Adam Garrison (fullback/linebacker) and Mike Lapi (defensive end) and Honorable Mention All-Star Brandon Souder (quarterback/defensive back). Returning junior running back Jim Kloc was also a First Team All-Star.

Other returning seniors looking to make an impact include Mike Siejak (running back/defensive back), Chris Evans (wide receiver/defensive back), Ralph Perillo (tight end/linebacker), Taylor Patterson (fullback/linebacker), Jacob Gauthier (guard/defensive lineman), T.J. Ward (defensive end) and Jack Kennell (fullback/linebacker).

Newcomers to the varsity squad who are hoping to crack the lineup at some point in time this season include juniors Madison Wesolowski (6-3 wide receiver/safety), Tim King (offensive tackle/defensive end), Casey Erhardt (offensive tackle) and Jimmy Deplato (fullback/ linebacker), as well as sophomore Nate Wilkinson (wide receiver/ defensive back).

“We ’re just going to take it one game at a time, but I think as long as we keep executing, we’ve got all the tools we need to take the division,” Payne said. “But that’s not to say things will be easy; we know all of our divisional games are going to be tough. But they’re all going to be great games.”

Payne got to see those tools in action last Saturday when the Chiefs scrimmaged against both Frontier and Lackawanna, and he most certainly liked what he saw from every player who stepped on the field for Iroquois.

“We did well against both schools at the scrimmage and we stayed healthy, so it was a good scrimmage for us,” Payne said. “I think we showed that we’ll be good enough to move the ball through the air more than we have been in the past and that we’re going to be fast this year, too. I’m excited about our coaching staff, too, this year.”

Iroquois could find itself testing Payne’s theory in an aerial battle right out of the gates when it travels to Clarence Friday night to play the Red Devils in Clarence’s first-ever home game under the lights. The Chiefs know exactly what kind of atmosphere they’ll be walking into — Iroquois just started playing home night games two seasons ago itself — and, having seen Red Devil quarterback Zach Lauricella’s record-breaking performances last season, know they could find themselves in a shootout this weekend.

“They’ve got a good runner, but there’s no doubt that we’ve got to be able to contain their quarterback,” Payne said. “We ’re looking for the game to be tough and physical, and we’re looking forward to the challenge of playing an ‘AA’ school. Win, lose or draw, we’ll be a better team coming out of this game than we were going into it. We know it’s going to be an awesome experience playing under the lights at their place. For us, we’re getting better at focusing on our assignments, so we’ll see what happens when we take the field Friday night.”

e-mail: jnadolinski@beenews.com