Coming off last season where the Eagles finished with an overall record of 6-6, Goshen head coach Bart Snyder and the team are itching to get back on the field.

“The summer has gone really good,” Snyder said. “The kids have been working out, conditioning, and doing some agility drills. We have been working on our football this month, and our kids have really responded and have been working extremely hard. They have been doing everything to get better.”

While summer vacation takes a toll on off-season workouts and attendance, Snyder said the drive to improve and reach their goals motivates many players.

“It is the dream of having a successful season and it’s a dream for some of them to play football at the collegiate level,” Snyder said. “Overall these kids just want to be the best at what they do. In order for them to do that they have to put in the extra time. Most of the kids around our community understand that. They have to have that personal desire to get better, and that’s what these kids want to do.

Getting stronger both physically and fundamentally has been the key focus.

“We have been working on throwing and doing different skills to get better,” Snyder said. “We mainly focus on conditioning and getting acclimated with the heat. Our hope is come August 3 that most of our guys will be ready.”

From now until the start of the season the Eagles will prepare to do what they have always done, get better as a team.

“I thought we did a good job at that last season,” Snyder said. “I think we will be a little more older and mature this season. I think we will also be more advanced this season. We need to focus on what we do and take each game one at a time.”

Players will have to quickly get acclimated to a coaching staff that is virtually brand new. New coaches mean new philosophies and new ways of doings things.

Snyder and the Eagles will rely on key returning players to replace last year’s seniors.

Goshen will feature a veteran backfield led by senior quarterback Kendrez White. He will be throwing to a veteran-receiving core led by Caleb Spears.

“We lost some good experience on the offensive line, running backs, and linebackers.” Snyder said. “We lost a lot of guys that were key players for us. We have players that played some last year so we should have some experience on the offensive line.”

Goshen starts the fall schedule on Aug. 3 and kicks off the season Aug. 20 with a preseason matchup at McKenzie. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.