CONRAD – Anthony Jahr can’t help but be optimistic.

With how much the BCLUW football team returns, the third-year head coach has good reason to have his head among the stars when it comes to the outlook for the Comets in 2016. As BCLUW heads into Class 1A District 2 competition, it returns its starting quarterback and leading wide receiver from a year ago, yes, but even bigger in Jahr’s eyes is the return of the entire line on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

“We have a really good group of seniors this year,” Jahr said. “We have (nine) out, and six of them are offensive linemen that are returning with varsity experience. It’s really exciting because to not only have five guys that have played varsity offensive and defensive line before, but to have another one that is ready to go.”

BCLUW will go as the big boys up front go in hopes of improving the team’s record after back-to-back seasons of 2-7 records. With the Comets having a good problem of having more numbers along the line than positions, Jahr is going to implement a rotation to keep fresh bodies up front. Seniors Nathan Holbert, Chase Luethje, Storm Wiseman along with junior Keegan Rhinehart and sophomore Ben Paper will anchor the responsibilities in the trenches. Paper saw varsity action on the defensive side of the ball last season as a freshman late in the season, getting his feet wet at the top high school level.

Seniors Neil Cashin and Mason Dhyne will be the guys coming off the bench to keep the rotation of linemen crisp for the Comets.

“It’s the first year since I’ve been here that I really feel confident that our offensive and defensive line is the strength,” Jahr said. “If you look at teams that consistently win games in the state, it’s the offensive linemen. Sure, there are great running backs, but they’re made even better with how good their line is. I really think this is the best line we’ve had in my three years here.”

To complement the experience along the lines, BCLUW has Brad Barkema back behind center. The junior signal caller completed 44.4 percent of his passes as a sophomore in 2015, throwing for 811 yards and seven touchdowns, but did throw 14 interceptions. On the receiving end of five of those touchdowns was senior Clay Silver, who hauled in 28 passes for 343 yards as a junior.

“We’re going to be doing more obviously to make sure he gets the ball. He’s a good athlete,” Jahr said of Silver. “Brad Barkema has really matured in the offseason. He finally grew into his frame. He’s running well, throwing well, making really good reads.”

The backfield will be the inexperienced part of the Comet offense. Junior Greg Schmitt and senior Caleb Engle will split the carries. Engle is returning to the backfield after having spent his junior year as a lineman. Engle played running back his freshman and sophomore years, and will play a fullback/tailback role. Schmitt carried the ball one time last year. Thanks to the line the Comets bring back, Jahr isn’t concerned about the inexperience of the running backs.

“They can actually move a lot quicker. Before the running backs used to have to wait to let the linemen get there,” Jahr said. “Now that our linemen are more confident and a lot stronger, the running backs can pick things up and we’re putting pressure on the defense to have to react to things quicker. That’s what has helped these running backs succeed is they can start going 100 miles an hour and not have to worry about backing down.”

Defensively, the Comets will rely on Silver and Barkema on that side of the ball as well. Silver will be the guy in the middle of the linebackers, and was BCLUW’s leading stopper a season ago with 58.5 tackles. Engle was second on the Comets with 51.5 tackles and Wiseman contributed 33 stops.

Barkema is moving from the secondary to outside linebacker. The transition does leave BCLUW inexperienced in the defensive backfield, but with how many opponents the Comets have on their schedule that are run-first teams, Jahr is confident in getting the young defensive backs varsity experience on the fly without having to put their feet to the fire.

BCLUW starts the season with familiar foes in GMG and North Tama before getting into district play of teams the Comets haven’t seen before.

“We want to climb out of this district that we’re in. We think we have a good chance to give that a good shot,” Jahr said. “We’re seeing a lot of new teams this year, which we’re excited about. We get out of that preconceived notion of seeing the same teams every week. We’re going all over the northeast corner of the state.”