In a perfect high school football world, there’s ideal balance in the classification breakdown of the lineup. That is to say that, on 45-player varsity roster, you have roughly 15 seniors, 15 juniors and 15 sophomores, all of whom have played together with members of their class and with members of the other classes enough that the units on both sides of the ball work in concert Friday night in and Friday night out.
Of course, that world doesn’t exist — certainly not in the lower classes, where finding 45 players program-wide can be a monumental task.
Hamlin coach Jason Botos has come really close this year, though. He has 44 players out for football this season between his varsity and junior varsity teams. What he doesn’t quite have is classification balance. With eight seniors, 12 juniors and the remaining roster members underclassmen, Botos has a relatively young team trying to improve on the 5-5 record Hamlin registered last fall.