Coming off an 8-4 2024 season that represented the best campaign at Anson in nearly a decade, Tigers’ coaches, players and fans alike were cautiously optimistic that an even better fate might lie ahead this fall.

The 2025 team, after all, was set to return a bevy of talented skill players and all but two of the starting offensive linemen that helped Anson surge two rounds into the playoffs last December. Just as noteworthy: Every projected returning regular in the defense started at one point a season ago.

There was just one question with which the Tigers were expected to grapple, but it was a huge one: How was Anson going to fare sans the team’s best player, Corey Layne?