Mexico played its best football at the end of last season.

The Bulldogs defeated North Central Missouri Conference champion Kirksville 21-14 on the road in two overtimes before falling short 42-27 in a back-and-forth battle at Hannibal to end a 5-6 season. They put it all together like they hope to do so this season.

Head coach Steve Haag’s roster is in the mid-50s in numbers this season with a core of returning players coming back and large freshmen and sophomore classes. Haag said last year’s Bulldogs cut down on mental mistakes, missed tackles and injuries near the end of the season and he hopes to see that earlier this season.

“Those are things I think we struggled with early last year,” Haag said. “As the year went on, we got better at it and got healthy. Hopefully, this year we can start out that way. Having younger guys out there, it’s going to be a wait-and-see Friday night against Centralia.”

Haag said Mexico has that strong returning backfield like in previous years. All-conference running back and defender Drew DeMint and Korbyn Dorsey are experienced backs who can create offense when they touch the ball, and the same is true for senior quarterback Charlie Fisher. He said senior Kaden Benne and junior James Matthews can be good targets at wide receiver as Mexico tries to find more chances to throw the ball, as Haag has noticed improvement in the offseason.

As for the blockers for that backfield, Haag said he would like to see his offensive and defensive lines built back up beyond seniors and returning starters Leighton Hilderman, who was an all-conference lineman, and Wyler Broeker. Haag said Kale Leverett is a junior and Karson Rowe is a sophomore who both have size to be up front.

“With Leighton and Wyler up front, they’re going to do a good job,” Haag said. “We got to make sure the other three can handle it as well. If we can block for our guys, we have the backs that can get it done.”

Haag said the sophomores should expect to be ready whether they are a starter or a backup. Injuries can unfortunately happen at any minute, but he said they also need to be prepared to give others a break.

Some sophomores Haag is looking at is Connor Fisher, who will be a fullback and linebacker; Kyler Benne, a good tackler from his time as a wrestler; Marshall Ball, another wrestler who will get snaps; Kael Smith, who played special teams as a freshman but should play some linebacker and tight end; and Dylan Akeman, who played his first year of football last year.

“What we have to count on with a lot of those sophomores is to give us 10, 15 or 20 quality snaps a game,” Haag said. “They need to learn what varsity football is all about on Friday nights.”

Defensively, Haag said the defensive backfield should be solid with kids like Dorsey, DeMint, Charlie Fisher and Kaden Benne out there but hopes to see more growth out of the linebacker corps after their “trial by fire.” 

Mexico will have the same schedule this season including its opener against Centralia, which will be on the road at 7 p.m. Aug. 29. The Bulldogs will host tough schools like Southern Boone, Odessa and Hannibal. Haag said he hopes his kids who love the game can grow every game.

“I think I can probably put our schedule up against a lot of teams in the state,” Haag said. “The thing you want to happen is they have growth each practice that, by the time we get to Centralia, they’re ready mentally to play. Physically, it’s going to be a test because now you’re going to play four quarters. Hopefully, they grow during that game.”