There appears to be little doubt around the Morton practices that this team can push itself even further than it did last season.

And the good thing for head coach Don Rives, who enters his ninth season with the Indians, is he will have plenty of experience to surround his team with.

The only snag thus far is who will lead the team behind center.

Sophomore quarterback Stephen Eubanks did not undergo surgery until earlier this summer after tearing his ACL last season. And senior Skyler Arthur, who looked to be the frontrunner to take over the starting spot, may have suffered a similar fate in the team’s first week of practices.

“We’re going to have a lot of people that have played, so practices have been a little bit more brutal and intense,” Rives said. “But we’re not looking too good on quarterbacks right now.”

Fresh off a District 5-1A title a year ago, Morton (8-4, 5-0 in 5-1A) brings back 20 lettermen and 16 starters — eight on each side of the ball.

None seem to be more important than Morton’s linemen, almost all of whom are returning starters on offense and defense.

Colton Bracken and Kendall Johnson helped push the Indians to an undefeated district season before losing in the Division I Region I area finals to Stanton, 35-21. The Indians put up record numbers last season behind quarterback Emerson Cornish and running back Luey Enriquez. The two led the Indians’ offense to an average of 436 yards per game, the most by any area 1A or six-man school.

“That’s really the majority of where our experience lies,” Rives said of his line. “So we just have to find a few people to fill in those spots around them. We just need to stay away from having any more injuries on this team.”

If Eubanks or Arthur are unable to step in at quarterback Rives said Rashaan ‘Mookie’ Ross, a freshman who normally plays wide receiver, has been getting reps at quarterback in case he will have to start the first game. Sophomore running back Trevor Arthur will try to fill the void left by Enriquez, who rushed for an area-high 1,400 yards on 145 carries last season.

Anton

It was an interesting offseason for the Bulldogs, who looked as though they were headed for the six-man ranks and even hired a coach to guide them once there.

Then, in mid-summer, Anton decided to go ahead and give 11-man one more go, so out was the six-man coach and in is South Plains veteran Rob Buffa.

Buffa, however, will have a young and inexperienced team with only one senior, running back/cornerback Dylan Smith.

Farwell

The Steers snagged the last postseason spot out of District 5-1A a year ago and will look to make it into the bi-district round in consecutive seasons after missing the playoffs for four years. But Farwell will have to do so without 13 of its starters from 2008.

Wide receiver Colton Christian gives the Steers their best chance offensively with other returners like quarterback Landry Actkinson. Actkinson completed 142 of 282 passes last season for 1,757 yards and 20 scores — averaging 350 total yards per game.

Linebacker Zac Stancell will have the responsibility of helping a defense with only four returning starters to try and improve on a group that held opponents to 20 points and 224 yards per game last year.

Smyer

Make it 16 seasons without a playoff berth for the Bobcats.

Nonetheless, second-year coach Rick Price said his 20 returning lettermen — including 18 starters — should help bring Smyer back into the postseason.

And it helps when you have a strong rusher like Aaron Martinez coming back after a 1,281-yard performance in 2008.

But the defense will have to get better. The Bobcats allowed an average of almost 41 points per game — second-worst in District 5-1A — while allowing an area-worst 397.5 yards per game.

Springlake-Earth

This is looking like a team destined to have a breakout season and maybe steal the top spot in 5-1A from Morton.

The Wolverines have 23 lettermen returning for the upcoming season and seven starters on a defense that held opponents to fewer than 20 points per game while allowing only 271 yards on average.

All eyes will likely be fixed on linebacker Devin Johnson when an opponent has the ball. The speedy junior tallied 146 tackles, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in his sophomore campaign.

Junior quarterback Blake Betz will look to pad his stats and the Wolverines’ win column a little more, leading five starters back on offense. He put up almost 2,000 yards of offense last season.

Sudan

The Hornets would like to try and steal a playoff spot as well this season after missing the postseason for the fourth consecutive year.

Second-year coach Chris Fambro returns 24 lettermen and eight starters who play both ways — including tight end/defensive end B.J. Davis, running back/linebacker Taylor Soles and lineman Rhett Sain.

Davis will be the main offensive threat again. The 6-foot-7 senior had more than 500 yards receiving and seven touchdowns last season.