NEW MARTINSVILLE — A hot finish to the Magnolia Blue Eagles’ 2023 season could be just what the doctor ordered for 2024, with second-year head coach Craig Mason’s squad coming off a win streak to end last year.

“This is our first full year with these kids after taking over the program last year,” Mason said. “We finished on a three-game win streak, and we felt like we won really four of our last five, we felt like we really gave the Frontier game away, a game that we dominated but we gave up two scoop-and-scores. We felt really happy with the way we finished the season, those last five games and we took that into the offseason, the kids are working really hard.”

With wins over Ravenswood, Valley and Clay Battelle down the stretch to end the year at 3-7, Mason is seeing a rejuvenated attitude in his squad’s offseason.

“We’re excited to move forward from there going into this season,” Mason said. “There’s a different vibe in practice. The kids have a little bit of excitement coming off those three wins, and they carry that into the weight room. We were late coming into the program last year and we didn’t have a full offseason. This year we actually had a full offseason and we were really excited about the progress we were able to make just from a strength and conditioning standpoint. We can’t wait for week one.”

The Blue Eagles are also enjoying the luxury of continuity coming into the season, with much of the team coming back and growing together.

That starts with junior quarterback Kingston Christen (6-0, 175) again handling duties under center.

“Kingston Christen stepped in as a sophomore starter last year, he’s back as a junior, started all 10 games for us,” Mason said of his signal-caller.

More returning experience comes in the form of Magnolia’s rushing attack, which remains intact with the senior duo of Hunter Oates (5-9, 165) and Matthew Anderson (5-10, 205).

“We’ve got nearly 2,000 yards-worth of rushing returning in our backfield in seniors Hunter Oates and Matthew Anderson,” Mason said. “We’re really excited about our backfield, we feel like we can have a stable of four backs.”

Coach Craig Mason discusses the upcoming season

“We feel like we’re returning the majority of our team.”

Juniors Hayddan Lasure (5-7, 190) and Ryder Wilson (5-10, 175) could also get work at runningback, both also listed at linebacker.

Oates, Anderson and Lasure will also be major players in Mason’s defense.

Oates, along with junior Finn Loy (5-10, 155) are poised to be the top defensive backs for Magnolia, while Anderson, senior Landon Streets (5-8, 185) and Eden Harlan (5-10, 190) will play linebacker, along with Lasure. All are returning starters, a major theme for what looks to be a seasoned Blue Eagles squad.

“On the defensive side of the ball, we’ve got Hunter Oates, Finn, all in the secondary coming back,” Mason said. “Our three linebackers, Landon Streets, Matthew Anderson and Eden Harlan are all back. We still have a lot of guys who got reps behind them as well, like Hayddan Lasure.”

Loy should also feature in the receiver room for Magnolia, along with fellow returning pass-catcher, junior Preston Beverlin (5-8, 135).

“On the offensive side of the ball we return Preston Beverlin and Finn Loy,” Mason said. “We’re expecting both of those guys to do big things for us in the wide receiving corp.”

Tons of Magnolia juniors fill out the wide receiver/defensive back room for Mason and Co. to choose from, including Riley Dennis (5-9, 135), Connor Carpenter (5-9, 145) Parker Werkau (5-10, 140), Porter Werkau (5-9, 130), Carson Wade (6-0, 155) and Jacob Mayfield (5-9, 155).

Sophomores Ethaniel Harlan (5-9, 130), Brody Vargo (6-0, 135), Ben Barlow (5-7, 105) and Brennon Albright (5-7, 150) are also in the mix on both sides of the ball.

Junior Hunter Cooley (5-9, 175) is the lone Blue Eagle listed at tight end, and could also see time at linebacker. Surrounding Cooley, Streets, Anderson and Harlan is a quartet of freshmen linebackers- Rydge Moffit (5-8, 145), Greg Moore (5-8, 125), Corey Nixon (5-3, 150) and Isiah Poling (5-6, 145). Each are also listed at running back.

In the trenches, Magnolia suffered their heaviest losses, needing to replace two starting spots along the line, but Mason is confident in the pieces he has at his disposal.

“Upfront we lost two of our offensive linemen, but all the guys who we have this year all saw starting reps last year. We feel like we’ve got five guys who all got experience last year. On the defensive side we needed to replace just a handful of positions. The two graduates on the offensive line were defensive linemen, but we feel like we’re two-deep on the defensive line because so many of our guys got reps last season.”

“We return Eden Harlan, a senior, a starter last year. Isaac Voorhis is another senior. Anthony Lancaster and Jackson Fortney are both returning. There’s a stable of guys behind them competing- Brayden Grimes and Eli Eddy on the offensive line, and they both are going to be on the defensive line as well.”

Voorhis (5-10, 200), as well as juniors Lancaster (6-0, 220) and Fortney (6-0, 210) make four starters along the offensive line, with juniors Grimes (6-0, 200) and Eddy (5-10, 220) competing for the fifth spot along with juniors Brandon Moore (5-10, 285) and Justin Quinn (5-9, 205), sophomore Josh Stine (5-6, 170) and freshmen Damien VanCamp (5-9, 185), Luke Stillwagoner (5-11, 220), Ayden Spitzer (6-0, 230) and Jacob Norton (5-10, 265). All are likewise listed as defensive linemen, save for Stine, who is a linebacker on the point-preventing end.

Craig Mason is entering his second season leading Magnolia. His assistant coaches are Eric Mason, Bryan Hostetler, Eric Conner and Travis Emch.