Despite losing key pieces off a team that reached the third round of the state playoffs a year ago, there was no shortage of confidence in the talent still on the roster as Rosewood officially opened practice for the 2024 season on Wednesday morning.

The Eagles practiced in helmets, jerseys, and shorts, before concluding their morning with conditioning and work in the weight room.

Rosewood finished 7-6 last season under first-year head coach Josh Smith, including a 2-2 record against Carolina 1-A Conference opponents.

The Eagles’ season ended with a 47-14 home loss to East Bladen in the third round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 1-A state playoffs.

Smith and Rosewood are tasked with filling the void left by the graduation of tailback David Lamm and receiver Micah Cox. Lamm rushed for 4,279 yards and 66 touchdowns, with 22 games of 100 yards or more in his storied career.

Cox finished with 53 career receptions, 843 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns. He also rushed for 625 yards and six touchdowns.

Rosewood will turn to Bryson Hobbs, Nazier Powell, Micah Williamson, and Aldinio Previl to split the carries in the backfield.

Senior quarterback Gio Pineda, a transfer from Spring Creek before the 2023 season, returns to engineer the Eagles’ offense.

Pineda threw for 1,249 yards and 20 touchdowns with eight interceptions a year ago. Senior Talan Collins will play receiver, and safety and handle the punting duties for Rosewood.

Collins had 14 catches for 345 yards and five touchdowns a year ago.

“It’s going to be hard to replace David Lamm,” Smith said. “You’re talking about a guy who in each of the last three years was a 1,000-yard rusher. We’ve got four guys that I think can fill that load, and they’re all going to be key contributors on defense. That’s going to give them an opportunity to tote it a little bit here and there. Last year, Gio was a new guy in this system, and it took him (a while) to have some confidence. We’re excited for the new challenge.”

A rebuilt offensive line that was a major question mark for the Eagles entering last season has transformed into a stength. Rosewood returns four starters up front and Smith is confident the woes that plagued the Eagles in the trenches a year ago, shouldn’t be a problem in 2024.

Senior defensive lineman Micah Bell, who holds an offer from Navy, returns to a defense that held five opponents to 14 points or less last season. A leader not only defensively, but for the entire team, the expectations for Bell are high as he enters his final campaign in purple and gold.

“Micah is a special human being, he really is,” Smith said. “What’s been the most impressive is his humility and his leadership through this all. He could have been big headed through this all with schools coming to see him, and even being offered the first time with Navy. He’s taking these young guys and he’s putting them under his wing and showing them what it’s going to take. We’re expecting really big things from this year. I have no doubt every Friday night he’s going to continue to be the best player on the field, and dominate. We just have to continue to keep him healthy.”

The two biggest questions marks for Rosewood in 2024 will be can it eliminate the critical mistakes that showed up in close losses, and can a run defense that was gashed at times against quality opponents improve?

Five of the Eagles six losses in 2023 came by eight points or less, and turnovers at inopportune times proved to be the deciding factor in several of those games.

“I don’t think we can put ourselves in that position and what I mean by that is in those crucial games, we turned the ball over, or it was just a missed tackle,” Smith said. “It’s the little things, and those little things at the end add up to big things. We’ve focused hard on taking care of the little things. Thinking about the North Johnston loss, that loss was a kickoff return for a touchdown. When we talk about North Duplin, they recovered an onside kick that gave them an extra possession. Lakewood, we didn’t capitalize on the last minute things we had to do, and against Aycock, we turned the ball over five times. It’s taking care of the football and controlling what we can do.”

In those six losses last season, Rosewood allowed 1,644 rushing yards (274 per game) and 24 rushing touchdowns. Princeton rushed for 402 yards and six touchdowns in a 41-34 win, while North Duplin finished with 362 yards on the ground and five touchdowns.

The Eagles open the season at home on Aug. 23 against Charles B. Aycock.