There’s optimism around the Vanier Vikings as they get set to kick-off their 2017 campaign on Saturday.

The Vikings are coming off a 2-4 season in 2016, but have some key players returning with more experience under their belt and hoping for big things this season.

“We’re a little smaller in numbers than we were hoping for, but we’ve got some veteran kids and some new grade 12 kids that came out and we’ve been happy with how we’ve been progressing,” said Vikings head coach Ryan Gottselig.

The biggest key to any success that the Vikings will have this season is the play of quarterback Ryan Stefanovic. The grade 12 is entering his third season as the team’s starting quarterback.

“It feels like yesterday I came here in grade nine and my brother was playing quarterback,” said Stefanovic, who finished third in the league with 1,075 passing yards last season.

As Stefanovic has progressed over the past two seasons, so has Vanier’s win total and offensive strength.

Stefanovic said his confidence level has grown with more experience and he’s excited about what could be possible this season.

“It’s night and day from when I was in grade 10, I was scared to be called upon to throw in grade 10,” he said.

“We went to a jamboree in Regina last Saturday and even through that I could feel myself getting more confident throughout the weekend. It’s really nice getting experience and just getting comfortable with my receivers, I’ve been playing with Jayden (Miller) and Tanner (Sanford) for four years.”

The Vikings don’t have big numbers this season with many linemen expected to play both sides of the ball throughout the season.

Gottselig said they’re excited about how athletic their team looks through the first two weeks of practice.

“Across the field in our skill positions, we have athleticism in all those spots, there’s not that hole or two that you’re looking to fill, so we’re going to rely on that and try to get the ball spread around to lots of guys and see who’s hot on certain days,” said Gottselig.

Defensively, Gottselig said they will be relying on the collective group to contribute and slow teams down.

“We had a little jamboree in Regina on Saturday against some teams that were a little higher level than us, in terms of experience, but that was good to get us going,” said Gottselig.

The Vikings will open up against the Estevan Elecs on Saturday as part of a season-opening doubleheader at Gutheridge Field. They kick-off at 1 p.m.

The late game will have the Central Cyclones battling the Peacock Tornadoes at 3:15 p.m. We’ll have full previews of both teams at DiscoverMooseJaw.com on Thursday and Friday.