DEARY - If they make the playoffs for a fourth straight season, the Deary Mustangs know their objective: to escape the first round.

The past three years, the Mustangs have fallen to the eventual state champion - or the state runner-up.

"So we feel like if we can get out of that first round, we've got a chance to do something," Deary coach Doug Henderson said.

"But we haven't been able to get out of there yet."

After Deary found itself bounced from last year's playoffs by Wilder, Henderson looked around the locker room and counted just two departing seniors.

"So it's pretty much last year's team," he said of this season's crew, "and it feels like we're a month ahead of where we started last year."

The Mustangs will open their season at 2 p.m. Saturday at Moscow's Kibbie Dome against Potlatch - a game forced inside over concerns about smoky skies. White Star League play will begin against Lewis County (Sept. 18) and Timberline (Sept. 25) - the latter of whom was in contention for one of the conference's two playoff spots late into last season.

After spending much of last season on the line, Tyler Anderson will move to running back, a spot he excelled in briefly last season. During the team's second-to-last contest, the 6-foot-3, 235-pounder rushed for nearly 300 yards and four touchdowns against Kendrick, the second-place team out of the White Star League.

And with the development of 6-foot-4, 285-pound senior Andrew Trueman on the offensive line, Anderson will move into the backfield full-time for his final prep campaign.

But if opponents start keying on Anderson, Henderson warned, "we've got a lot of other weapons."

Entering his second year under center, senior quarterback Morgan Beyer possesses a poise which calms the Mustang offense.

Featured running back Kaden Jones plays instinctively - he rushed for 14 TDs and nabbed 10 interceptions on defense last year.

Helping put their defensive teammates into the right spots to be successful, Hunter Vallem (defensive end) and Kael Stelck (middle linebacker) will direct traffic while Seth Winter figures to create mismatches on offense from his tight end position: he's one of the fastest Mustangs.