HAMILTON, Ill. — The West Hancock Titans had one of the more explosive offenses in the area last season with an air it out attack.

The Titans have a new quarterback this season, with Brayden Carter taking over for Bryce Varner.

“The summer has gone really good,” said Carter. “I had to take last year off after playing baseball year-round. I’ve grown a few inches and kept getting stronger. My arm has gotten stronger and I’ve just kind of picked off right where I was.”

Carter has gotten reacclimated with his teammates that he played with during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

“We’re lucky to have Brayden back for his senior year,” said Titans head coach Coy Dorothy. “He’s looking very solid. He’s put a lot of work in the offseason. The team chemistry with him and the wide receivers has been very good. I’m super excited to see his hard work translate over to the field, and he should be set to have a big year.”

Junior wide receiver Hunter Froman had a breakout campaign last season, catching 54 passes for 849 yards and nine touchdowns.

Froman then went on to have a strong basketball season with the Titans.

“I’m going to try to get as many catches and yards as I can,” said Froman. “(Carter) can put the ball where I need it to be to make a catch.”

During the offseason, Froman has been working on developing chemistry with his new quarterback.

“We played together my freshmen year on JV,” said Froman. “We didn’t play together last year, but this year we just picked up where we left off.”

Froman led the Lincoln Trail-Prairieland Conference in receiving yards during the regular season.

“Hunter is super athletic,” said Dorothy. “He’s such a good kid, but he’s also just one of the freak athletes. We saw that last year during football season and then in the winter during basketball season.”

The Titans did graduate Nolan Gooding, who caught 57 passes for 505 yards and eight scores, but have some other receivers they are excited about.

West Hancock looks for a big year out of senior wideout Jordan Crowley.

“Jordan Crowley has stepped up pretty big for us over the offseason,” said Dorothy. “He ended up getting hurt last year and missed six or seven games, so to get him back is going to be nice for our quarterback.”

Junior Chandler Dadant will be the Titans’ primary running back after making 117 carries for 491 yards and five touchdowns last year.

“Chandler Dadant is coming back and played as a sophomore last year, like Hunter,” said Dorothy. “He was kind of thrown into varsity, but he was well prepared for it. He’s put on weight and he did track in the offseason to get a lot faster. So we all have high expectations for him, and I think he’s going to excel.”

West Hancock returns four players to its offensive line, including standout left tackle Ryan Horn.

“It’s going to be good, especially with Horn protecting me blind side,” said Carter. “I feel really confident in this group. They’re pretty much all seniors.”

Many of these same players will be part of the Titans defensive line group, which includes Horn, Zayden Sonneborn and Jess Scott.

“I would say that is probably going to be our strongest position group,” said Dorothy. “We have the beef up there this year. We expect to run the ball and we expect to stop the run (on defense). I firmly believe if we can stop the run, we’re going to have a successful year this year.”

Dadant and Layton Conkright will be among the team’s linebackers.

“I think our guys up front like Ryan Horn and Zayden Sonneborn are going to have big years,” said Dorothy. “We also got Layton Conkright back out, who will be a linebacker. Chandler’s going to be a force at backer. Then, Jess Scott just had a tremendous offseason. He trimmed down a lot of weight, he played basketball and did track. I think that helped out a lot.”

Froman will be part of West Hancock’s defense as its strong safety.

“I think once we start tackling like we can, the defense is going to be good,” said Froman.

In addition to his duties at wide receiver and safety, Froman is also West Hancock’s punter and kicker.

“Hunter can kind of do it all, but we also have a few other people that can kick or punt,” said Dorothy. “Special teams is a big part of the game that people don’t realize. Coach (Tyler) Walker is a special teams guy. Every kickoff return is the first play on offense, and every kickoff is the first play on defense. So we have to be great at those.”