Rockwall-Heath senior offensive lineman Blake Gunderson knows his team's biggest strength.

"We've got a lot of experience," Gunderson said. "A lot of younger guys who had to fill in when we had injuries had a lot of good experience. I think we're going to be strong because of that.

"No other team is going to have 22 returning starters."

Actually, Heath is one of three area teams, along with McKinney Boyd and Saginaw, that return all 22 starters. All began varsity play in 2006 with no seniors.

Heath's football program began when the school opened in 2005, with only sophomores and freshmen on the squad. After a year playing at the junior varsity level, Heath last year was 2-8 overall and winless in District 10-4A play.

Heath wants to be competitive, and its experience is an asset. But Tam Hollingshead, who has been head coach of the program since its birth, said experience is useful only if it is harnessed.

"Yes, we have all the starters back," he said, "but we were an extremely young team last year and took a lot of licks. We hope that we learn from that. But we're still in the process of development."

Development is a key word around Heath. The team is young, with 10 sophomores.

Drew Benefield, a sophomore linebacker, is slated to start when Heath opens its season Friday against John Paul II. That means that Benefield will be replacing one of last year's starters, something he sees as a privilege.

"It's special, but coaches have confidence in me, and they threw me in the middle of it," Benefield said. "I think I've gotten so much better in the short time I've been up with the varsity."

Forty sophomores started with the program in 2005, Hollingshead said. Twenty-one remain.

Photos by JUAN GARCIA/DMN

Running back Matt Tanner is part of Rockwall-Heath's first senior class.

"We're the top dogs," senior running back Matt Tanner said, "and we've got to show all the young kids how it's done. We've got to step up so they can follow off of our leadership."

Gunderson, an honorable mention All-District 10-4A selection, said that the relationships among the seniors are strengthened by their role in Heath's athletic history.

"We've been together, some of us, since elementary school," Gunderson said. "The past five years, we've bonded together and formed one big family, and we're welcoming any juniors and sophomores into our family. We have our senior group, and everyone else comes in later."

Three years is not much time when it comes to establishing a football program, and Hollingshead acknowledges that Heath, despite the returning experience, is still a work in progress. But he credits that progress to the inaugural class.

"They're doing a lot of real positive things," Hollingshead said. "They're setting a lot of traditions, setting a standard of competitiveness, and giving a feel in our building that we're going to be competitive."

ABOUT ROCKWALL-HEATH

Established: 2005

Enrollment: 1,789 (unofficial)

Coach: Tam Hollingshead

Nickname: Hawks

2005: In its first season, Heath went 8-2 as a junior varsity team

2006: In its inaugural varsity season, Heath went 2-8 overall and 0-7 in District 10-4A

John Paul II (0-1) vs. Rockwall-Heath (0-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Rockwall's Wilkerson-Sanders Stadium