The 2023 season was an outlook-changing campaign for Two Rivers. After accruing just 15 wins over the previous nine years, the Warriors went out and won eight games last fall.

The result, per senior running back Ramzi Rislove:  “We’re more confident, I think, than we’ve ever been.”

For good reason. The Warriors brought back a high number of key contributors from a year ago. Their junior class consists of north of 30 players, the largest number in co-coach Tom Orth’s long tenure. On the surface, Two Rivers – which opens its season Thursday at Minneapolis Southwest – appears primed for another successful fall.

That’s certainly the outside expectation.

“There’s more buzz around the program, there certainly is,” said Bruce Carpenter, who’s entering his second season as co-coach. “And when I talk to parents and people, there’s that expectation.”

Frankly, that’s only a positive. Expectation is often a byproduct of excitement, which is palpable.

“I feel like there’s going to be a lot more fans coming (to games),” Rislove said. “Just because in past years, no one likes to see their teams get blown out or lose. So now that they’re winning games, I feel like they have more of a reason to come now.”

Momentum is building in the right direction. That was evident in offseason workouts, and maybe even earlier than that.

Senior lineman Caleb Koury noted at the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, players were already eager to return to the gridiron for the following season.

“We usually have a lot of guys quitting between seasons, because when they see a losing program, they don’t want to be a part of that,” Koury said. “This year, after having a winning program, a really good record last year, there’s a lot of guys coming back.”

Senior lineman Carter Garland said much of the talk a year ago centered on earning the right to expect to win. That mindset is carrying forward into this campaign.

Carpenter noted Two Rivers still has “a long ways to go” as a program, but steps are consistently being taken. The Warriors are always looking to sharpen up their attention to detail and general approach to the way they practice and prepare.

Last year provided direct evidence to players that if you put in the proper work, the desired results can follow. Which likely played a role in the offseason dedication that was on full display in recent months.

“I hope that’s part of the reason for the confidence, too – not just some of the results from last year, but really looking back at the work that they’ve done over the last nine months,” Carpenter said. “Taking pride and confidence for that, and how that prepares them.”

Players expressed optimism that everything has only improved from a year ago, from the connectedness present across the roster to the pace with which things have been attacked in practice.

Garland noted last season put Two Rivers “on the map for other schools, seeing us as real competitors now.”

That seems to be a trend taking hold across the school, as the Warriors see strides taken within numerous programs.

“In general, we’ve got a good vibe going on in our building and our school community,” Orth said. “I hope that some of the things that we were able to do last year contributed to that.”

That doesn’t automatically mean the football program will continue to surge forward at some exponential rate. Results are never guaranteed.

But Carpenter will take confidence over pessimism every day of the week.

“There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “So I think it’s great that they have that confidence, and it’s the coaches’ job to continue to point out that the work is what continues to make it happen. Not just thinking it, but both of those things put together.”

And confidence isn’t some assumption that you’re going to walk onto the field and blow the doors off your opponent every week.

Koury said to him, confidence means being able to step onto the field without a worry in his mind, because he has full trust in his teammates and coaches, and the work all of them have put in to be in the best possible position to succeed.

“So just leave it all on the field,” he said, “and play as hard as you can.”

Orth noted if the team improves every day and competes with a sense of joy, “I’ll be perfectly good” with any result. But yeah, the players have a goal in mind.

When asked what that was last week, there was a slight sense of hesitation.

“Hmmm,” Garland said. “What do we want to say?”

Then an unspoken agreement was reached – it was, indeed, OK to believe.

“Section finals,” he said, “then probably win section finals and get to state.”

Added Rislove: “Shoot for the stars.”

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