WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Hartford High football is getting back to its roots this season.

“We’re one of the few teams that still believe in running the ball,” coach Matt Trombly said. “Everybody wants to spread it and throw it around. We still believe in trying to get 3½ yards per carry, run the clock and play solid defense.”

After engineering a perfect 8-0 regular season and the program’s first appearance in the VPA Division I state title game since 2017, the Hurricanes came up a touchdown short of capping an undefeated season with a championship.

It was a heartbreaking conclusion to a spectacular season, one that saw a strong senior core, including Trombly’s son, Brayden, the team’s multi-year starting quarterback, graduate. With them went a “pretty vast” playbook that featured a more developed passing game and had taken years to develop under long-term starters, Trombly said.

Heading into its first game of the 2024 campaign against Champlain Valley Union on Saturday, Hartford is counting on a mix of key returnees and new starters.

“We lost a lot of guys last year,” said senior Nick Daniels, a running back and outside linebacker. “But this year we’ve got a lot of young guys who maybe didn’t see the field a ton last year that are stepping up and playing bigger roles.”

The wing-T offense that has been foundational to Hartford’s success remains, but the playbook has been simplified with junior Owen Mock under center. Trombly and his staff plan to “dress it up” at the line of scrimmage and deploy pre-snap motions and shifts to diversify the offense and confuse opposing defenses.

Window dressing aside, the Hurricanes boss believes the moment isn’t too big for Mock, who hails from a football family and has bided his time for the opportunity to be the first option at quarterback. Mock’s job is to keep things simple; Trom  bly said his job is to keep him comfortable.

The early season goal: Get the ball to the playmakers in the backfield and pound the rock downfield a few yards at a time.

“Hartford’s always been a run-game football team; it’s always been our tradition,” Daniels said. “That’s how we’re going to win games this year.”

A preseason injury to Mock’s  backup has also left Trombly more cautious of the number of hits his starter will take. The Hurricanes, who already field a thin roster compared to Vermont’s other D-I squads, can’t afford another injury in the quarterback room — or anywhere else for that matter.

Trombly estimates that he has a roster of 40 players “on a good day.” Most starters will play both sides of the ball for all four quarters, a point of pride for Daniels and senior Colby Tierney, a tight end and defensive end.

Conditioning was central to the team’s success last season and was the reason the starters were able to stay on the field, Daniels said. Unlike most of its opponents, Hartford doesn’t have the luxury of players featuring strictly on offense or defense, so it becomes a chip on the shoulder for the Hurricanes, Tierney said.

Hartford combats its limited depth with a culture rooted in tradition and developmental continuity. Most of Hartford’s players entered the system in fourth grade, learning a “watered down version” of what Trombly and his staff teach at the varsity level, from drills to terminology and more.

“Hartford’s a football town,” Trombly said. “We’ve been fortunate to have success. We’ve got some talented kids, but more so we have kids that work hard, a lot of blue collar kids, kids that believe in what we do.”

That belief is palpable during a midweek practice ahead of the season opener. Despite the departure of a talented senior class and in spite of any outside detractors, the Hurricanes are ready to make another push to the state title game.

“People saw how it ended last year and people saw all the guys we lost, and I think people are kind of (saying), ‘Oh, Hartford’s not in the picture this year,’” Daniels said. “We have the chance to do something special.”

“We’re going to surprise some people,” Tierney said.

Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.