The Mt. Zion Braves football team experienced its fair share of injuries in 2021, forcing a lot of young players to step into a larger role. Coach Patrick Etherton is hoping the experience of those players will pay off in 2022.

As the season opens this week, Coach Etherton says while the 2021 season was injury-riddled for his team, he indicates the team's first-round exit from the 4A postseason left a bad taste in the mouth of the program.

For Coach Etherton, he approaches most off-seasons the same. He explains they evaluate everything they have in the program and try to find systems that will best fit what they have. With last year's early exit from the postseason, he credits this group's dedication to getting better.

While the Braves will have to replace a lot of production that graduated out of the program from last year, Coach Etherton says they have a lot of experience coming back, especially on the offensive line, which has him excited.

You can follow the Mt. Zion Braves football program on Twitter, at the handle @mtz_football.

The Braves open the 2022 football season at Limestone on Friday, Aug. 26.