SANFORD — Despite losing a state championship-winning coach and an award-winning cornerstone lineman, there’s no plans of slowing down for the Sanford varsity football program. In fact, the plan under new head coach Keith Noel is to speed things up this season.

“You can’t really just line up in (a double tight end formation) and just pound the ball anymore ”¦ because the game has evolved a little further from there,” said Noel, whose plan on offense this year will be “getting the ball in space, and then sometimes, if we need to grind it out, we’ll grind it out.”

“We’ve been a really up-tempo team. We’re trying to play fast and physical for all 48 minutes of the game,” said senior co-captain Eddie Michetti, who plays running back on offense. “It’s something we’re really working on in practice and trying to establish.”

The Spartans over the last few years have based their offense around dynamic, but hard-hitting running backs in Fitzpatrick Trophy finalist Alex Shain ”“ who graduated in 2013 ”“ and 2014 graduate Josh Schroder. But this season, Sanford has senior quarterback Chase Eldredge to build around on offense.

The Spartans will still run the ball plenty, but Eldredge will be under center for his second year as a starter, and the team has full trust in his arm and decision-making.

“We’ve got a lot of faith in Chase,” said Michetti. “He’s a good quarterback; he knows what to do with the ball.”

“He’s ready to lead this team,” Noel said of Eldredge, “so that’s good to see.”

While Noel wants to see his offense spread from sideline to sideline, he comes from a background as a line coach. Dakota Chapman, another senior co-captain who will be an important part of both the offensive and defensive lines, said that part of the team will still be all about physicality.

The Sanford defense will look to find balance between speed and strength, and will marry the two with aggression.

“Our defense is going to be great, just as it’s always been,” said senior linebacker Cody Marshall. “Our defensive line is going to get penetration, our linebackers are going to flow and our secondary is going to lock down.”

“Eleven hats finding the ball,” Noel said of his defensive philosophy. “That’s the key right there, is just guys finding the football. And then you cause turnovers, and that’s a recipe for success.”

Sanford went just 4-4 during the regular season last year, but upset South Portland on the road to the playoffs before bowing out to Thornton Academy in the Western Class A semifinals. While the Spartans don’t want to dwell on the upset playoff win, they still want to embrace that underdog mentality, especially if opposing teams predict vulnerability after graduating 16 players from last year’s team, including Gaziano Award winner Jed Scott as well as longtime head coach Mike Fallon.

“We have a lot of kids with a lot of potential, so we’re not really worried about anything,” Chapman said.

“We want to show everybody that even though we lost a bunch of seniors last year, that we can step up and be just as good as we were,” said Marshall. “In high school football, on any given day, whoever shows up and plays the hardest, plays their (butt) off, will win.”

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.

Spartans At A Glance

Coach: Keith Noel (first year)

Last year’s results:

5-5, lost in Western Class A semifinals

Key Returning players: Seniors, Peyton Wiegand (WR/DB), Chase Eldredge (QB), Dakota Chapman (OL/DL), Cody Marshall (RB/LB), Nick Love (H-Back/DL), Eddie Michetti (RB/DB), Ryan Tapscott (OL); juniors, Pete Hegerty (RB), Haris Layn (OL/DL)

Key Newcomers: Seniors, Brian Main (OL/DL), Ryan Clark (WR/DB), Dominick Cloutier (OL/DL); juniors, Tye Laviolette (DB/WR), James Roache (RB/LB), Shawn Merriefield (OL/DL); sophomore Frankie Veino (DB)

Coach’s outlook: “Even with the loss of 16 seniors, there were plenty of underclassmen who got considerable playing time last year. We will involve many different athletes within our offense, while being aggressive on the defensive side of the ball. Look for us to be multi-dimensional on both sides of the ball, utilizing the size of our larger lineman, with quickness at our skill positions. We must focus day in and day out. There is never an easy game in Class A football. Any team can win on any given night.”

Sanford football schedule

Sept. 5: Sanford at Scarborough, 7 p.m.

Sept. 12: Oxford Hills at Sanford, 7 p.m.

Sept. 19: Sanford at Bonny Eagle, 7 p.m.

Sept. 26: Thornton Academy at Sanford, 7 p.m.

Oct. 3: Sanford at South Portland, 7 p.m.

Oct. 10: Biddeford at Sanford, 7 p.m.

Oct. 17: Noble at Sanford, 7 p.m.

Oct. 24: Sanford at Massabesic, 7 p.m.