Hollis Brookline coach Pat Gendron works with his quarterbacks during a preseason practice. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

(Editor’s Note: This is part of The Telegraph’s annual Football Preview Tab Insert Section that will be found in this Sunday’s Telegraph print edition, complete with schedules, last year’s results, team photos, and much more)

HOLLIS – One of these seasons, the Hollis Brookline High School football team will be the story of the fall.

Is this the year?

Perhaps, as HB, from some 20-plus players two years ago, have grown to nearly 60 under the guidance of second-year head coach Pat Gendron, who managed to get a 2-7 record out of a team with a lot of inexperience.

And now it’s full go.

“Absolutely,” Gendron said. “We’ve got a lot of kids returning, they’re excited. There’s some excitement around Hollis Brookline football again, which is great.”

Gendron admits he wasn’t sure what he was getting himself into when he took over the program in late January of 2025.

But he saw that the youth feeder program was rejuvenated, and the numbers would eventually increase.

And here we are. The Cavs played better down the stretch last season, and Gendron found his quarterback in Steve Niebel, who volunteered during a 7 on 7 for the position a year ago and developed.

“He took ownership of the huddle as a junior last year,” Gendron said. “He did remarkably well for us.”

At receiver, there’s senior wideout Cole Duncan. Up front, Gabe McGrath leads the returning linemen, there’s also sophomore John Barry and junior two-way lineman John Ross. There are as many linemen as receivers on this team.

“We’ve got a lot of linemen, kids who are excited about putting their hands in the dirt,” Gendron said. “That’s all a coach can ask for.”

Caedmon Barry is another key senior lineman. Junior Anthony Barchard at receiver is back as well.

Some other players joining the skill position fray are sophomore running back Ben York, Matt Souza, and freshman Thurston Balmer. Receivers and backs are almost interchangeable on this team.

Defensively, junior John Ross is on the defensive line. Again, the more linemen the better.

Junior linebackers Ben Belanger and Will Crawford will help out along with Grayson Scott. Enzo Kolar, a junior, plus sophomores Quinn Garrity and Nolan Barry will go from linebacker to the secondary, it’s almost all the same in HB’s defense.

The idea? Speed. That’s the strength of the team in Gendron’s mind.

“We’re a sprint-based football philosophy,” he said. “We want to keep kids fast, fresh and healthy for Friday nights. That’s our goal. We will organize and structure practice to make sure we get that; we train speed a couple of times a week. … We allow for the eb and flow just like a football game. We’ll have an all-out period and a rest-and-recovery period to develop that speed.”

Where does Gendron want to improve?

Just make progress.

“It was just so new to everyone (last year),: he said. “And when they finally got a taste of success, it snowballed. … We kept progressing. And this year we expect more of them, and they expect more of themselves. And with that hopefully we achieve more.”