Washington is coming off an 8-14 (3-7 2-A Eastern Plains Conference) season in which it finished second to last in its league. The Pam Pack graduated half a dozen seniors and lost Shaiquan Moore, but coach Steven Flowers still has high hopes for this season.

It’s going to be a tall order, but he believes the Pam Pack can rank among the top three in the Eastern Plains. It will have to be able to hang with defending state champion Farmville Central and a tough North Pitt squad. Flowers has helped organize a challenging non-conference schedule that should prepare the boys for the opponents they’ll see in conference.

The Pam Pack begins its campaign Wednesday at Northern Nash. Here’s what Flowers had to say going into the season opener:

 

What the expectations are for this year’s team:

“Right now, it’s hard to say because football ended Friday and those guys just got off. What I have is I’ve got five guys returning from last year, and think they’re going to be pretty good. I don’t know what I’m going to fill in yet, but I’ll know (after Tuesday) and when we play Wednesday.”

 

What are those holes that need to be filled:

“Virtually everywhere. I have Sharwan (Staton) back, and he’s the only one that had significant playing time last year. The other four back played bit roles last year, but they’re seniors now. We’ll see how it goes.”

 

How the Pam Pack’s leadership looks:

“I think we’ve got some good attitudes this year. I think we’ll be all right. It’s huge. Last year, we could never find someone to be a leader. You’d have a little bit of selfishness, a little bit of me first. I don’t think we have that this year. That should make a big difference.”

 

Who he expects to make an impact this year:

“There’s one on varsity from last year that played some — Isaiah Peed. I expect big things from him. Then there’s Harvey McCullough and Malic Corey. They’re seniors now. We don’t have any real size, but they’re our biggest guys. I think they’re going to be good for us. Harvey is probably going to score some for us.”

 

What he’s looking for against Northern Nash in the season opener:

“I think (Northern Nash) is going to be pretty good. They didn’t lose a lot, and their junior varsity team was pretty good. I think they’re going to be tough. That’s going to be a challenge for us, but we’re not scared of anybody.

“(I want to see) hustle. That’s what we’ve been preaching all week. If they get out there, hustle and play hard, we’ll be fine.”

 

What he’s looking to accomplish during the non-conference stretch:

“We’ve got Greene Central. They’re always pretty good. Northern Nash is pretty good. We’ve got Jones Senior, who we’ve never played, so I don’t know a lot about them. We’ve got Fike. That’s somebody new. Just looking at them on paper, I think they’re going to be pretty good, but we can match up.”

 

What the Eastern Plains Conference looks like this year:

“Farmville Central, obviously, they’re not going to be as good as last year, but they’re going to be in the running for it. I think North Pitt, they’re they team to beat. They’ve got everyone back and they were strong last year. Beddingfield lost some big guys, so I don’t know how good they’re going to be. They’ve got speed. Then Southwest Edgecombe, North Johnston and us, we’re in a group there.”

 

What Washington is hoping to accomplish in the league:

“We want to be top three and get in the playoffs.”