A middle school football team is in a constant state of rebuilding. As experienced eighth graders move on to high school, it’s up to undersized seventh graders to fill different voids on the field.

For the P.S. Jones Demons, this season was hardly ordinary. Head coach Lane Raper had to adapt to a new set of playmakers, as well as a tougher conference. But in its inaugural campaign in the Pitt County Middle School Athletic Conference, P.S. Jones finished with a 6-2 record and, with the team’s bye falling on the last week, is guaranteed a top-three spot in the table.

“We’ve earned a lot of respect from the coaches over in Pitt County and got a lot of emails after games saying how great our team played,” Raper said. “My goal every year is a championship, but if you finish in the top three in the Pitt County Conference, you’ve had a successful year.”

After finishing 6-1 in 2013, P.S. Jones has garnered regional attention, rolling over reputable opponents by wide margins of victory. The Demons defeated C.M. Eppes, Wellcome, Hope, Ayden-Grifton and Farmville by two-plus touchdowns, while the team’s two losses came at the hands of two perennial powerhouses — E.B. Aycock and A.G. Cox. The game against A.G. Cox was decided in overtime and a last second touchdown from E.B. Aycock, the conference champion, sealed that win.

Raper admits the key to his team’s success in the new conference was a veteran offensive line, one that allowed him to essentially rewrite the playbook. A strong blocking presence up the middle — led by Jackson Paul and Logan Nichols — opened the door for Raper to do even more with his offense.

“Last year, we always rushed to get the ball outside because we didn’t have a lot of kids blocking up the middle,” Raper said. “This year, having those guys holding blocks in the middle really helped the offense. It opened up a whole lot of doors this year.”

One of those doors was running back Quashawn Gaynor, who was the tallest player on the field in just about every game. Gaynor finished with 14 touchdowns and just under 1000-yards rushing for the season. He was critical, Raper says, in short-yardage situations and had the ability to break free in the open field.

But the transition to the new conference wasn’t as smooth as the record may indicate. While travel time was nearly cut in half, game days moved from Wednesday to Thursdays, which interrupted a practice schedule that’s been in place for years.

“It took the kids a couple of weeks to get used to it. Honestly, as far as the kids are concerned, the biggest challenge was getting used to playing on a different day,” Raper said.

Like all middle school football programs, Raper will have to restock next season, though he’s looking towards the Community Youth Football League to provide some of the talent.

“I’m looking really for some sixth graders to come in,” he said. “We only had eight seventh graders this year. In middle school, you’re always rebuilding. Next year, I’m really looking for that CYFL talent to come out of there and get some new leaders.”