PINETOWN — A young Northside football team enters the new season with realistic expectations — master the fundamentals, develop role players and get a little bit better with every practice, every game.

Program rebuilding can be a tough pill to swallow and a difficult concept to implant for high school football coaches. It’s the nature of the sport to want to be the best every night. But it’s a blueprint head coach Keith Boyd is calmly embracing two weeks before the first game.

“We’re not as big as some teams are going to be and we’re not as fast, so we’re working hard on conditioning, execution on offense and alignment on defense to try to get ourselves in the right spots,” Boyd said.

“We’re looking down the road long term, hoping to keep everyone healthy and come back next year and be where we want to be. We understand we’re going to have some growing pains and do some things that aren’t quite right, but we’re going to stick with them, coach them, do we best we can and stay as positive as we can be.”

Northside will field four seniors this season, only one, offensive lineman Tyler Dugger, who started for the varsity team last season. And without a jayvee team for the first time in years, the Panthers are looking to a young supporting cast to grow physically, as well as mentally in hopes of being competitive down the road.

Coming off a 4-8 season (2-3 in conference play), Northside graduated more than 10 seniors last May, including running back Rockne Butler, the centerpiece of the team’s power-I offense. Butler rushed for 22 touchdowns and more than 1500 yards last season, using his 6-foot-1 frame to barrel his way through opposing defensive lines. In total, Boyd will need to compensate for the loss of 2600 yards of offense generated by four key seniors — Butler, Kermani Slade, Patrick Moore and quarterback Noel Howson. It’s a daunting task and certainly not a quick fix.

Northside will compete in what’s expected to be a strengthened Coastal Plains Conference this season with East Carteret (17) and cross-county rival Southside (19) earning preseason Top 25 rankings (Carolina Preps). The defending conference champion, Pamlico County, is also expected to compete for a second-consecutive Coastal Plains crown, while Lejeune’s ability is almost always unpredictable.

“Adversity builds character,” Boyd said. “We know when we walk out on the field on Friday night there’s a good chance we’ll be a little outmanned. But I don’t think we’re going to back down. If we don’t back down and accept that adversity, you should see us get better no matter who we play. Playing better competition has got to make us better.”

So far, the Panthers are taking their underdog label and running with it. Despite the lack of size, Boyd says the players’ dedication is evident by a near perfect preseason practice attendance record, coupled with their ability to absorb criticism. Establishing a work ethic is, in essence, half the battle.

But for a team that allowed an average of 40 points per game last season, defense is again a question entering the season, especially against bigger and faster conference opponents and hard-hitting nonconference teams like South Creek, Riverside and North Pitt.

When asked how many wins he expects in 2015, Boyd said, “It’s hard to put a number on it. We’re measuring success this year on offense with first downs. We’re going to measure success on defense getting some three and outs or keeping people out of the end zone.”

Northside opens the season on Aug. 21 at home against Creswell, a team the Panthers beat 50-0 last year.