Last season was a step in the right direction for the Rainier football team.

After three straight seasons of two or fewer wins, the Mountaineers rattled off six wins in the regular season en route to a crossover play-in game. With some of the team’s biggest playmakers back, they have their sets on getting back to the postseason.

Leading the charge are senior QB Jake Meldrum, senior WR Hunter Howell, and junior defensive lineman Dorien Cano, all of which were well-represented on postseason all-league teams last fall.

Meldrum and Howell were named to the All-C2BL East/West First-Team, and Rainier coach Andy Bartell has high hopes for the duo’s senior campaign.

“They’ve done a lot of good things at their positions,” Bartell said. “We’re expecting (Jake) to make that senior jump. And Hunter’s had the best spring and fall camp in the four years I’ve had him.”

Cano earned just as much praise for a stellar season, one where he tallied 76 tackles and five sacks to earn League Defensive MVP honors.

“He’s our leader out there,” Bartell said. “We think we can kind of funnel everything to him where our thumper is at.”

With this trio leading the way, and more continuity throughout the roster, Bartell has every reason to believe that Rainier can be dangerous on both sides of the ball.

Four starting offensive lineman are back to protect Meldrum, including second-team all-league right tackle Lukas Sollars. They’ll also lead the way for Cano and Jayden Algabares, a duo that Bartell called “thunder and lightning” out of the backfield.

“When we can work play action off of that, I think that we can be dangerous,” Bartell said. “When (Jake and Hunter) have time, we can do some things.”

While Bartell anticipates a step forward in production throughout the lineup on the field, he’s also looking forward to how his team will grow mentally.

In 2023, the Mountaineers made more avoidable mental mistakes on the field than he had hoped.

Bartell noted that this season, Rainier named five captains — Meldrum, Howell, Cano, Blake Roberts, and Brayden Walker — that will lead the way.

“Them kind of being the voice, those guys took that challenge on,” Bartell said. “I'm really excited about them holding each other accountable on the field.”