WINFIELD, W.Va. (WCHS) — Winfield dealt with a slew of injuries last season and lost several close games leading to a 4-6 record.

The team was left on the outside looking in when the postseason arrived, and that disappointment has made the team quite hungry in 2025.

"We really focused on team unity, we focused on being above the line. That's kind of our stamp this year - being above the line, doing things right, working hard, pushing hard, pushing your buddy on a daily basis," said head coach Eddie Smolder, a former Ripley and Marshall standout. "Being accountable. We've always done that. We've taken that to another level. We're really focused on culture within our football program. That's helped us have a great offseason and it's propelled us to have a really good preseason."

Smolder has plenty of players back to get his Generals back to where they want to be.

"Jared Miller at quarterback, he's played since he was a freshman,” he said. “He got hurt early on last year, but he's really bounced back, done a really good job this summer. You've got Gannon Boggs back, which was one of our running backs last year. [We have] three or four linemen back that played or started varsity last year. We got a lot of guys back. We've got a lot of guys that have stepped up and are getting better, starting to fill roles."

The excitement level is at an all-time high.

"I like everything we've been doing. Really good, amazing stuff," junior running back Gannon Boggs. "A lot of new plays [have been installed]. Done a little bit more with the offense. We've had a great team, a great fall camp.”

Smolder is a football purist and is proud to lead this tradition-rich program back to the promised land of playoff action.

"Well, football is the greatest game that I feel God invented to take a boy and develop and mold them into a young man by the time they get through high school,” he said. “The way I've always looked at it, you take the kids in your program, those are your kids, your community, your school. Those are the ones you work with.

"The game of football is supposed to be about your hometown, your community and that's what our focus is - our culture and our kids and we're going to treat them like they're our own, make them the best they can be."

The Generals open the season this Friday at home against Lincoln County.