Bob Forsyth has 34 good reasons to think Linn-Mar High School will have another strong football team this year.

That's how many seniors he has on the roster.

"This class of seniors is a special class for all of us as coaches," Forsyth said after practice Tuesday morning. "They were the ninth graders when we came in.

"I remember coming down here and seeing those kids and wondering what life would be like here in a couple of years, because I was new and they were, too."

Life has been good for this senior class, especially compared to a few years ago.

Linn-Mar finished 0-9 in 2007 under Bob Read in his final year as head coach, back when these 2011 seniors were eighth graders. Forsyth took over in 2008 and led the Lions to a 3-6 campaign, then went 9-2 in 2009 and 8-3 in 2010 with a pair of playoff teams.

The freshmen Forsyth met in 2008 are seniors now, hoping to put an exclamation point on their prep careers.

"We kind of think of ourselves as the first full product of Coach Forsyth and all those guys (assistant coaches) in this whole process," said quarterback Mark Atwater, one of the leaders of this senior class. "Everyone has really invested themselves into the offseason program."

It's a big senior class, but not gigantic. Xavier had 40 seniors last year and Kennedy had 35, so a 34-man senior class is not unusual for a Metro school, but Linn-Mar's senior class reported for duty four years ago when the varsity had not won a game and helped turn the program around.

They stuck together, even though not all of the 34 seniors are superstars or even starters.

"There's kids, I'm sure they know they're not going to see a lot of time on Friday nights. They're not in it for that," Atwater said. "You respect kids like that.

"They want to be out here, be a part of the team. Everyone feels like we have something really special. A lot of kids want to be part of that."

Linn-Mar has a new state-of-the-art football stadium this year, so that's something special for these seniors. The new stadium has replaced flood-prone Armstrong Field and would be the envy of many small college teams around the country.

Forsyth plans to tap into his senior class to replace talented players who have graduated, such as tailback Jer Garman, lineman Mac Mahmens, defensive end Brandon Allen, receiver Josh Montague, receiver/defensive back Mason Krusie, tight end Ian McBrayer and defensive back Michael Thul, all of whom are playing sports in college this year.

Five of those Lions are playing college football: Garman (North Dakota), Mahmens (Minnesota-Duluth), Allen (Iowa Western), Krusie (Dubuque) and McBrayer (Dubuque). Two of them are playing college basketball: Montague (Maryville) and Thul (Coe).

"It was a talented senior class," Forsyth said.

Atwater, a double-threat on offense, accounted for 2,349 yards and 29 touchdowns last year. He passed for 1,605 yards and 20 TDs and rushed for 744 yards and nine scores. Never one to rest, he also finished second on the team in tackles with 85 at linebacker.

Atwater attended college football camps this summer and is being recruited, but nothing has happened yet.

"No offers," he said Tuesday. "The way I feel right now, it's something that's going to have to be based on my senior year, how I do there, impressing someone for an offer to come.

"I'm still talking to schools, I'm going to make some visits this football season for games. I'm probably going to go down to Iowa for the Iowa-Indiana homecoming game. I'll probably go to Iowa State for one, too."

Atwater said he plans to set recruiting aside this fall, for the most part, and concentrate on helping Linn-Mar have a successful season. He isn't sure what position he'd play in college, assuming he gets an opportunity.

"Linebacker is what I've always wanted to play," he said. "I've talked a little bit about maybe playing safety. I'd have to learn how to back-pedal and stuff like that.

"There are some other places that are sill talking quarterback, and I still like that, because I do like to have the ball in my hands. In an ideal world, I just want to play college football."

Atwater will have the ball in his hands a lot for the Lions, either throwing, running or handing off to Garman's replacement at tailback. Forsyth said seniors Mitch Wantock (14 carries for 73 yards) and Brandon Ophoff (18 carries for 50 yards) are battling for the job after seeing spot duty last year.

"They're starting to fit in there, because it's been hard to get reps at tailback for three years," Forsyth said. "They're both battling and doing a nice job."

Garman was the starting tailback in 2008, 2009 and 2010 during his record-setting career, which ended with 1,601 yards and 26 touchdowns last season.

"Jeremiah did some great things for us. We won't have a back like that for awhile," Forsyth said. "But some of the stuff is system stuff, some of the stuff is because of the way we do things offensively.

"So whoever the next person is, he has a great chance to put up those kind of numbers. It might not be one guy, but you've still got a chance because the system is going to help you do that."

Atwater lost his favorite targets from last year when Montague, Garman, McBrayer, Krusie, Aaron Hunter and Thul all graduated, but he thinks guys like Andy Henry, Travis Kvach and Michael Redmond are ready to make their mark as receivers.

"They're going to be able to get in there and make plays for us," Atwater said.

Forsyth thinks he'll be able to put another competitive team on the field this season.

"I'm awful proud of these seniors," he said. "They made it through, so to speak. They've been great in their offseason time. It's full of multi-sport kids, which is great. We're expecting big things from them.

"The No.1 strength of the team, I think, is our senior class."

2011 LINN-MAR FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Thursday, Aug. 25 - at C.R. Jefferson (Kingston Stadium), 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 2 - C.R. Kennedy, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 9 - at Dubuque Wahlert (Loras College), 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 16 - Waterloo West, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 23 - at C.R. Prairie, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 30 - Dubuque Senior, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 7 - at C.R. Washington (Kingston Stadium), 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 14 - Iowa City High, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 21 - at C.R. Xavier, 7:15 p.m.