It was an uncharacteristically poor season for the Henry Clay Blue Devils in 2011. Injuries and youth produced a 3-8 season that ended in a loss to Ballard in the first round of the playoffs.

"It was horrible, walking off that field in lousiville against ballard," said Henry Clay defensive back Logan Gross. "As soon as that last play, I was thinking about next year, getting stronger and bigger, waiting for John Harden this year."

Henry Clay opens the season on Friday against John Hardin in Lexington.

"When we left Louisville, and Ballard, and we lost, we had a really bad season. Hopefully, it pushes us to get stronger and faster and come out and play harder this year," said linebacker Jordan Cohoon.

Henry Clay coach Sam Simpson says it's important to put last season in the past.

"You don't point a finger and blame anybody," he said. "What you do is you examine what were the things that inhibited us from growing and being better. You work on those things, indentify those things and move forward."

For the Blue Devils, that means changes on both the offense and the defense.

"We've changed our defense since John Hardin, since we played them last year," said linebacker Joe Tafolla. "We learned alot from them and we changed the mistakes."

On offense, the Blue Devils hope to spread it out.

"We're just getting the ball to anybody who can make plays. Our playmakers are getting the ball," Gross said.

Simpson agrees.

"We're spreading this thing around and getting it going. I'm excited."