When describing wide receiver Layton Pohl, New Hope football coach Michael Harper had four words to describe the athlete’s work ethic.

“All gas, no brakes,” he said.

New Hope’s 1,200-yard rusher last season is one of a handful of key veterans that will return for Harper, who is set to enter his second year as the program’s head football coach.

Despite falling short of their goals last season with a 3-9 record, Harper and his staff were still encouraged by the culture that was established in his first year and what can be built upon moving forward.

“We were able to establish our culture and get to continue to build on that culture,” the coach said. “We wanted to build a culture of positivity and discipline, and I feel like we’ve gotten to the positivity: we feel like we’re drawing close together as a team, and we’re positive with each other. With encouragement, building each other up, we’re getting there. As far as discipline, just little things like keeping the locker room clean, picking up, making sure we pick up the field, things like that, we’re working there.”

“We talk a lot about being good people, not just being good football players, and we’re getting there. We’re there as far as good people, but we’re really learning and developing on how to be and what it really means to be a good person. We’ve got that.”

A rising senior for New Hope, Pohl and his team almost immediately saw the culture shift when Harper was announced as head coach just two months ahead of last year.

“Whenever coach Harper came, the first couple months in, everybody really bought into what he was doing and everything got way better,” Pohl said. “Everybody’s happy now, positive, everybody’s picking each other up and it’s just way better. It’s a way different team than what we had.”

Pohl is one of many players for New Hope who hope to continue the culture established last season, along with starting quarterback Lucas Terry.

“Anytime you return your quarterback, it’s definitely a good thing,” Harper said. “He’s another year in the system, and he’s really understanding it’s not just what everybody’s doing on what what play and what he’s supposed to do on a certain play, but he’s understanding when to deliver the ball on time, when to get us in the right play, what the what the defense is doing.”

The quarterback also lauded Harper for the job done in his first season as head coach.

“The culture is definitely a lot better,” Terry said. “We’re a lot closer as a team, way more positive. There were a lot of negatives throughout last year, and we just had to put all that aside and be a lot more positive.”

Along with the duo of returning playmakers and three offensive linemen, athletes from New Hope’s basketball and baseball teams are giving football a try this season.

“We’ve got three guys that started at one point last year: two that were full-time starters, and then one guy started a couple of games last year, so we’re pretty experienced up front, too,” Harper said of the offensive line. “Our starting left tackle, Ethan Layhew, he’s going to play at the next level. We’re really excited about the group that we have coming back.”

While scoring plenty of points last season — four games of at least 48 points and three games with over 60 — Harper has encouraged his team to take the step in becoming a more complete football team up and down heading into 2025.

When describing wide receiver Layton Pohl, New Hope football coach Michael Harper had four words to describe the athlete’s work ethic.

“All gas, no brakes,” he said.

New Hope’s 1,200-yard rusher last season is one of a handful of key veterans that will return for Harper, who is set to enter his second year as the program’s head football coach.

Despite falling short of their goals last season with a 3-9 record, Harper and his staff were still encouraged by the culture that was established in his first year and what can be built upon moving forward.

“We were able to establish our culture and get to continue to build on that culture,” the coach said. “We wanted to build a culture of positivity and discipline, and I feel like we’ve gotten to the positivity: we feel like we’re drawing close together as a team, and we’re positive with each other. With encouragement, building each other up, we’re getting there. As far as discipline, just little things like keeping the locker room clean, picking up, making sure we pick up the field, things like that, we’re working there.”

“We talk a lot about being good people, not just being good football players, and we’re getting there. We’re there as far as good people, but we’re really learning and developing on how to be and what it really means to be a good person. We’ve got that.”

A rising senior for New Hope, Pohl and his team almost immediately saw the culture shift when Harper was announced as head coach just two months ahead of last year.

“Whenever coach Harper came, the first couple months in, everybody really bought into what he was doing and everything got way better,” Pohl said. “Everybody’s happy now, positive, everybody’s picking each other up and it’s just way better. It’s a way different team than what we had.”

Pohl is one of many players for New Hope who hope to continue the culture established last season, along with starting quarterback Lucas Terry.

“Anytime you return your quarterback, it’s definitely a good thing,” Harper said. “He’s another year in the system, and he’s really understanding it’s not just what everybody’s doing on what what play and what he’s supposed to do on a certain play, but he’s understanding when to deliver the ball on time, when to get us in the right play, what the what the defense is doing.”

The quarterback also lauded Harper for the job done in his first season as head coach.

“The culture is definitely a lot better,” Terry said. “We’re a lot closer as a team, way more positive. There were a lot of negatives throughout last year, and we just had to put all that aside and be a lot more positive.”

Along with the duo of returning playmakers and three offensive linemen, athletes from New Hope’s basketball and baseball teams are giving football a try this season.

“We’ve got three guys that started at one point last year: two that were full-time starters, and then one guy started a couple of games last year, so we’re pretty experienced up front, too,” Harper said of the offensive line. “Our starting left tackle, Ethan Layhew, he’s going to play at the next level. We’re really excited about the group that we have coming back.”

While scoring plenty of points last season — four games of at least 48 points and three games with over 60 — Harper has encouraged his team to take the step in becoming a more complete football team up and down heading into 2025.

New Hope will open the season at home against Class 3A Ohatchee on Friday, Aug. 22, before opening Class 4A, Region 8 play at D.A.R. the following week.

“Everybody knows that we scored a lot of points last year,” Harper said. “We’ve just got to take the next step and not just build on what we did on offense, but we made some improvements on defense throughout the year and just continue to build on that. The group we have understands the expectations that have been established by not just me, but our coaching staff as a whole.

“I feel like there’s a trust there, that the players trust us, we trust them, we know who we can trust. We know who the hard workers are. We know who the good athletes are. I mean, this time last year, I was still learning players’ names. So, I really feel like we’re going to take this year and build upon the culture we established.”

“Everybody knows that we scored a lot of points last year,” Harper said. “We’ve just got to take the next step and not just build on what we did on offense, but we made some improvements on defense throughout the year and just continue to build on that. The group we have understands the expectations that have been established by not just me, but our coaching staff as a whole.

“I feel like there’s a trust there, that the players trust us, we trust them, we know who we can trust. We know who the hard workers are. We know who the good athletes are. I mean, this time last year, I was still learning players’ names. So, I really feel like we’re going to take this year and build upon the culture we established.”