By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Nobody in Harmony orange is happy about a 3-7 season, but with most football starters returning next year, Coach Jerrad Butler said he is satisfied with the progress he saw from his team in 2011.

“I’m excited. We’re getting 11 starters back on defense. We’ll have two seniors, eight juniors and a sophomore coming back. On offense, we’ll have seven or eight back,” Butler said.

In other words, the Longhorns were a very, very young football team that played through its share of misfortune and should benefit from that experience next season, the coach said. The Longhorns lost their season finale at rival St. Cloud, 47-6, Friday.

Harmony trailed 33-0 at the half after four turnovers and St. Cloud recovered an onside kick.

The Horns’ Colton Keene intercepted a pass and returned it 65 yards for Harmony’s touchdown.

“It’s hard when your last game is like this, but in the context of the whole season, I’ve seen improvement in every game,” Butler, Harmony’s first-year head coach, said. “The thing I’m proud of is that we never backed off, we never quit, even when there were opportunities for that to happen.”

Butler gave credit to the graduating seniors for not giving up on the season after the Longhorns got off to a 1-4 start that saw the team weather a series of injuries, game delays and rain postponements through the first half of the season.

“We had a couple of seniors who had never played before, but all of them did a great job of sticking with the team,” Butler said. “Sometimes in that situation, it’s easy for the seniors to just say, ‘Why bother?’”

The Longhorns have options at quarterback with sophomores Jeremiah Murray and Sterling Hicks taking snaps this season, and the team’s leading rusher and scorer, Michael Santiago, will return.

Injured players like receiver Tristan Reaves will return, lending depth and experience to a team that may rebound to contend for a playoff spot in 2012, Butler said.

Among the many players returning to the defense is  freshman safety Riley Nicholson, a middle school All-American who quickly adapted to high school football.

“He’s just a great kid. You never have one problem with him, even though he had a considerable amount of recognition before he got here,” Butler said. “With Riley, it’s always, ‘What can I do to  help the team?’ He got a feeling for what it’s like stepping up to high school, where he felt like he had players coming at him from all directions sometimes, but he learned and he has a chance to have a great career here.”

Butler said Nicholson’s attitude of doing what’s best for the team is a common theme among the Longhorns.

“That’s why I feel so good about the future. These kids are willing to do whatever they can to make the team better,” Butler said. “With a whole year where the kids won’t have to worry about learning a new system, and just being able to get down to business, I think we’ll be more prepared for what’s ahead.”