Coming into the fall camp, Randolph-Macon head football coach Pedro Arruza had questions about the demeanor of this year’s Yellow Jacket squad.

  “I think the question you have going into every season is, what kind of chemistry is your team going to have,” Arruza said. “How hungry is your team going to be. I think those are going to be the big question marks for us because we have a lot of guys coming back in a lot of key spots. I think a lot of it’s going to come down to how well we merge together as a team from a chemistry standpoint or how badly this team wants to be good.”

  For Arruza, fall camp could provide what he was looking for from his team.

  “I’ll probably be able to answer that in a couple of months,” Arruza said. “I think that’s still a question mark for me. I think our guys worked really hard in the off season, but I want to know how our guys are going to respond when it’s 100 degrees outside and we’re in the middle of two a days. Camp is a grind and I think you learn a lot about yourself and I think you learn a lot about your team in how they respond in camp.”

  It appears that the biggest questions as to team chemistry percolated out of last year’s season ending loss to rival Hampden-Sydney which cost them the ODAC title.

  For fifth year senior quarterback Austin Faulkner, it served as a motivating factor during the off season. “I think the way that season ended was pretty bitter,” he said. “That feeling after that last game, it really stuck around with me and a lot of my classmates. That’s not the way we want to end our college careers. I know that each and every one of them has done everything in their power to make sure they’re as ready as possible for this year. It’s just our job to make sure everyone else, all of the young guys, are on the same page with us.”

  Last season, Faulkner was a second team All-ODAC selection and threw for 1679 yards and 11 touchdowns.

  “No doubt in my mind he should be the best quarterback in our league and our guys have got to rally around him,” Arruza said. “He’s worked his tail off here for the last four years and really as much as any other guy that I’ve coached, has made himself into a great football player.”

  One player who should make Faulkner’s job easier is senior wide receiver Earl Peoples. Last season against Washington & Lee, the two players connected on 20 of 29 passes to set a record for the most single-game receptions in ODAC history.

  When it comes to running the ball, R-MC returns last year’s leading rusher, junior running back Thaddeus Scruggs, who averaged 92.1 yards per game adn 4.9 yards per carry.

  Arruza will also be looking at sophomore Drake Sanders who was third on the team in rushing last season.

  But Arruza also see a freshman battle close behind the pair of returnees.

  “Our philosophy here is if you’re a freshman and you’re good enough to compete, then you’re good enough to play,” he said.

  The coach is especially pleased with what he’s seen from true freshman Tucker Walton out of Lee-Davis. The coach expects Walton to battle with freshman Alonzo Hurt, Cory Sandridge and Will McGhee for the starting slot.

  On defense, though they lost end Gamal Alwan last year, the line expects to be strong with the return of junior end Joe Pricone and senior tackle Jaryd Grimsley. Sophomore tackle Ian Candelaria was Alwan’s backup last season and coming off an ACL injury, but Arruza believes he has the ability to do a lot of same things as his predecessor.

  Senior Jeremy Bowry, a first team All-ODAC linebacker last season is also back.

  In the secondary, junior cornerback Jemhel Williams returns after making the All-ODAC second team last season and he will be joined by sophomore Brandon Harrison who showed moments of brilliance as a freshman.

  Both starting safeties, sophomore Billy Knarr and senior Scott Shope, out of Hanover, are back but Arruza expects a heated battle for the starting nod this season.

  But for the head coach it all comes down to chemistry.

  “Above all, if this football team is not a hungry football team, if this football team doesn’t have great chemistry, I really don’t care how many great football players we have or how many yards our tailback can rush for, or how many passes Earl People’s can catch,” Arruza said. “I think that having great chemistry and having great leadership and having great hunger to succeed, I think that those intangibles will help you to win the ones that you probably shouldn’t win.”