Fall sports are underway at Wareham High School and Wareham Week is catching up with each team to talk about the upcoming season, players to watch and more.

Vikings football is coming off a three win and eight loss season in 2024 and they took a trip over the bridge to scrimmage Sandwich High School Saturday, Aug. 30 ahead of their first game. Wareham Week Editor Bobby Grady spoke with Head Coach Cy Bariteau after the scrimmage.

Q: How are you feeling about the new season and what are the expectations?

A: I think we’ll be a solid team and I think we had a good test today. They played the double wing which is very similar to Bourne who we see every Thanksgiving. It takes a lot out of you especially when we have a small team and got guys playing both ways but it was a great test. We got to see what we need to work on defensively and offensively. I’m pretty encouraged heading into the season.

Q: What has been the message at practice to get the team ready for the season opener?

A: We have a big returning group, I think we have 28 returning players, most of them being sophomores and juniors so we’re just trying to keep on building from what we started last year. We didn’t have as much success as we would have liked last year but there were also a couple games we could have won. We’re taking those experiences, learning from them and building from there.

Q: How have you seen the kids mature into young men over the years?

A: We got some characters on the team but they’re all good kids and I love them all but with a fairly young team it can be tough. We don’t have a ton of seniors and those are the guys the team usually relies on. I think we have five seniors and we just keep working hard every day. I started two years ago as an assistant and the juniors now are very mature and they’re very football oriented.

Q: What kind of tone are the juniors and seniors setting for the rest of the team?

A: We want to play fast, physical and aggressive. We have quite a few new players this year and they’re not scared to hit and that’s half the battle in football. We’re just working on getting guys in positions that maybe they’ve never played before or maybe they never played football before so we’re just teaching a lot right now.

Q: Who are the players to watch this year?

A: Ty-Rell Piers was on the defensive Super team in the South Coast last year so definitely him and Amare Rose was a South Coast offensive all-star. Jaden Madaris is one to watch as well and J.J. Lawson is a running back and safety who’s very smart with a high IQ. I’ve got a lot of guys that like football so I think we have a fun team to watch.

The Vikings open their season on the road at Hull High School, Friday Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. and the first home game is Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. against the neighboring Carver High School.