For the last two years, Sandusky has been creeping up on a winning season.

Back-to-back 4-5 finishes have stung the Redskins, but second-year head coach Craig Jacobson likes where his team is at compared to last offseason.

“We are a little bit ahead of the learning curve than we were last year,” he said. “And we have great team chemistry this year.”

With 10 players returning to the squad — the majority being juniors — experience is on their side with skill positions. However, they will be missing their 1,000-yard, ground-and-pound running back Bobby Rich, who was named All-League in the Greater Thumb Conference East Division.

Jacobson is confident his running backs will take over Rich’s spot, but the running styles will be different than last season.

“We have good running backs, we have some quickness,” Jacobson said. “We’re losing one of the top players in the area last year (Rich), and he was more of a power back, and we don’t have anybody like that this year.”

While the skill positions seem to be set, there was some summer competition in the trenches. Both the offensive and defensive lines are in a rebuilding phase, but Jacobson refused to call it a weakness on his team.

One aspect of the game Jacobson will wait to find out is how his team handles adversity. The Redskins got a healthy dose of adversity last year, losing four games by one possession.

With the introduction of this year’s new starters, Jacobson said it will be important for his young players to handle being down in games and not quitting, just like last year’s team.

Sandusky will kick off their season against a trio of teams they haven’t faced in three seasons. They will face Unionville-Sebewaing in Week 1, Reese in Week 2 and Bad Axe in Week 3.

While a good number of these players aren’t familiar with these teams, Jacobson knows these teams well enough to not worry about their mystique. After all, he has seen these teams plenty by being around the area and coaching at Ubly, Yale and Harbor Beach.

They will kick off conference play against the Greater Thumb East’s reigning champions, Harbor Beach. While Jacobson expects Harbor Beach to be the team to beat this season, he said the league is as balanced as he’s ever seen it.

“All the teams week in and week out will have the ability to win,” he said. “Every week you’re going to see close scores.”

Contact Matt Sheehan at (810)-989-6267 or msheehan@gannett.com. He’s on Twitter @MattSheehan333.

SANDUSKY REDSKINS

COACH: Craig Jacobson (second season, 4-5)

2013 RECORD: 4-5

CONFERENCE: Greater Thumb East

OFFENSE: Full T

DEFENSE: 5-2

LAST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: 2011 (Lost in Division 7 pre-district)

RETURNING STARTERS: QB/DB Jacob Lasecki, C/LB Jared Sanderson, OG/LB Derrick Scott, RB/DB Joe Stone, RB/DB Chase Tucker

KEY LOSSES: RB/LB Bobby Rich, LB Jared Wagester

KEY NEWCOMERS: RB/DE Matt Alexander, TE/DE Brandon Potter, TE/DB Danny Hale, C/DT Courtney Colling, RB/DB Wray Davault

2014 SCHEDULE

Thursday: At. Unionville-Sebewaing, 7 p.m.

Sept. 5: At Reese, 7 p.m.

Sept. 12: Vs. Bad Axe, 7 p.m.

Sept. 19: At Harbor Beach, 7 p.m.

Sept. 26: Vs. Ubly, 7 p.m.

Oct. 3: Vs. Marlette, 7 p.m.

Oct. 10: Vs. Brown City, 7 p.m.

Oct. 17: At Memphis, 7 p.m.

Oct. 24: At Capac, 7 p.m.

BOLD: Denotes league game

2013 RESULTS

Def. Bay City All Saints, 38-0

Lost to Harbor Beach, 0-41

Lost to Cass City, 8-16

Def. Ubly, 36-26

Def. Ecorse, 42-0

Lost to Memphis, 6-7

Lost to Marlette, 46-48

Lost to Brown City, 30-32

Def. Capac, 14-0

roster

Name	Year	Pos.
Matt Alexander	Jr.	RB/DE
Courtney Colling	Jr.	C/DT
Wray Davault	Jr.	RB/DB
Brad Goode	Sr.	T/DT
Danny Hale	Jr.	TEDB
Logan Hughes	Jr.	G/LB
Zackary Hughes	Sr.	T/LB
Trenton Keys	Jr.	T/DT
Jacob Lasecki	Sr.	QB/DB
Brandon Potter	Jr.	TEDE
Caleb Redman	Jr.	TE/DE
Jared Sanderson	Sr.	C/LB
Derrick Scott	Jr.	G/LB
Josh Stine	Sr.	T/DT
Joe Stone	Jr.	RB/DB
Chase Tucker	Jr.	RB/DB
Austin Western	Jr.	RB/DB
Trevor Willing	Jr.	G/DT
Matt Alexander	Jr.	RB/DE