DAPHNE, Ala. — In as much as 10-year-old programs have traditions, the Bayside football team will gladly part with one.

One that has resulted more from necessity than design.

When Bayside Academy coach Phil Lazenby said his team may be looking at “a first,” this season he was talking about what most larger schools take for granted, a platoon system.

“Because we’ve had such a good turnout, it looks like we will be able to field 11 starters on offense and 11 on defense with very few, I mean very, very few going both ways. That’s never happened before,” he said. “That will mean a lot down the road, late in the season.”

Reaching the 3A quarterfinals last year was also a welcomed first and reflected a steady progress in the Admirals post-season quests.

In going 9-4, the 2010 Admirals also broke the school record in rushing and yet owed much of that to the strength of the passing game.

“It’s about balance,” he said. “We are going to run the football. That’s our bread and butter. That’s what we do. Our running game was better because we threw the football effectively, not because we threw it a lot.”

And though they lost some key seniors to graduation, Lazenby said this team wants to prove itself.

“They have some big shoes to fill, but they want to and they believe they can. Still, they know we have a lot of work to do. But we have been there and we know what to do.”

One player to watch is sophomore quarterback Hunter Slater who backed up senior Camp Campbell last year.

“We have a lot of confidence in him,” Lazenby said of Slater, who led the Admirals to a must win last year when Campbell was hurt.

Also, veteran upperclassmen Graham Barnard, Geoffery Stinebaugh, Sam Parker, Hootie Hawkshead, Scooter Blake, David Deneefe, Jonathan Walton, Jeb Jennings, Neal Christman, Jacob Graddick and Graham Ives, Joshua Babin, Logan Babin, Trevor Makin, Blake Nelson and a number of younger players will see a lot of action.

The Admirals open the 2011 season this Friday on the road at 7 p.m. Friday with traditional first-game opponent Millry.

Bayside’s first home game is set for Sept. 9 against Montgomery Academy.