Gaining some confidence and snapping a lengthy losing streak went a long way for West Carroll last season.

Making its debut in the Illinois 8-Man Football Association after a 24-game losing streak that dated back to 2019, the Thunder finished 8-3 and even reached the second round of the playoffs.

Now in his second season at West Carroll, coach Abelardo Sustaita is looking for the team to take another step forward.

“My focus was on just getting the kids to believe in themselves,” Sustaita said of last season. “They had a four-year drought, a lot of problems going on. I could see in their eyes they were very athletic, that they could win, they just had to get that self-confidence.”

Sustaita said last year’s seniors set a new standard.

“This next group coming in, they believe,” he said. “We’re going to be a little bit smaller, but we’re quicker, we’re faster and [the kids] understand the game now.”

Sustaita said this year will be about establishing an identity even further.

The team emphasized weightlifting in the offseason and held a camp over the summer. It did not participate in 5-on-5 the previous summer.

“We got to see some teams that we didn’t get to see, so that was big for us as well,” Sustaita said. “And then we had the new weight room this whole summer that we were grateful to get when we moved over to the new high school.

“We were able to prepare very well for the season.”

Making its 8-man playoff debut, the Thunder beat Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 20-17 last season before a 66-0 loss to Polo in the second round.

Sustaita said continuing to improve on the fundamentals will be key if the team wants to contend against the top teams in the league. It also lost 44-0 to Milledgeville and 52-6 to Polo for its only losses in the regular season.

“We feel that we are going to give them a better game this year,” he said. “I told the kids, Milledgeville and Polo are two of the juggernauts in 8-man football. They’ve been doing what they did to us to teams since forever. If we want to get to that level we’ve just got to work very hard. It’s there for us, we can get there.”

Sustaita said the defensive line should be solid and 1,000-yard, 18-touchdown rusher Aiden Buchholz is just a junior. Also boasting nine seniors, Sustaita said the team returns four starters on offense and five on defense.

Being able to help revitalize the football program in a new league has been exciting for Sustaita, who was previously an assistant at Amboy.

“I worked the kids hard. I told them, ‘to come from losing, you have to put in double the work’,” he said. “To watch them smile that very first game [a 64-14 win over River Ridge], the whole student section ran on the field immediately.

“It’s been awesome.”