The Winthrop football team returns eight starters on an offense that put up nearly a 30 points a game last season.

Jordan Conant

While it has some holes to fill on the lines, the Ramblers are poised to make another run at the Campbell Conference Class C championship.

Winthrop reached the conference title game last season, but lost a heartbreaking 28-21 decision on its home field to Boothbay Harbor.

But the Ramblers are back, led by Jordan Conant, who is the first returning quarterback in head coach Joel Stoneton's five years at Winthrop.

Conant didn't hesitate when asked if he still remembers that loss.

"That's what motivating us," he said. "That's what's pushing us up the hills. We want to get to that next level. We don't ever, ever want to feel that way again."

Conant is one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and will have a well-rounded arsenal around him, which includes wide receivers Andrew Smithgall, Jason Raymond and Zach Farrington.

Conant, Raymond and Farrington attended a quarterbacks/receivers camp this summer at Governor's Academy in Byfield, Mass.

"It really helped us," Conant said. "It got us all on the same page."

The Ramblers, who finished 9-2 a year ago, also return a healthy Jake Steele, who is coming back from a left shoulder injury that sidelined him last season.

Stoneton says Steele had a terrific offseason and is ready to reclaim the starting tailback job in a crowded backfield that features Skyler Whaley, Joe Morey and Riley Cobb.

"The year off really rested his body," Stoneton said. "He's done a real good job of getting back."