HINESBURG, Vt. (WCAX) – Wednesday was the first day that high school football teams in Vermont were able to put on their gear this year, and it’s one of the best days of the year for high school football players and coaches. Especially when you’re playing for a team that has won as much as CVU has over the past few seasons. The Redhawks are once again heading into the 2024 season with high expectations after finishing in the top three in D1 each of the past three seasons, plus two title game appearances and the program’s first state championship two years ago. Last year, CVU beat everyone they played … except for losses at the end of week one and in the semifinals to eventual state champions Burr and Burton. It’s probably safe to say the Redhawks have their eyes on the week seven rematch with the Bulldogs … but they have a lot to take care of in the two months leading up to that. Program mainstays like Brian Rutherford, Jacob Bose and Ollie Cheer are gone. But CVU has been able to replace key players before. They’re confident their culture will help them do it again. “Running routes every Saturday, coming to the gym at six in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and lifting weights,” senior receiver Dylan Frere said. “I think it’s really because the guys before us in particular started doing it and we’ve just continued it.” “We care a lot about this program, this team and the younger players,” added senior defensive back Chase Leonard. “We take what we learned from the younger players when we were younger and pass it on to the older players.” “We don’t let the momentum die down, that’s what we don’t do,” added head coach Rahn Fleming. “We take it and not only don’t let it die down, we try to build on it from year to year. These guys know they’re standing on the shoulders of kids who made history here, so they feel like our history is our history. What is it going to be?” CVU opens the season on Saturday, Aug. 31, hosting Hartford.