For Bartram Trail football, the "who" is never as important as the "how."

Players come and go. The system stays intact. How coach Darrell Sutherland has run his program since the school's inception, a gradual build of development, understanding, and finally execution.

Now it's time for the next class of seniors to step up.

"The tradition is theirs, and it's their team now," Sutherland said. "They need to do what they want with this team."

Those tasked with keeping the level of play up to Bartram's lofty standards include quarterback P.J. Blazejowski, offensive lineman Jesse Burkett and linebacker Will Tillo. Each senior comes in with playing experience at the varsity level but not what it means to be the ones who set the tone, a role they've been growing into since arriving on campus three years ago.

When Blazejowski arrived, it was Nate Peterman's team. The All-County quarterback and future Tennessee Volunteer was the offense's focal point.

Blazejowski took that mantle last year as a junior but still had veterans to rely on, like wide receivers Nick Uruburu, Gabe Davis and Marcus Taylor. He was able to ease into the role of a leader. Now the training is over, and it's time for the leader to emerge.

"Last year I was a little nervous (starting at quarterback)," Blazejowski said. "Your first year starting high school football is always nerve-racking. Playing with guys like Tillo and Jesse (Burkett) helps, but now I consider myself to be a coach out on the field for everybody else."

Among some of the younger talent he'll need to bring up to speed quickly is 6-foot-4 wide out Karl Harris, a player who did not see much playing time last year with the speedster Uruburu and sure-handed Taylor in front of him.

But now the rising senior has his own opportunity to gel with Blazejowski just as well as those before him. He'll have to in order to keep up with Blazejowski's gaudy statistics from last year - 1,996 passing yards and 36 total touchdowns.

"It isn't one group, but everybody that has to stand up and get better," Blazejowski said. "Whether it's the slot backs, linebackers, everybody has to come in and play hard."

One thing that's practically a certainty is the stalwart on Bartram's offensive line, Burkett. The Vanderbilt commit might have lost fellow offensive tackle Tylar Reagan (North Carolina State), but the soft-spoken Burkett sees a chance for his side of the ball to build upon the impressive output of last year's group.

"We've been working really hard so whatever coach has planned for us we can do it the same or better as we did last year," Burkett said. "P.J.'s been a solid player for us for a year now, and we should be able to rely on him. He has relaxed a little bit more. He's grown into the position and he's more comfortable. He can do what he wants; he's figured it out."

Only Burkett and Blazejowski return to the offense as starters, but the defense has six returners for the fall. Bartram did lose all three of their defensive linemen, putting pressure on linebacker Tillo to guide the group of underclassmen in front of him.

Their 3-5-3 defensive scheme relies heavily upon speed and execution. The athleticism is there, but finding players to replace those that have graduated became a point of pride for Tillo.

"We took it as a positive," Tillo said. "I try to lead by example, as if everyone is watching me on every play. We've been motivated to be known as a dominant defense in the county and the state, and we'll do anything to make that happen."

No matter who is in position come Aug. 30, the Bears pride themselves on being ready. With 27 wins over the past three seasons and 11 playoff appearances in the school's history, there's not much room for a drop.

Nor is there any reason to believe there will be one. Sutherland has faith in this iteration of seniors, something he's done time and time before.

"This is one of the hardest working groups I've been around, and as coaches that's what you're looking for," Sutherland said. "We graduate 25-30 guys every year, and you look at the podium at graduation and think, 'How are we going to replace those guys?' That's the fun thing about coaching high school. You get to watch guys come in as ninth graders and then leave as young men."