KINGSTON — The Cavaliers junior high football team is hoping that forward progress this season will come from the guys in the back.

Head coach Tony Chisholm has big plans for a talented, yet small squad of players that fit the mold of the wing T offense — used at North Kitsap High School — very well, so they’ll be prepared when they become Vikings.

For now, the focus is on Kingston and the team’s focus is as it always is, Chisholm said.

“Our goal is to go undefeated,” Chisholm said. “That’s the goal every year.”

The team is on its way to achieving the feat, having given Fairview a 34-6 shellacking Sept. 15. It was apparent early on that the backfield — with two running touchdowns from Taylor Chisholm and one from Andy Smith — was firing on all cylinders.

“As a group, these guys rank up there with one of the best backfields I’ve had,” coach Chisholm said, referring to quarterback Paul Bagala and backs Chisholm, Smith and Cameron Mills.

However, it’s all been made possible by a strong line — both offensive and defensive — of Josh Byers, Rueben Smith, Nathan Johnson, Alex Vandeen and Gage Leigh, the coach added, that has paved the way for running success.

“That’s what makes these backs go,” he said of the O line.

It also stems to good quarterback protection, giving Bagala lots of time for throws — the QB went 8-12 for 157 yards and a touchdown in the opening win.

Still, the team is small, with only 23 players or so on the varsity. But that could play to their advantage.

“Everybody looks at us as underdogs,” Taylor Chisholm said. “But we’ve got a lot of skilled athletes.”

“We don’t have the depth,” added coach Chisholm, “but the quality of athletes we have is amazing.”

Team camaraderie is also providing an extra boost to help the Cavs, many of whom are playing both sides of the field, maintain their intensity.

“One thing we noticed is we didn’t feel uncomfortable putting any of these guys in the game,” said James Andrews, Chisholm’s assistant coach and a former lineman who’s been preparing Kingston’s own line. “They really care about each other, and they don’t let big heads get in the way.”

Kingston, a team that went 5-2 last season, is only going up the junior high league’s rankings this year, Andrews added.

“I can’t remember when we’ve had this good of a team overall,” said Andrews, in his seventh season as Chisholm’s assistant.

Chisholm said he’s also excited to be closing the program at Kingston Junior High School, which has two years remaining until KJH transitions to the middle school level with the opening of the high school next door.

Then, the coach added, it might be time for him to go to the next level.

“That’s my goal,” he said of coaching at Kingston High School. “I don’t have to be a head coach, but that’s the next level, and I want to be a part of it.”