Beyond their third-place conference finishes a season ago, the Prosser and Zillah football teams share something else as the 2026 campaign nears.

Both the Mustangs and Leopards offensively leaned on a core of sophomore players, who again will carry them and their aspirations.

“It’s good to be old, that’s the biggest thing,” said Prosser coach Corey Ingvalson, who’s entering his 12th season leading the Mustangs. “Even when we had our preseason staff meetings we said, ‘unless they’re a dude, they shouldn’t be playing as a sophomore.’”

Last fall, wide receiver Brody Buxton was second in the conference with 748 yards on a league-best 63 receptions in the regular season.

Left-handed quarterback Daniel Diaz threw for more than 1,600 yards and 19 touchdowns in his first season at the helm.

And Autry Hoefer rushed for 570 yards at nearly 8 yards a carry after returning from an injury that limited him to five games.

Buxton, Diaz and Hoefer all are juniors this season. They’re development as sophomores means Ingvalson won’t have to tap into the 10th-grade pool – unless that player is ready.

“We haven’t been able to say that for three years,” Ingvalson said. “We’ve had to force feed a lot of guys and patch it up to get to the state playoffs knowing that was max capacity, maybe you could sneak another game and get to the quarters.

“But now that this class is juniors, and we have some seniors in some key spots, and you got to be a dude to play.”

Mix in seniors such as running back Josiah Coffman, lineman Alexander Barreras and Korbyn Hopwood, a running back/linebacker who returned to Prosser after playing at Kamiakin, and the Mustangs are the likely favorite in the CWAC.

Zillah’s climb in the SCAC, which is topped by Royal, winner of six straight Class 1A state championships, and Cashmere, the state runner-up last fall, is steep.

But the Leopards, too, have a core of juniors to lead the charge.

During the regular season, Maverick Myers topped the conference in rushing (856 yards, 8 TDs) while Jace Salme was the leader in receiving (57 receptions, 772 yards, 9 TDs).

And quarterback Beau Donahoe was third in the conference with nearly 2,000 passing yards and 22 touchdowns against eight interceptions.

The trio, along with fellow 11th-grader Brayden Russell, led the way in the offseason lifting program. Myers is the strongest player on the team, while Donahoe “looks like a linebacker playing quarterback,” Zillah coach Ryan Watson said.

Although not the biggest players on the squad, Watson lauded the weight room work of Salme and Russell.

Now, Watson is hoping the players take a step as leaders.

“I think we’re talented, and I think we have the potential to do a lot of really good things,” he said. “We’re looking for leaders to step up and step into those roles they haven’t had to do.

“Unfortunately being a leader is uncomfortable at times, so you have to get kids out of their comfort zone, and get kids to hold their teammates accountable.”