The Junction City Blue Jays opened practice for the 2016 football season on Monday at Al Simpler Stadium.

Head coach Randall Zimmerman estimated there were 120 to 130 out for the first practice, which is down from more than 160 a year ago. Some players still need to complete paperwork before reporting for practice.

There’s a strong nucleus of about 40 seniors on this squad, but Zimmerman noted there are a lot of returning players who did not come out. “Concerns me a little bit for them. We’re going to have a season. The kids that we have are going to do great things, going to work very hard, going to care about each other. But we are missing a lot of our returners from a year ago. We’re just going to move on.”

The low numbers are showing up in the sophomore class where less than 15 were out for practice on Monday. Also there have been a number of military related transfers out of the school district.

The Blue Jay varsity plays their first game at Emporia on September 2. The home opener is September 9 against Topeka High.