Coming off its most successful season in over a decade, the Mt. Hope High School football team lines up for the 2026 campaign with a roster composed of several key returnees along with an influx of some youngsters who could eventually aid the cause this fall.

The Huskies reached the Division III championship game a year ago before falling to Classical, 40-28, for the title. Mt. Hope compiled an 8-4 overall record, 5-2 in games that counted towards its regular season ranking under the still relatively new Rhode Island Interscholastic League's power points rating formula.

The locals wound up as the second-place side in the D-III standings, earning the corresponding spot in the league's eight-team playoff field. Classical was the top seed. The Huskies defeated Cranston East, 32-6, and East Greenwich, 34-0, en route to the final.

Senior quarterback Will Francis, who split time behind center last fall, takes over the signal-calling duties full time this season. Listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Francis boasts of both the size to be a punishing runner (he rushed for some 600 yards a year ago) and the arm to be a capable passer.

"He throws the ball way better than last year," MHHS head coach Shane Parker said of Francis. "But just like anything, we've got to lock things in and I still get on him for some things. But he's got incredible natural arm talent. We've just got to be able to execute on some of the finesse things a little bit better.

"We have a talented group of skill guys with a line that I think will get there sooner than later. And we've just got to execute things a little bit better and we're going to be fine. The better we execute, the more it takes pressure off of him. The better he executes, the more pressure it'll take off of him, too."

Senior Nick Rogers is the leading returning receiver, with catches totaling over 400 yards in 2025. Junior Tyler Rhynard is a dual threat, who can run out of the backfield and catch the ball outside. Classmate Chase Savinon is a quality runner as well.

Senior Brody Cavalieri will see more time at running back. Senior Cam Oliver will have an increased presence at the other receiver position. Freshman Finn Loftus is expected to make an immediate impact as a slot receiver.

And in sophomore Jake Mancieri, Mt. Hope has arguably one of, if not the best place-kickers in the state. Mancieri was near perfect on point-after kicks and booted a handful of field goals in the 40-plus yard range as a freshman last fall.

Up front, the Huskies have a large cast of linemen led by returning starter at center, junior Lucas Machado. In their Injury Fund game last week, Machado was joined in the trenches by classmate James Carmo at right tackle, senior Logan Curria at right guard, senior Matthew Thibaudeau at left guard and freshman Andrew Jordan at left tackle.

The status of senior Riley Gagner, a starter at guard a year ago, remains in flux after he underwent elbow surgery. Junior Jack Mullaney also returns to the fold. The line will soon be bolstered by senior  Zach Ledsworth, who transferred from St. Raphael where he was starter at tackle on offense and end on defense. He won't be eligible to play until Mt. Hope's game September 25 on the road against Oakmont Regional High School in Ashburnham, Mass.

"They're getting there," Parker said of his O-line. "And I think when we get those guys back, just the depth there is going to be incredible."

That depth will be tested as numerous players will line up both ways.

Cavalieri, at linebacker in the Huskies' 4-2-5 alignment, leads the defense. He was Mt. Hope's top tackler a year ago with some 150 combined solo and assisted takedowns. He's joined at backer by junior Travis Furtado.

Up front, junior Will Corrente is a down linemen with several of the same names from the offense side. Junior Luka Saganic is an end.

Likewise, many of the skill position players on offense will play comparable spots on D joined by junior Brayden Vales and sophomore Michael Beauregard.

"This year we've went back to a little bit more of an advanced coverage that we ran two years ago," Parker said of his defense. "We were pretty young last year, so we stayed in the Cover-3. We've changed to go back to a 'Palms' coverage (five DBs). We've just got to keep repping and repping and repping. We've just got to get better every day."

The first day of the regular season, Saturday, Sept. 12, sees the Huskies play the first of two games that count against Massachusetts-based sides. Mentioned earlier a trip away later in the month, this weekend Mt. Hope welcomes Bristol-Plymouth Regional at Warren's Veterans Field.

The Huskies are spending their second season as the hosts at the former home to Warren High School while the new MHHS remains under construction. If all goes to plan, new lights at Vets Field will allow Mt. Hope to hold true night games later in the fall.

Some of the visitors and opposition in general within D-III in 2026 will be different. Mt. Hope remains in a slightly revised, 12-team league — up from 11 teams a year ago — with Chariho, Cranston East, East Greenwich, Lincoln, North Providence, Pilgrim and Rogers.

Reigning champ Classical along with Ponaganset, Coventry and Johnston move up to D-II. In their places comes the Mt. Pleasant/Times2 co-op, Moses Brown and Middletown, each of whom dropped down from D-II while 2025 league runner-up Davies ascends from D-IV.

Of his team's prospects of again earning one of the D-III playoff spots, Parker said, "I think that we are definitely competing for that. We need a couple of things to go our way. I think we have a very tough schedule, which also helps because we get a lot of (power ratings) points for that, too."