Coach DeAnthony White watches over junior running backs Torrey Juide, Andre Thompson and Zach Jackson during practice at the high school on Monday night. (Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com)

Monday rang in the first day of high school football practice for 631 teams around the state of Michigan.

For one Ann Arbor high school, it also marked the program’s first varsity football practice.

Skyline, entering its third year of existence, fields its first varsity football team after competing at the junior varsity and freshmen levels for two falls.

So what overriding emotion was swirling around Skyline Football Field on Monday?

“They’re just anxious to try to prove to everybody that they do deserve to be at the varsity level,” said Skyline head coach Randy Hutchison, who enters his third year at Skyline and 23rd year of coaching football.

Hutchison called plays for Onsted, Tecumseh and assisted at Pioneer on his way to taking over at Skyline. The junior varsity Eagles finished 4-5 in their initial season and 7-2 last year.

“They’re pretty geeked up, they’re pretty excited,” Hutchison said. “We have a lot of kids who are really wondering what they’re getting into. What’s going to happen? How are we going to do?”

After all, the Eagles are sans seniors, topping off at roughly 35 juniors. In total, Skyline had around 100 kids on the field at all levels Monday.

“We don’t have the ‘big brother’ class, senior class to role-model us,” said Hutchison. “That’s one of the toughest situations we’re in so far.”

But the Skyline juniors and sophomores are already sinking their teeth into overcoming that adversity.

“We've got to work even harder because we’re juniors playing seniors, so we have to go especially hard,” junior center Sam Rose said during a break in practice. “The bar is definitely raised a little higher. The expectations are definitely up there.

“We come out here and work hard and do what we always do. We just treat it like we’re at the varsity level.”

The reality is Rose and his counterparts no longer have to treat practice as if it’s for varsity competition. Skyline will be competing with the big boys in the Southeastern Conference Red Division, alongside fellow city schools Pioneer and Huron.

Those are two schools that Skyline, naturally, is champing at the bit to play.

“We’re just like any other school, like Pioneer and Huron, doing the same kinds of stuff,” shrugged Skyline junior Alex Belanger, a defensive back. “We just want to win games, beat Pioneer and Huron, and get into the playoffs.”

And in order to accomplish that, Hutchison is implementing a platoon system. Meaning, run a squad of one-position players.

Well, if possible.

“To do that,” he explained, “we have to have 45 kids, realistically, and right now we’re right at about 40. We feel this year with just juniors and just sophomores, that will be our best shot at being competitive with all the big guys, the seniors, and the kids that play two-ways.

“We’re hoping that if we’re fresh and healthy, we can still be there at the end … even with our little guys.”

Hutchison noted that there were some 15-20 Skyline players who were unable to practice Monday due to pending physicals and paper work.

But the players he’s seen so far “are very talented skill position-wise. We could have a pretty nice group of kids."

“Our biggest challenge this first week of practice is to analyze that talent that we have and put the right kids in the right spots,” he said.

Before long, those spots will be filled; the Eagles will be in full pads, and kickoff - literally and figuratively - their first varsity football season on Aug. 27 at Hartland.

“Everybody is super excited and can’t wait to get under the lights on Friday nights,” said Rose.

Kaleb Roedel is a sports writer for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734)623-2562 and e-mailed at kalebroedel@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kaleb_R.