Excitement is in the air when it comes to the Mineola football team. Coming off a district championship might have something to do with that.

“I think our community and our kids are excited about this season, like I hope they are every season,” fourth-year coach Joe Drennon said. “After you have a good season, those expectations are going to be there.”

Mineola returns six offensive and eight defensive starters from a 9-3 squad, which finished 5-0 in District 7-2A Division I. The Yellow Jackets claimed their first outright league title since 1966 with a 17-6 win against archrival Quitman in the regular-season finale.

“The community, since I’ve been here, has always been behind our kids,” Drennon said. “If you win a ballgame, it makes it that much more special. The excitement breeds itself; it’s kind of catching. Everybody wants to be a part of it and that’s a good thing.”

Senior quarterback/free safety Erik Galaz and junior running back/linebacker Dac Shaw, among others, are back after helping lead the way in 2010. Galaz finished the season with 1,400 yards and 21 touchdowns through the air, plus ran for 400 yards and six scores. Shaw rushed for almost 800 yards and seven TDs.

“We are happy about the ones coming back and they are good kids; it’s always good to have your quarterback back,” Drennon said. “We are kind of young on our lines and that’s a big concern of ours right now. Once we get that together, we have a chance to be decent.”

Mineola has been picked by Texas Football magazine to finish second in district behind Melissa, which the Yellow Jackets beat in overtime last season. Melissa returns five starters on offense and 10 starters on defense from an 8-4 team, including a quarterback (Wes McQueen) who put up big numbers as a junior.

Drennon expects the district to be solid this season.

“Melissa has a bunch of returners and we have to go to Melissa,” he said. “We beat them in overtime by a point (36-35) and I expect the same thing this year. There are going to be tough ballgames. We’ve got to play every Friday night if we want to be (in the playoff hunt). If you slack off you will be disappointed.”

Mineola, which scrimmaged Elkhart on Saturday, will get a tough test Thursday in another scrimmage against Brownsboro. The Yellow Jackets started preseason practice almost two weeks ago, but have been preparing for the season since last winter.

“We got back to work in the offseason on trying to reach our goals this year,” Drennon said. “You don’t start in August; you start back in January. Our kids have been committed to doing it and have done a good job so far.”