In each of the past two seasons, the Tri-Nine football champion has gone through the conference without a single loss. But the league this year is loaded.

Every team has reason for optimism, which will make it harder for anyone to run the table like Middle Creek in 2009 or Fuquay-Varina in 2008.

Six of those teams made the playoffs last year, which makes the Tri-Nine home to some of the best high school football in the Triangle.

Middle Creek (12-2): The Mustangs ripped off an 11-game winning streak during the course of last year, thanks in large part to 13 all-conference selections, five of which are back.

Middle Creek is the premier passing team in the area with record-setting quarterback Garrett Leatham. Leatham will have two juniors, Kevin Jones and Jon Moore, as primary targets in the passing game.

He should be able to buy time behind an experienced offensive line.

The Mustangs lost a number of players on defense, but has talent in defensive ends Josh Banks and Darius Wilkins as well as linebacker Britt Cherry. The key to Middle Creek's defense will be the maturation of its younger players moving up from the junior varsity team, which also won the Tri-Nine title last year.

Fuquay-Varina (11-3): The Bengals have gone 23-5 in Coach Ryan Habich's first two years as coach. A big reason for that is the consistent play from Fuquay's offensive and defensive lines. Graduation hurt both sides of the ball in that department. But Fuquay will return a stable of running backs led by senior Cory Hunter, who rushed for 2,100 yards and 36 touchdowns last year.

Fuquay's triple-option offense will be run by quarterback Evan McNeil, who is less of a scrambler and more of a passer.

On defense, the team will be without UNC commit Shawn Underwood (95 tackles, 16 for loss) for six weeks as he nurses a knee injury. Tackle Ethan Ricci, linebacker Justin Vaughan and corner Malcolm Thaxton will hold down the fort until Underwood's return.

Hunter will also get more snaps this year at safety.

Athens Drive (9-4): The Jaguars are as explosive offensively as any team in the area with the senior trio of quarterback Ben Snotherly, running back Kyree Green and wideout Louis Wilder. With some protection from the offensive line - which was easy to come by last year with All-American Rob Crisp - the Jags will score a lot again this year.

Defensively, Athens returns key linebackers Cameron Boone (98 tackles) and Zach Bender (70 tackles, five sacks), who doubles as a defensive end. There are some questions in the secondary, where four starters graduated.

Holly Springs (7-6): The Golden Hawks are the only conference team with a new coach but not necessarily a new face. David Riggs un-retired to take over the program and has had stints at Athens, Cary and, most recently, Fuquay-Varina.

The Hawks set school records in practically every category last year on its way to a tie for second place in the Tri-Nine. A six-game win streak came with six games being won in the final 61 seconds.

However, Holly Springs graduated almost all of its starting lineup from a year ago. Only four starters return on the offensive side: junior quarterback Mike Roach, senior Marc Jones at one wideout spot, and senior offensive linemen Marcos Goldstein and Sean Lucious.

On defense, junior corner Joey Roach and senior linebacker Kent Burnette (100 tackles, five sacks, three interceptions) return.

Panther Creek (5-7): Panther Creek reached the playoffs for the first time last year thanks in large part to its senior playmakers at wide receiver and running back.

The bad news: Those players have moved on. The good news: Everyone else returns to the P.C. offense.

The Catamounts will be led by senior quarterback Kameron Bryant, who threw for 2,664 yards and 26 touchdowns. Playmaking junior Isaiah Johnson will likely see time on both sides of the ball at wide receiver and safety.

Coach Wayne Bragg's team was decimated on defense last year by injury. If there's a silver lining, it's that this year's team will be experienced on defense, starting with defensive end Josh Tann, defensive end Jonathan Douglas and Johnson.

Cary (5-7): Cary has eight starters back on defense, a unit that allowed just 14 points in its last three games of 2009. However, the team scored three points in its final two games.

"We're going to hang our hat on our defense," Cary coach Ben Kolstad said.

First team all-conference performer Phillip Ochieng (seven sacks) is moving from defensive end to linebacker, where he'll join incumbents Josh Stewart, Lennie Paul and David Polletta. Linebacker Tommy Robinson is moving to safety. At nose tackle, Raphael Bernard tied with Fuquay's Underwood for the most tackles for loss in the conference.

On offense, Cary isn't without its own playmaker. Junior DeAndre Henry ran for 1,431 yards last season and nine touchdowns.

With a little balance from its passing game, Cary hopes to move the chains enough to keep its defense rested.

Lee County (3-8): Lee lost four conference games by four points or less last year.

With a few key players returning, the Yellow Jackets are thinking playoffs in year two under Burton Cates.

Apex (2-9): Apex's streak of 11 straight winning seasons ended with a thud last year. Coach Bob Wolfe hopes six returning starters on defense and fewer turnovers on offense can get this year's team back on track.

Quarterback Adam Nelson finished fourth in the conference in passing yards but ended the year with more interceptions than touchdowns. Linebacker Adam Schlobolm will anchor the defense which hopes to do better against the conference's passing teams.

Green Hope (0-11): The Falcons enter the season with the state's longest losing streak at 27 games. Green Hope has gone 3-55 over the past five seasons and will try to stop the streak with the help of linebacker Kevin Collins (98 tackles) and defensive end Ronald Parker (four sacks).