VIDALIA — Vidalia High School upcoming senior Garrett Rehms knows what it is like to go through a long football season without tasting a single victory.

Rehms played tight end and linebacker for the Vikings football team last year that failed to win a game, and he is using last season’s disappointment as motivation to get better this summer.

“We just want to work hard to get stronger,” Rehms said about summer workouts. “If 0-10 doesn’t make you want to win then nothing will.”

Rehms and his Viking teammates have been hard at work since the week after school ended in May trying to become better athletes in order to become better football players in the fall.

“We’ve been working our butts off in the weight room and conditioning,” assistant coach Bo Sproles said. “We are getting stronger and faster.”

Rehms said he hopes the team’s hard work this summer will lead to at least a few victories this season.

“We just want to win a couple games this year,” he said. “We may not win a championship, but to win a couple of games, get better and make progress would be great.”

Sproles said winning games in the fall starts in the weight room, which is something he is trying to make the Vikings understand.

“This is where you win championships,” Sproles said.

Rehms said all the hard work has brought the team closer together this summer.

“I think we are more of a team this year,” he said. “We were more individuals last year. We are working hard. I think we’ve come together, and we’re all about team this year.”

Rehms said he was forced to miss the first part of summer workouts due to injury, but in just a month he can already see the improvement in his athleticism.

Sproles said the quarterbacks and receivers have been working together on their own to improve the passing game, and starting quarterback Michael Whitley is attending a camp at Northwestern State University.

Sproles said he is ready to see the players’ hard work pay off in some wins.

“We are ready for a 10-0 season,” he said.