Many football teams would be delighted by an 8-4 finish and trip to the second round of the state playoffs.

Not Scottsdale Chaparral. The Firebirds have won several state championships and have a few runner-up trophies, but last year’s 8-4 finish was . . . well, let coach Dave Huffine explain.

“We have to make amends. Our standards are much better than 8-4,’’ he said.

So the Firebirds have worked, worked and worked some more as they attempt to rejoin the list of elite teams in Division II.

The team played in nearly four dozen passing-league games in June before wrapping up that portion of its preparation at the Arizona Football Coaches Association 7-on-7 passing tournament on Saturday (June 22) at the Surprise Stadium complex.

The Firebirds were due to get in some work this week, followed by a week off on the July 4^th holiday week, then return to action a week after that. While some teams will go to other parts of the state or elsewhere for preseason camps, Chaparral will hold its workouts at home.

The team worked at home last year and Huffine said the players liked it.

“There wasn’t much beyond T-shirts and shorts, anyway,’’ he said Saturday. “We feel like we can get more done here.

“For now, we are done and the kids have had enough of us (coaches), but they will come back ready to go.’’

One of the most impressive players at the event in Surprise was quarterback Sean Paul Brophy, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound junior.

Brophy shared duty behind center last season, and now is ready to run the show full-time.

He will have a big target in 6-5, 235-pound senior tight end Trevor Wood, who missed most of last season with a torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery.

Huffine said Wood worked hard at rehabilitation “and now is as strong as he’s ever been. Having him will be a real plus for us.’’

Other key players are senior wideout-defensive back Tyler Whiley, running backs Emerson Carrethers and Malcolm Thomas and running back-slot receiver Elijah Castro, a transfer from Peoria Sunrise Mountain.

Chaparral will have one of its toughest schedules in recent memory, and it all starts on Aug. 30 with a game against rival Scottsdale Saguaro.

“There’s not much of a chance that we will be looking past that one,’’ Huffine said.