It’s nights like Thursday - with blowing rain and temperatures in the 30s - when the Skyline High School football team must fight the temptation to relax.

“On days like this, where it’s really cold, sometimes you get bumped in the elbow and your whole arm is numb,” said Trevor Hill, a nose guard for Skyline.

That, of course, is all part of football. But while many teams are grinding out late-season practices with a goal in sight - the playoffs - Skyline's football program remains more than a year away from its first shot at the postseason.

Just two years into its football program, Skyline played a junior varsity schedule this season with all freshmen and sophomores. The team has steamrolled most of its competition, averaging 45 points a game en route to six wins, but Skyline has much work to do before it shares a field with local varsity teams.

“We’re excited, but our excitement has to be tempered some until we see what they do in the off-season,” Skyline coach Randy Hutchison said. “Let’s face it - league championships are won and lost in the weight room. We’ve got some work to do there.”

Not only in the weight room, but Skyline players also have had to work hard just to learn football. Without a middle-school program in Ann Arbor, many of Skyline’s players joined the team with limited football knowledge.

Skyline’s quarterback, Andrew Copp, didn’t have much of a resume before joining the team last year.

“Just recess football,” Copp said, where he would “throw it as far as you can to this guy, and hopefully he jumps over everyone and catches it.”

High-school football is a bit more nuanced than that. And Hutchison, a coach for 22 years, has been responsible for teaching technique - even more so than he anticipated.

“Everyone’s starting out learning everything about football, so the baby steps were probably a little more than I expected to start with,” Hutchison said. “We had guys that were putting on their girdles backwards, thinking they were cups. I had never coached anything but varsity, so I never went through that.”

Hutchison has adapted, though, and his players have learned quickly. Copp this season has thrown for 1,075 yards and 22 touchdowns, running back Jake Hirschl has rushed for 669 yards, and receiver Jordan Woods has caught 27 passes for 669 yards and seven touchdowns.

What Skyline lacks in experience, Woods said, the players can make up for with chemistry.

“It’s nice because we all get to grow together,” Woods said. “By the time we’re seniors, we’ll be able to know what the other person’s gonna do and where they’re gonna be at what time. We’re gonna come back with 22 returning starters.”

Although Skyline will be a first-year varsity team next season, neither Hutchison nor his players hesitate in saying they expect to make the playoffs.

“Our competition this year was not even close to what it will be next year,” Copp said. “We’re excited for next year. We’re just waiting for next year, to hopefully make the playoffs with all juniors.”

Of course, it’s hard to take solace in a potential playoff appearance when you’re battling through the frigid final days of what amounts to a long exhibition season.

“They realize we’re not trying to win a state championship today,” Hutchison said. “We’re trying to build so we can win a league championship and develop. I think the first class is gonna set the bar relatively high for everyone. Hopefully it will be a strong, rich tradition here in Ann Arbor.”

James Briggs covers sports for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at 734.623.2557 or jamesbriggs@annarbor.com.