Ascending two classifications in the Georgia High School Association would be a challenge under any circumstances, but it certainly doesn’t help when the move comes on the heels of losing the most productive player your program has ever known.

This is the path ahead for West Forsyth, as the Wolverines leave Region 7B-AAA and join Region 6-AAAAA in their fourth season of existence.

West must simultaneously attempt to fill the void left by Ben Emert, the Wake Forest-bound running back who piled up 28 touchdowns and more than 1,500 yards rushing last season.

Coming out of spring practice, Wolverines coach Frank Hepler says his players are already demonstrating a strong understanding of the effort it’s going to take to succeed under such dramatically different circumstances this season.

“We’ve seen a lot of good things out of our guys [this spring], and the biggest ... is the intensity and watching how they’ve worked as a group, knowing that we’re going to [Class] AAAAA,” he said.

“The last two years, it was more [about] starting the program and building the program, it really wasn’t a conversation about where we were playing or who we were playing. I’ve seen a lot of talk [lately] about who we’re playing and what we’re getting ready for and the stage we’re going to be on.”

Despite posting an 8-2 record in 2008 and a 6-4 mark in 2009, West was the odd man out of the playoff picture both seasons, as Flowery Branch and Gainesville secured the only two available playoff spots in the subdivided region each time.

The Falcons went on to reach the state title game in 2008, while the Red Elephants played for the championship in 2009.

This season, West will be among seven teams competing for one of the four playoff slots available out of the new Region 6-AAAAA, which includes county rival North Forsyth and five north Fulton teams.

Although he’s not sorry to abandon the subregion format, Hepler said the change is tempered by both the level of competition his team will face in the state’s highest classification, and the expectations the Wolverines have for themselves.

“There’s no sense of relief at all, it’s actually a sense of urgency now,” he said.

“This being our third year [as a varsity team] ... we’re stressing the [goal] of getting into the playoffs. I don’t know if we’re good enough to get to the playoffs yet, but that is one of our goals.”

The Wolverines’ hopes of securing a postseason berth may hinge largely on how well they’re able to replace the production of Emert, a job Hepler believes will require a cooperative approach.

Ethan Shirley, Blake Roberts, Tyler Lott and Colton Cloud are some of the options the coach expects to use in the backfield this season.

“Ben was a great player for us for three years,” Hepler said.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever have a guy that could produce like he did, so it’s going to be very tough to replace him.

“It’s forced the offense to say, ‘We lost a great one, we need to all band together and try to equal his greatness as a group.’”

As the Wolverines attempt to piece together the puzzle of their rushing attack, the picture under center appears to be somewhat clearer than it was a year ago.

After losing quarterback Lance Baker to graduation after the 2008 season, West tried several players under center last season with limited success.

Rising junior Chase Bender and rising sophomore A.J. Erdely, who started West’s final game of the 2009 season as a freshman, are the leading candidates for the job this year.

“Those two are battling a little bit for the position, but we feel like we’re a little bit stronger there right now ... than we were last year at this time,” Hepler said.

“Even though we’re kind of in a similar position with new quarterbacks, we were actually able to get these guys a little more varsity time than last year’s guys coming in.

“Talent-wise they’re both pretty darned good.”

The Wolverines will field a more seasoned unit on the defensive side of the ball, where nine players with starting experience return from last season, including standout linemen Dustin Gayton and Jake Tatum.

“We feel pretty good on defense,” Hepler said. “At least experience-wise, we feel like we’re doing OK there.”

West inherits an interesting scheduling wrinkle this year, as its only bye comes in Week 11, the final week of the regular season.

The setup leaves the Wolverines without a week to rest players during the regular season action, but if the team does qualify for the state playoffs, it will have the advantage of two weeks to heal and prepare for the first round.

“It just worked out that way and we’ll deal with it the best we can,” said Hepler, who has plenty of experience working without an off week.

“When I coached in Florida, that’s how we played, we didn’t have any open weeks. We’ve gone through that situation, so hopefully we learned in Florida how to handle it and we can handle it up here.”