With public high school football kicking off Friday and Saturday, The Baltimore Sun is rolling out its Top 5 teams this week. Today, we dip into what is shaping up to be a crowded Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference field.The Sun will count down the Top 5, leading up to No. 1 on Thursday. Click here for a look at No. 5 Old Mill. The entire Top 15 poll will be published with the full football preview Friday in The Sun and online.Now for ...No. 4 Mount Saint JosephCoach: Rich HolzerLast season: 8-3, No. 8; tied for second in the MIAA A ConferenceFirst game: Vs. Good Counsel, Saturday, 1 p.m.Last meeting: Good Counsel won, 42-0, in 2009Players to Watch: QB Christian Carter, Sr.; LB Aaron Johnson, Sr.; RB Sam James, Jr.; TE-DE BJ Morgan, Sr.; OL-DL Anthony Ruffin, Sr.; LB Ahmad McCullough, Sr.; WR Keyshawn Hailey, Jr.; LB Ryan Gorman, Jr.Outlook: Just three years ago, the Gaels won just two games, and one in the MIAA A Conference. Last season, they tied for second in the league with McDonogh and Archbishop Spalding at 5-2, behind undefeated Gilman. It was their second straight year with an 8-3 record.Holzer, in his second season at Mount Saint Joseph, hopes to build on that success with a team that suffered some critical losses to graduation but also returns a contingent of key veterans."We're young but seem to be jelling," Holzer said. "The young guys are really meshing with the older guys."Carter will step in after the Gaels graduated quarterback Bryan Costabile, who passed for more than 2,500 yards last season and ran for 675, scoring 33 total touchdowns. Carter played in five games as the backup and has all the tools for the position. While Costabile was a scrambler, Carter has a better arm, so the Gaels will look to air it out more.Most of their top receiving targets graduated, but Mount Saint Joseph had four speedy players behind them who are ready to stop in, including Hailey.James, who ran for 395 yards last season, will be the workhorse back, but Holzer said he has four running backs who could see action.Holzer said James has been impressive in the team's three scrimmages. The young receivers also seem to be meshing with Carter."Right now, we're looking very poised on offense," said Holzer, whose Gaels scored on six of their first seven drives in a scrimmage against Arundel. "The line has really jelled together. They're bigger than last year and they're stronger. I'm very happy with them."Mount Saint Joseph returns three players up front: John Snyder (6 feet 2, 290 pounds), Bailey Toth (6-3, 330) and tight end Morgan (6-1, 215). On defense, tackles Ruffin (6-3, 335) and Kyle Hunter (6-2, 315) are back along with Morgan, who also plays defensive end.The entire Gaels defense will be a strength, with a strong linebacking corps and three returning players in the secondary.They will get a big boost from Johnson, who played in two games before missing the rest of last season with mononucleosis. He had two sacks and seven solo tackles in those two games and could emerge as one of the top middle linebackers in the A Conference.In the secondary, veteran cornerback Chris Hailey and safeties Joey Jones and Darren Dunmoodie are joined by junior corner Brandon Savage. The Gaels have a lot of speed here: Many players were on the track-and-field team that won the MIAA championship this spring."They're flying to the ball," Holzer said. "They're being very aggressive and they're doing a good job of utilizing our advantage, which is our speed."The Gaels are aiming for their first A Conference title since they tied Loyola Blakefield for the championship in 2007. They have to be in midseason form quickly, because they open with Good Counsel, the No. 2 team in the state media poll. The Falcons finished second in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference last year, behind DeMatha, the preseason No. 1 in the state poll.Mount Saint Joseph, ranked No. 14 in the preseason state poll, scrimmaged Good Counsel last year, but the two haven't met in a game since 2009, when the Falcons won 42-0."With a team that good with that much talent, we've got to find ways to utilize our strength, which is our speed and our conditioning, so we've got to find ways to keep the tempo high and wear them down," Holzer said. "A lot of their guys go both ways."Don't expect that strategy to change much as the season goes on. The Gaels open their A Conference season at home against Gilman on Oct. 1.