By Jeff Say

FOXBURG – The Allegheny-Clarion Valley Falcons enter the 2002 football season with a new head coach and a new program with first-year head coach Don King attempting to bring A-C Valley its first winning season since 1999.

King, who coached the past four years at Grove City High School, brings the Wing-T offensive set to A-C Valley this season.

"We’re a pure Delaware Wing-T," King said. "That’s what I played in high school, and that’s what I first coached in. I learned it from a coach that knows it very well in Frank Mackarovich down at Mercer."

Directing the Falcons’ offense this season is junior quarterback Corey Clawson.

Clawson may not be the fleetest of foot or have the strongest arm in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference, but the young quarterback understands the Wing-T offense.

"Corey is our quarterback," King said. "He’s caught on quite well. He may not have the strongest arm or the quickest feet, but he’s a very smart young man. In terms of him being the perfect Wing-T quarterback, look for that next year. As far as this year is concerned Corey understands the offense and knows who to get the ball to."

A-C Valley is looking for players who can learn the complicated Wing-T and help teach it to the rest of the squad.

"I think the first year you’re going to run it you need a ball players that’s going to catch on quick," King said. "There’s a lot of ball handling and faking involved. The ball handling helps buy the quarterback time. When you can get a kid who can really handle the ball without making those mental mistakes, it makes it much more efficient. I don’t worry about Corey not having the strongest arm because I would rather run the ball the whole game than throw it."

The Falcons’ running game will be the strength of the offense this season with four running backs sharing playing time.

Zach Heeter leads the running backs along with Brad Hurrelbrink, Matt Knight and Colt Burk.

"We have four running backs in our back field right now that on any given night I think could hit 100 yards," King said. "Zach Heeter is probably our most dangerous runner. He’s a big kid that can really move. Brad Hurrelbrink has started to come around. Matt Knight is our wingback, but he’s nursing a broken hand right now. We also have a young man named Colt Burk from Cranberry, and he’s really opened some eyes in our camp."

The offensive line could be a strong point for the Falcons, but the front line has to focus on improving its intensity as the game progresses.

"The only concern I have right now is that we have a big strong offensive line but it seems to me they forget to use their legs come game time," King said. "With this offense there’s a lot of down blocking, trap blocking. Being that these kids played in a different offense last year, when a defense starts changing on us we don’t adjust very well. That will come about week three or four after they see some defensive adjustments."

Jake Pentz and Ben Blauser will anchor the offensive line at the tackles. Pentz weighs in at 240-pounds while Blauser tips the scales at 268-pounds.

"I feel they could be two of the best tackles in the league, maybe the district because of their size," King said. "But again leg movement is what we have to work on."

Tyler Beichner and Ben Bobbert will start at guard and Scott Burris will start at center for A-C Valley.

"We’ve got great size, and we have good athleticism," King said. "But again they have to pick it up with our legs, because in our scrimmage against West Middlesex (Aug. 24) we scored two touchdowns early and they kind of left off. I thought we could have scored four or five times if we would have kept our legs going."

The Falcons’ intensity is the main concern entering the season. The team has to stay aggressive to be competitive, but the squad has lost some of its energy during scrimmages this preseason.

"That’s my primary concern," King said. "We’re pretty healthy. They’re learning the offense. Our kids just have to learn that once you score the games not over. We can’t go out there and roll out a couple touchdowns and expect the game to be over. We have to find the identity of our football team. Are we going to be the aggressive football team we are the first part of the game or are we going to be the kind of team who sits back?

"I think the transition is pretty smooth. I think the other thing we have to overcome is the negative opinion some of these kids have about football. When I got here I found a negative opinion, and I hope to reverse that."

The Falcons’ offense features just one wide receiver this season. Josh Hill and Andy Beichner will share time at wide out spot.

A-C Valley will use the passing game as a chance to throw off defenses and will use a lot of three-step passes and quick screens.

"I want to ease into the passing game," King said. "I want to get the ball into Josh and Andy’s hands because they are both big targets, and I think it’s to our advantage to get the ball into their hands. I’m not going to forego the running game to just throw the ball around to make a few people smile."

Defensively the Falcons are running a 5-3, putting five linemen on the line with a trio of talented linebackers.

"We’re running a 5-3 defense," King said. "Its the one I ran in Mercer and the one that was taken to Sharpsville. They won the state title. We’re working on some lineups and techniques right now because the kids are used to a more aggressive approach. We preach more of a lockout, find the football type of approach.

"Playing 5-3 we’re going to stop the run first. We might give up some passes. You’ve got to stop the run first, and that’s what we intend to do."

The defensive line will consist of ends Mike Bucholz and Adam Hile along with an interior line of either Jared Rice, Blauser, Bobbert, Pentz and Burris.

The defensive line's job will be to funnel the plays to the linebackers, who are the strength of the Falcons’ defense.

"We can take our four running backs and make them our linebackers," King said.

Knight, Beichner, Heeter and Burk will start at linebacker.

"I think once we get the alignments figured out with this defense so that we’re not getting hurt up the middle so much, we’re going to allow those three linebackers to fly to the ball," King said. "That’s going to make our defense very good because they’re all very fast and very aggressive."

A-C Valley’s secondary consists of Clawson, Hill and Matt Cangemi.

This season with the KSAC potentially in a rebuilding year with four teams changing coaches and a majority of the teams losing key players from last year, A-C Valley is hoping to use the opportunity to climb the conference ladder after a 1-8 finish last season.

"I think this is the one year we or for that case anybody could step up and really be in contention for the conference title," King said. "I feel our kids, once they get the hang of the offense, can be competitive with anybody."