Despite possessing a solid core of seniors, Beaver football coach Jeff Beltz thought he had a young team last year.

He looks around again and sees the same thing, only different.

"We had quite a few juniors help out last year," said Beltz. "I look at this year's team and it's a young team. That's odd because I thought, 'Wow, we're young this season,' but everyone's been in the same system. We're returning a good group defensively."

Last year's team finished with a bang, winning its last three games to finish at 5-5 and defeated playoff-bound conference opponents Freedom and Beaver Falls.

The Bobcats will host Summit Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the season opener for both teams.

Beaver blanked the Knights 35-0 in the season opener last year. The Bobcats led 28-0 at the half on a Friday before lightning pushed the remainder of the game to Saturday.

"Our young guys grew up last year," said Beltz. "It took the kids a while."

The team's top rusher, Evan Nardone, who ran for 657 yards, returns and will be the key wheel on the offense.

"Evan's emerged as a solid leader," said Beltz. "He has great habits. He's not overly vocal, but he's strong.

"We moved him to outside backer and has done a nice job."

The quarterbacking duties will fall to a pair of sophomore, Collin Burns and Manny Cutlip.

"Part of that is we had another quarterback who left a week before camp to the Linsly (W.Va.) School.

"We brought Manny in because he's probably the best athlete on the team. He gives us depth, a tremendous arm and a bit of flash.

"Collin's more steady, a heady guy," Beltz added.

The Bobcats opened the season last year by defeating the Knights and knows the going is always tough for them.

"It's the same-old for them," said Beltz "The team is not together long, but they always have good athletes on the field.

"I had the opportunity to see them. They have some talent at running back and at quarterback (Alvin McGhie)," he added.

Knights coach Steve Sherer knows that the Bobcats are fundamental in their approach.

"Actually, the way they approach the game is the same," said Sherer. "They like to throw the ball deep and throw fades. They'll try and challenge our secondary.

"They run about four different formations and come at you, not a lot of trickery. They run a lot of leads out of the "I". A dive or quick trap here and some bootlegs," he added.

Sherer is thankful his team came away from its scrimmages without any injuries, unlike a year ago when it lost its top back, Colleal Cottom, for the first half of the season.

"We'll take it slow and make sure the things we do are deliberate and the kids know what to do," said Sherer.