CHERRY TWP — Moniteau’s motto is simple this year.

“It’s that 1-8 is unacceptable,” first-year Warriors coach Cecil Blauser said. “We don’t want to go through anything like that again.”

Blauser is no stranger to the program. He served as an assistant coach under Tom Kidder, Steve Wilson and Jeff Campbell at Moniteau.

Campbell resigned over the summer after going 40-28 over seven seasons. Blauser applied for the vacated position and was hired on the first day of preseason camp.

His hiring was a popular one with the players.

“It’s who we wanted. We have faith in these coaches,” senior running back-defensive back Trevor Shaffer. “We’re ready to move forward.”

The Warriors will do so by using the double-wing offensively, enabling them to get plenty of skilled players on the field at once.

“We’re strong and deep at the skilled positions and we want to use that,” Blauser said. “We’re not very big and we don’t have much depth up front.”

Moniteau’s attack is fueled by senior running back Dustin Geagan, who begins this season less than 300 yards away from breaking the school’s career rushing record. Geagan has run for 3,179 yards and 35 touchdowns as a fourth-year starter in the backfield.

He rushed for 973 yards and 11 TDs last season.

“Defenses keyed on him last year because they figured that’s all we had,” Blauser said. “We want them to key on him this year because we’ve got plenty of other guys who can do damage.”

Geagan has no problem with his number of carries being reduced this fall.

“Winning definitely comes first and I love this new offense,” Geagan said. “We’ll be a lot more balanced.

“Because of what happened last year, there are low expectations for us by the league and the community. We feel like we’ve got something to prove.”

The Warriors allowed just under 30 points per game last year, but their offense came alive late. After scoring 43 total points in its first five games, Moniteau scored 112 in its final four contests.

A pair of juniors, Cody Skiver and Austin Blauser, are battling for the starting quarterback spot. Whoever doesn’t get it will likely see action at receiver.

“Cody is quicker and Austin is good at reading defenses,” Blauser said. “They are different types of quarterbacks, but both are good leaders.”

Shaffer ran for 332 yards last season and figures to get more carries this time around in what looks to be a crowded backfield.

“The key for our offense this year will be to keep defenses guessing,” Blauser said.

First-year defensive coordinator Lance Colville played football at Florida State University. He inherits a unit that returns eight starters and is deep in the secondary.

Brendon Stamm, Colin Clark and Dustin Best are returning starters at defensive tackle while Skiver, Geagan, Shaffer and Stephen Hagg all return in the secondary.

Linebackers in Colville’s 425 formation will come from Shonn Kline, Brad Fend, Derrik Boben and Wyatt Ifft.

“We’ve got a bunch of ball-hawks in the secondary, so we’re working on our strength up front,” Colville said. “We want to be violent up front and take the ball away in the secondary.”

Shaffer said he’s noticed a renewed commitment from the players during the offseason.

“It’s 10 times better than last year,” he said. “There were at least 20 kids showing up every day for weight room and conditioning this summer. That’s how you build a program.

“Our only goals are to win.”

Blauser believes it can happen.

“We only have 33 players or so, but they are together and so are the coaches,” he said. “I’m not seeing another 1-8 record with this group.

“Last year, we lost a lot of games in the fourth quarter. If we change that, playoffs aren’t out of the question for these guys at all.”