JEFFERSON TWP — If it could go wrong for Knoch's football team last year, it did.

The Knights returned a number of starters from its 2007 WPIAL Class AAA semifinalist team, but injuries decimated the team and doomed it to a 2-7 record in 2008.

"I would have picked us to finish near the top of the conference last year," veteran coach Mike King said. "Obviously, it didn't work out that way."

Five members of last year's team moved on to college football: Tim McCorkle (Gannon), Henry Cypher (Edinboro), Tim McNerney (Washington & Jefferson), Brandon Flick (Case Western, Ohio) and Kevin Brodeur (Indiana, Pa.).

Unlike last year, there aren't a whole lot of starters coming back.

"We're a bunch of no-names," King said. "But I sort of like it that way. When times get tough in a game, the kids won't be leaning on one or two players to pull them through. They'll be leaning on each other."

Knoch's top returning rusher from a year ago is senior quarterback Jake McTighe, who managed 190 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Besides him, Adam Tuzikow is the top returnee with all of 26 yards last season.

McTighe threw for only 284 yards and a single touchdown in 2008.

"I know we have to get a lot more out of our passing game and I'm putting that on my shoulders," McTighe said. "Sometimes we didn't catch the ball last year, sometimes there were bad throws. This year, we have to click."

King has confidence in his quarterback despite the lack of production in 2008.

"There's a maturation process a quarterback has to go through that takes playing a lot of football games," King said. "Jake has that now. He wants to be a leader and his skills are versatile enough to get the job done."

Jake Hickey is the most experienced receiver coming back with three catches for 25 yards.

"We're working a lot of kids into the passing game this year," King said. "Adam Seger will be part of the mix and Corey Pelkofer is looking good at tight end."

King said sophomore Alex Strezeski and junior Jonathan Firouzi standout receivers in practice so far.

"Kids know there is playing time available and starting jobs to be won," the coach said. "We're going to have kids emerging like that. It's going to be a fun year that way."

Micah Lio (6-feet-8, 265 pounds) returns to anchor the offensive line for the Knights. William Helbiczki, a junior, is showing promise there as well.

Sophomore Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin and senior John Dewalt are the front-runners at tailback.

"We're going to run a lot of stuff offensively," King said. "We need to be versatile."

On defense, McTighe is shifting from strong safety to linebacker, and Kyle Hilliard returns as a starting linebacker. Pelkofer is back at defensive end.

Hickey returns at a cornerback spot and Seger is shifting from corner to strong safety. Other positions are up for grabs.

"We have a lot of juniors and sophomores who have come a long way in a short time during camp," Pelkofer said. "No one's going to expect much out of us, but we're going to surprise some people on both sides of the ball."

McTighe will handle the punting duties while Kevin Wood returns as placekicker.

King sees Franklin Regional as the favorite in the Greater Allegheny Conference.

"We want to get back into the playoffs again and finish in the upper part of the conference," he said. "We definitely plan on playing a physical brand of football.

"There's great coaching in our conference. You rarely see anyone get blown off the field. Execution during crunch time will be the difference."