FOXBURG — The A-C Valley football team might be short on manpower, but the Falcons are long on determination.

Just 22 players appear on this year's roster, a low number even for a program used to little depth.

Second-year coach Chris McNany admires the mindset his players have brought to practice.

"Of the 22 players, 14 of them have been here all summer," said McNany, whose team went 0-9 last season. "The kids have a team-first attitude."

The squad ran the spread Wing-T on offense last year, led by quarterback Michael Orrvick, who graduated in the spring.

Taking over under center in 2010 will be 5-feet-10, 175-pound senior Kasey McNany.

"He was going to battle Orrvick for the starting quarterback job last year, but broke his collarbone in summer camp," said Coach McNany. "He would have at least started at wide receiver for us.

"We will still work with elements of the spread Wing-T this season, but we had some success with running the I-formation at the end of last year and we're looking to run that as well," he added.

Cole Hardick returns as the Falcons' starting fullback, while Brendan Golden and Alex Ford are battling to be the starting tailback.

Jared Uncapher, Blaine Crissman and Clint Van Wormer should see time at wideout.

A-C Valley does return five of six starters an offensive line that averages 6-1 and 205 pounds: left tackle Robert Sibble, left guard Lee Russell, right guard Jimmy Holton, right tackle Hunter Ferris and tight end Dakota Page.

Zach Fischer, who saw significant playing time at guard last season, will move to center.

"The line should be a strong point this year, but we are very inexperienced in the offensive backfield," said Coach McNany.

Defensively, the Falcons will switch between a 5-2 and 3-4, with Kasey McNany leading the group at strong safety.

"He's the quarterback of the defense," said Coach McNany.

Hardick (middle linebacker) as well as Ferris and Russell (defensive line) return as starters and will be counted on for leadership.

Four of the team's players are students at Cranberry High School in Venango County as part of a co-op with A-C Valley.

The Falcons carry a 40-game losing streak into the 2010 season. Last year, they were outscored 449-34.

The program does have reinforcements on the way, beginning in 2011.

For the first time in years, A-C Valley is keeping all of its freshmen players — which total 14 this season — on the junior high team. In years past, many of the freshmen played for the varsity team, which hindered their maturation on the field.

"As coaches, we have to stay positive," said Coach McNany. "A lot of our victories aren't going to come on Friday nights."

"We're going through a bad streak right now," said Hardick. "We just need to come together as a team. We are looking a lot better from last year."