The Butler County Bears are 1-0 without having played a game.

An expansion entrant in the semipro United States Football Alliance, the Bears received a forfeit victory over the Cleveland Saints last week when the Saints failed to secure a home field.

The Bears were scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Cobras on the road this weekend, but the Cobras' field — The Wolverena at Woodland Hills — is under water from Wednesday's heavy rain. That forced the game's cancellation.

"It's frustrating because we're anxious to get going," said Bears co-owner and coach Kirk Bergbigler. "Our guys are chomping at the bit to play some football."

The Bears now will begin their season June 19 at the West Virginia Lightning in Charleston. The team's first home game is at 7 p.m. June 26 against the Pittsburgh Pride at Karns City High.

Karns City also will serve as the Bears' home field for games July 17 against the Cobras, July 24 against the West Virginia Gladiators, July 31 against the Mountain State Bruins and Aug. 14 against the Cleveland Saints.

Bergbigler coached the now-defunct Western PA Warhawks for a few seasons and brought a few of those players to the Bears. Some former Warhawks now play for the Pittsburgh Pride as well.

"I can see the Pride quickly becoming our rivals because the Warhawks never beat them," Bergbigler said. "And their home games are at Valley High School, not too far away."

The Bears have 32 players on their roster, including Butler graduate and starting quarterback Bill McCaslin. Karns City graduates Billy Graham at running back, Stephon Conto at receiver and lineman T.J. Schrecengost also figure to play prominent roles.

Graham won the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy as the county's top scorer in 2001.

Graham, Pittsburgh-area resident Maurice Reynolds and former Warhawk Randall Palakovich will be the primary ball carriers.

"We're coming along offensively," Bergbigler said. "We'll be a grind it out, running type of team.

"Our real strength is on defense. Nobody moved the ball on us in our three scrimmages."

Conto will be a strong safety on defense. and Slippery Rock High graduate T.J. Sommers will be an anchor along the line on either side of the ball.

Founded in 2005, the USFA is a 30-team league that spans five states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia and Michigan. The Bears are in a division with the Pittsburgh Cobras, Pride and Cleveland Saints.

Teams play a 10-game regular season schedule, and eight teams make the playoffs. Players in the league don't get paid.

"New teams come into this league and the veteran teams tend to laugh at them, especially when the team comes from a small town," Bergbigler said. "But I think we stack up well with other teams I've seen.

"We expect to contend for the playoffs. At the very least, we want to make a statement that we're from Butler County and we're here to play football."