FOXBURG — After serving as an assistant high school football coach for 18 years, Gary Pinkerton finally found the right fit.

Pinkerton, 55, who also serves as director of the Butler County Parks and Recreation Department, is the new head football coach at A-CValley High School.

He replaces Randy Lemmon after being a member of his staff the past two seasons.

"I know the kids involved in the program out there," said Pinkerton, a Butler resident. "I know some of the members of the Quarterback Club and the school administration."

"I gave them my resume and figured I'd see what happens. I feel like I can step in and help," Pinkerton added.

Lemmon was 4-23 in three years at A-CValley, including a winless 2006 season in which the Falcons were outscored by an average of 41-7.

A new four-year deal with Cranberry High School as a co-op football program encouraged Pinkerton to take on the job.

"Without that, it'd be tough because you couldn't promise the players the program would exist more than another year,"Pinkerton said. "Now we know it's going to be here and the numbers are getting healthy again."

A-CValley fielded a junior high team the past two years. Because of injuries, the Falcons played only one junior varsity game a year ago.

But the number of varsity players is on the upswing.

"My first year there, our numbers were in the 20s,"Pinkerton said. "Last year, we had 36 kids, 50 percent from A-CValley, 50 percent from Cranberry.

"The program was never in danger of folding. In co-op situations, the numbers always go up and down. It's a cycle."

Pinkerton spent 14 years as an assistant football coach at Shannock Valley, which has a co-op with Elderton. He's been an assistant at Moniteau and West Shamokin as well.

He has been an offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator at different times in his career.

Pinkerton was a member of one of Tom Kidder's initial coaching staffs at Moniteau and helped lay the groundwork for the Warriors' emergence as a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference contender.

Pinkerton is in the process of hiring assistant coaches for the Falcons, which also play in the KSAC, and said he would have no problem bringing back members of last year's staff.

"Now that we have a long-term commitment, we can be successful here," he said. "I'm sure we'll pick up more players when school starts up again in the fall.

"I'm a Wing-Tguy all the way, and that's a hard offense to install. We were mostly a speed and power offense last year. But everybody in the conference knows what I'm all about and that's what we're going to run."

Defensively, Pinkerton said A-CValley will start with a 53 look.

"I've had opportunities to be a head coach before,"Pinkerton said. "This is the first head coaching job I've really wanted to take on.

"If we can build enthusiasm in the program, we'll build numbers and go from there."