Bruno's Warriors have work to do in the TAC-8

''We have a lot of work to do,'' said Bruno, entering his second season at the Brookfield helm. ''I think you're going to see a much improved team. We played a lot of young kids last year, basically a sophomore team.''

Fielding a team laden with underclassmen, Bruno's Warriors struggled to a 1-5 Trumbull Athletic Conference record. Brookfield did play well otherwise, however, and finished the season with two consecutive victories.

That experience should prove to be quite valuable with only nine seniors on the roster. Conversely, 12 juniors return to go with 11 sophomores. At any given time, Bruno said as many as eight underclassmen will line up on offense and six will do the same on defense.

''We're still a young team,'' Bruno said. ''It's a team that got knocked around a little bit, but it learned a lot. That experience should show this year.''

Junior Spike Bayus is not only making a switch from defense to offense, but he's moving to the most important offensive position -- quarterback. He replaces All-TAC 8 quarterback Scott Blasko who graduated.

Bruno is hoping the grittiness the 5-7, 154-pound Bayus showed on defense carries over to the other side of the line of scrimmage and make him the perfect candidate for the job.

''He's a hard-nosed kid,'' Bruno said. ''We think, to run the spread-option offense, we felt he was the guy we had to move over. He looks real solid.''

Both Bruno and Bayus will rely on 6-3, 182-pound senior slotback Tim DeMay, who led the Warriors last year in receiving with more than 30 catches and 500 yards.

''Tim is a super player. Hopefully he can go out having one heckuva year. He's going to play defense this year, also, and he's looked good there so far,'' Bruno said.

Junior Jason Sanata showed skill last year at the fullback position and should carry a bulk of the load this season.

He was second to Blasko in rushing last year at 41 yards/game.

''We expect a lot from him,'' Bruno said. ''We think he can be a good one. The offense we're in, you depend a lot on your fullback.''

Defensively the Warriors gave up a whopping 26.3 points and 254 yards per game.

That is another area Bruno chalked up to inexperience, and one that he hopes his team will benefit from.

''We got knocked around,'' Bruno said. ''We played in an awfully tough league. And being one of the smallest schools in the league makes it tough. We played some big, physical teams -- Lakeview, Champion, Hubbard -- and it's hard to compete with those teams.

''Hopefully ,it makes you battle tough to get in there and smack it around a little bit with those kinds of kids. I think we'll be better because of it.''

Brookfield knows what it has ahead of it this year. It seems the hierarchy of the TAC-8 has changed very little the past few years, so Bruno is taking things week-to-week.

''You take one win at a time,'' Bruno said. ''You take one game at a time and play the best you can and try to win them all.''

Assisting Bruno will be Bill Lipps, Dom Leone, Brad Shingledecker, Keith Joseph, Toby Gilson, Matt Migliore and Rich Pavone.