Ed Klutcher building from ground up at Mercer

To hear new head coach Ed Klutcher say it, ''We're not re-building, we are building.''

Klutcher inherits a 2-8 team from Frank Makarevich, who resigned in late-February to spend more time with his family. Makarevich had two stints as the Mustangs' mentor and compiled a 41-60-1 record 10 years and had three teams in the early-'90s make it to the District 10 playoffs.

Klutcher's expectations aren't quite that high -- at least not for this season.

''We're setting the foundation this year,'' said Klutcher, a 1983 Farrell High School graduate. ''We're getting better every day and the kids are enthusiastic and very positive. We've changed the attitude and are looking for good things.

''All I tell these kids is I want them to play the best they can. If the best they can play is 3-7, then we'll live with that this year. If the best they can play is 10-0, well we'll live with that, too.''

Attitude. It's something every good team needs in order to identify itself from its opponents. It's something many would argue the Mustangs lacked in recent years.

That is just one area Klutcher and his coaching staff hope to turn around. The first step is getting kids out who want to play.

Klutcher had 29 hopefuls show up at camp, a number he expected to be slightly higher.

Another area in which Klutcher wants the Mustangs to improve is fundamentals.

''On offense we don't have a thousand formations and we don't have a thousand on defense,'' Klutcher said. ''We're going to teach them ÔThis is how you block, this is how you tackle, this is how you carry the ball.' Our big thing here is we run to the football. We want 11 blue helmets at the football, whether it's offense, defense or special teams.''

Klutcher is counting on four returning starters on offense and five on defense to make the transition an easy one. Among the returning seniors are Troy Dulaney, Bill Knechtel, Phil Erdos, Andy Hogue, Nick Wilpula, Derek Snyder and Ira Bennett. Each saw significant playing time last year.

''They are the ones to set the attitude,'' Klutcher said. ''Our attitude is positive. If they come out dragging, or low, the rest of the team will, too. They will dictate how the team plays.''

Most importantly, Hogue and Erdos will be counted on to replace three-year starting quarterback Joe Ziccardi, who graduated Ziccardi is now a freshman at Grove City College.

Hogue served as a backup last year to Ziccardi, who threw for 81.2 yards/game his senior year after leading Mercer County signal-callers in passing as a junior, throwing for nearly 1,000 yards.

''The two of them are doing a fine job,'' Klutcher said. ''We're doing some different things, and I think these kids fit what we're doing now.''

Klutcher insists his offense will do what it takes to win, whether it be through the air or on the ground. Carrying the ball will be junior Zac Doyle and Josh Weirick in the Mustangs' one-back set.

''We'll do what we have to do to move the ball,'' Klutcher said. ''If we have to run, we'll run; if we have to pass, we'll pass. It doesn't matter. We'll take what the defense gives us.''

Being from Farrell, Klutcher knows how big high school football is in Mercer County.

Despite suffering through three consecutive seasons of mediocre football, Mustang fans still showed up on Friday nights en masse.

''I don't know if we have to do too much as far as getting people in the stands, because they love their football,'' Klutcher said.

''We've just got to put a better product onto the field. When we do that, everybody will go home happy instead of sad. And we'll have a lot of people here going home happy.''

Klutcher, who had stints in the collegiate coaching ranks -- offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Thiel in Ô97, offensive line coach at Grove City in Ô95-96, and defensive line coach at Gannon in Ô94 -- said his goal was to become a head high school coach.

''This has been my goal. I've finally reached it. We're looking to change the attitude here and start building. This is our take-off point''

Assisting Klutcher, who is Farrell coach Lou Falconi's first player to be a head coch, will be Chris Gaub and Matt Nelson, who also served at Thiel, Dan Gill, Chuck Nay, Doug England, Matt Allen and Kris Chapman.