Big Reds hoping to feed off other team's success

So now's the time for the two to merge with a successful football season, as Resetar views it.

''If you can't imagine yourself in the playoffs, what's the reason for playing?'' Resetar rhetorically asked.

''They just need to get some confidence in themselves. They've been down so long, they don't realize how good they can be,'' Resetar, the second-year head coach who was 2-8 a year ago in his debut season, said.

Having served as an assitant coach at Warren-John F. Kennedy, Twinsburg-Chamberlain and Lowellville, Resetar has been part of playoffs and even a state championship (JFK in Ô91). And last year, West Middlesex basketball and baseball teams both advanced to the PIAA playoffs. So, Resetar reasons, the football program should be able to do the same.

''Sharpsville, they believed they could do it and their kids went out and got it done,'' Resetar said of the Ô97 PIAA Class A titlists. ''And I think it's nice, when an area team does that, that our kids can see that. Our kids know those kids.''

A rigorous offseason weight-training program helped with the physical aspect, and Resetar said the program's numbers have increased from 29 a year ago to the low-40s this season with the addition of approximately a dozen ninth-graders. Also, he and his staff have attempted to lend some pure, simple fun for the players with some social activities.

But the bottom line, however, is how a couple of wins will benefit the program, and Resetar feels the Big Reds have the ability to accomplish that goal.

''I looked in the huddle (during a pre-season practice) and saw 11 seniors on defense and 10 of them were lettermen, and the one who wasn't is a 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior (Adam Buxton) in his first year of playing football,'' Resetar related. ''And he had two sacks in our first scrimmage.

''We have 15 seniors and 13 of them are lettermen, and of those 13, I believe eight or nine are two-year lettermen. Our senior leadership is definitely where it starts; we'll build the team around them.

''We're not gonna have any one individual player make it all happen for us; we've got 11 to 15 guys who all can contribute and make something happen at any time,'' Resetar emphasized. ''With the ÔRun-and-Shoot' (offense), you have to adapt what you're gonna do with what you have and build around those kids. At a minimum, we'll have four or five running routes at any one time, and I don't care who we throw to because I know they're gonna catch it and make something happen.Ó

The Big Reds' run-and-shoot will feature quarterback Clint Doolin, running back Ron Goodman and receivers Walt Novosel and twins George and Jason Burns.

''Doolin can run a 4.6 40(-yard dash). He's, like, 5-10, 175 and dunks a basketball. He's just a pure athlete,'' Resetar gushed. ''We have about 10 guys who can dunk a basketball, and I measure that as far as being an athlete, if you can jump like that. And we have 6-8 guys who are under 5-flat in the 40. ... We're a very athletic team.''

The Big Reds' 4-3 base defense will feature the aforementioned, as well as linebackers Jason McElhaney and Tim Davis, Resetar noted.

Goodman is an inside linebacker and Novosel and the Burns twins will form three-fourths of the secondary.

But depth and physical strength are two areas that need improvement.

''We're not real strong, yet, but we are improving, just a little bit late,'' Resetar admitted, though quickly adding, ''I'm very excited. The kids are not complaining about anything; they do whatever we ask, and we're having a lot of fun, trying to keep the conditioning (drills) fun. We just need a couple wins to build on. The enthusiasm's there; they just have to go out and win a game and say, ÔWait, this is for real, we can do this.'

''When I sit back and say things about (his past personal experience in the) playoffs -- I've been in the playoffs four of the six years I've been coaching -- they know it's realistic.

''Sharpsville, they didn't get any breaks. They were not a big, powerful, run-over-you type team. They went out and played the game for 48 minutes and made things happen'' Resetar noted. ''And that's what our kids have to do.

''We've got some tough (Mercer County Athletic Conference) games,'' the youthful mentor, a Hubbard High and Bethany (W. Va.) College product, acknowledged.

''Kennedy and Sharpsville both are tough and we definitely will have to play a perfect game to even be in the game. Those are two great football teams. But we open with Neshannock. ... As long as we go out there and compete and play hard, I see no reason why something good can't come of that.

''Nobody has won a game, yet, and we have to think about that.''

Resetar's assistants this season include Brian Daytner, Rick and Ron Fox, and Brian Hoffman.