SARANAC — Just two years after a two-win season, the Saranac Chiefs' hopes for the 2010 campaign are higher than they've been in a long time.
Saranac improved to a .500 record with a very young team last year. Many of the skill players are back — with some added experience — and the roster has some added depth.
"Last year we were pretty successful considering how young we were. We were young and we showed it at times, but we had some talent there," coach Mark Burrell said. "And I think our biggest thing is having that depth, having that year of experience. We're expecting a lot out of these guys and I think even more so, they're expecting it out of themselves.
"Their expectations of their season are probably much higher than I think they've ever had for themselves."
The Chiefs begin the Northern Football Conference season tonight at AuSable Valley.
Several key offensive players, most notably quarterback Ben Weightman and utility man Dylan Everleth, are back this season, and Burrell said the big difference is a stronger offensive line that includes seniors Tyler Aubin and Michael Garrison.
Everleth, now a senior, led the Chiefs in both rushing (six) and receiving (five) touchdowns last year. He ran for a team-high 398 yards on 82 carries and grabbed 20 passes at an average of 19.3 yards per catch.
"He's going to be a guy that we're going to count on, bottom line," Burrell said. "And he knows that and he expects a lot from himself. He expects himself to make some plays. Now he's kind of the lead guy with (Kyle) Rascoe gone, and he's a threat whether he's running or receiving. And we're expecting a lot."
Ryan St. Clair was the Chiefs' third-leading receiver last season, but they'll depend on him mostly in the backfield this year.
Weightman took over at quarterback partway through last season, when he was just a sophomore, and finished with 10 passing touchdowns, three interceptions and a 59.8-percent completion rate.
"He's got a lot of good personnel around him. Some good returning guys that are going to help him," Burrell said. "And just that year of experience, just seeing how things work a little bit I think helps a lot.
"He's got a very strong arm, and his biggest thing is his reads have really progressed a lot. He's come a long way in one year."
Weightman said the things he's worked on the most are 'timing, my dropback and my reads."
Besides Everleth, Weightman will have Zach Vaughan, Ian Baughn and newcomers Ryan Kerner, Jake Spear and Nathan Bedell to throw to.
Saranac has 35 players on the roster — nine more than it started with last season.
"We're all working hard, and we have all the right people to have a good season," Weightman said. "We have some good skill that came up from JV last year, and we have some good returning people also."
On defense, Everleth is listed at outside linebacker, but his versatility extends to that side of the ball as well. Burrell said the Chiefs have good speed and size on defense.
Six-foot, 200-pound senior Conor Craig is expected to be key at defensive end.
"Conor Craig is probably one of our toughest football players on the entire team, I'd have to say," Burrell said. "He's very hard-nosed, and he loves football."
Saranac has moved up to Class B, but Burrell said that won't change too much because several others who were in Class C last year also made the jump. The Chiefs are aiming to be one of the four teams that earn a playoff spot.
"As coaches, we don't like to look at more than one game at a time, but if we're not in contention, then we would be disappointed," Burrell said. "I don't want to look too far down the road ... but I would say our expectations are to improve on last year.
"You can ask any of our coaches, any of our players, if we didn't perform to better than that level, then we would be disappointed."
E-mail Courtney Lewis at: clewis@pressrepublican.com
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