BELPRE - Curt Shriver says his Belpre football team will ''be back up'' this fall after suffering through a 3-7 season in 2008.
Shriver guided the Golden Eagles to a 7-4 record and their first Ohio playoff appearance in 19 years in his first year on the job in 2007, but then slipped to an uncharacteristic - for Belpre, at least - four-games-under-.500 mark last season
''Our defense let us down,'' said Shriver, which even the former Golden Eagle player under Ralph Holder admitted was not like most past Belpre grid squads, which usually prided themselves on their defense.
But Shriver, ever the optimist, says he thinks his team will ''be back up'' this fall. ''Our offensive line is senior dominated, and a lot of our running backs and our quarterback are back with a lot more experience,'' he said.
Defensively, too, said Shriver, Belpre has ''a lot of guys returning, since we lost only four defensive starters from last year.''
Clay Ullman, back at quarterback as a junior for his second year as a starter, ''really did a good job last season (passing for 928 yards) as first-time starter as just a sophomore,'' said Shriver.
''But unlike us usually, our offense did pretty well while the defense didn't play up to Belpre standards.''
Shriver noted that ''when we had good years, solid seasons in the past, our defense was sound even if our offense struggled.''
Normally ''with us through the years,'' said Shriver, a Belpre assistant coach after his playing days until he got his head coaching opportunity two years ago, ''the defense held tough while the offense was able to put up enough points for us to win.''
But the defense had a lapse last year, while the offense flourished more than normal with Ullman, and sometimes to-be-senior Markie Tate too late in the season, at the controls. On the 2009 schedule, Shenandoah has replaced Fort Frye as the second game of the upcoming season at Sarahsville on Sept. 4.
"That will be a challenge,'' said Shriver of facing the Zeps. "They are usually pretty good, and were in the Ohio playoffs a lot not too long ago (2001, 2002, 2003).''
Of course, Belpre had that playoff pedigree too once after making it in 1983, 1984, 1987 and 1988, but then not again until 2007, when it took it on the chin by one of the No. 1 regional seeds in Columbus Ready.
"And we were glad to get Trimble back on the schedule last year, after not having played them for quite a while,'' added Shriver.
Still though, this will be Belpre's final school year in the TVC Ohio Division, since it will be dropping down to the small-school Hocking Division for 2010-11.
Shriver said he himself "could have gone either way with it (the move).
"We'll hate to lose the rivalries with Nelsonville-York, Wellston, Vinton County and Meigs, but our numbers dictate that we need to do this.
"And we'll be facing some good teams too in the Hocking. Lately, it's been Federal Hocking, Trimble and Waterford in particular. But all the Hocking schools play good football too.''
Shriver knows "it will be a challenge to come back this year from 3-7, but I think we have the right mix - and a balanced one at that - between our experience and youth to make things happen this season. It's a nice balance between our experienced upperclassmen and some of our younger players with a lot of promise.''
That balance manifests itself, said Shriver, in "our offensive and defensive lines and linebackers - that's some good places to have a lot of experience coming back - and a lot of our younger group we have at running backs (Tyler Watkins, Erik Waderker, Rashawn Miller) and in some other areas.
''So I think this season will definitely be better than last.''
Also, Rodney Dearth and Brian Hutchinson will be back as assistant coaches this season. They will be joined by Larry and Keith McFee, Brian Sprague and former Golden Eagle gridder Zach Kress on Shriver's staff.
