By ERIC FORTUNE

sports@vindy.com

LISBON

After seven straight losing seasons and a 6-34 record over the last four, Beaver Local coach Jeremy McElroy guided his team to its first winning season since 2006 a year ago.

Take into consideration that the Beavers lost two other matchups by a total of eight points to Crestview and Indian Creek and there is optimism.

“We got a great group of kids,” McElroy said. “The seniors have done a great job, really, all four years. They were a part of that process. They were here for that first 2-8 year. We’ve been trying to build here. Really, the first year getting the first win in the All-American Conference and beating Struthers for the first time was a big lift so to speak.

“Then this year getting over that hump of .500 was huge for our kids. We were fortunate to get that going. It was good for these kids. Really, the seniors though, they expect to win even when they were in seventh grade and we were in the All-American Conference. They went undefeated that year. They expected to win. It’s kind of the way they’ve always been.”

The Beavers will continue play in the Buckeye 8 Conference, which they rejoined in 2013 after spending six seasons in the All-American Conference.

In McElroy’s opinion, it helps that everyone in the league is similar in enrollment and the conference is a better fit for travel purposes.

“The All-American Conference is a great conference with great teams,” McElroy said. “I believe we were the smallest in the league, which is never the ideal place to be. Now, being in the Buckeye 8, everybody is our size and has the same demographics. It’s a good fit for us.”

Offense

Senior running back Robert Johnston returns after rushing for 1,524 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2014.

“Robbie is a kid that is explosive with his cuts,” McElroy said. “He’s good in space. We try to utilize him that way.”

Johnston will be joined in the backfield by junior quarterback Trevore McLaughlin.

“Trevore is in his third year,” McElroy said. “It’s good to have that experience. Him getting his feet wet the first two years — he throws a pretty ball and does a lot of good things for us. We are excited about having him back.”

The Beavers will be tested by the loss of linemen Jason Sims and Austin Lawrence, but they return four others (Terry Adkins, Justin McNicol, Tristan Clendenning, Tyler Kelly), which should help ease the loss of the two All-OVAC linemen.

“We are a multiple-formation team,” McElroy said. “We want to try and get our opponents aligned the way we want it. We want to be able to run certain things. We’re pretty simple in scheme.”

Defense

The Beavers were hit the hardest on the defensive side losing seven key contributors from a squad that gave up 22.3 points a game in 2014. McElroy feels there are some positives with Dustin Martsolf being a big contributor.

“Dustin playing running back and outside linebacker for us (last season),” McElroy said. “This year he’ll be more at strong safety. We’re excited about him.

“Our defense grew up. The year before we played a lot of sophomores that are now seniors. Last year they grew up a lot. They played really tough and at times we were a play away from being 8-2.”

Special Teams

The Beavers will employ the services of Drew Thesis in the kicking game.

“We’re breaking him in and seeing how well he does, but so far he has a really strong leg,” McElroy said.

Outlook

Beaver Local opens with Crestview at home and would like to avenge a game that they felt they could have won. McElroy feels that a win against a program that has consistently been good will set up his team for the 10-week haul.

“They are a great team and a great program for the last 10 to 15 years,” McElroy said. “They are somebody you model after. You want to see where you are at.

“I think for us last year, even though we are sitting there, ‘Would have, should have, could have,’ it was a measuring stick. We want to build off what we accomplished last year.”