By DAN HINER

sports@vindy.com

WELLSVILLE

Wellsville is trying to bounce back after a rebuilding season in which the Tigers finished 5-5 under first-year head coach Derrick Spann. They’re looking to building on that experience.

Spann said the 2015 team was young and those inexperienced players have shown improvement during two-a-days.

“They know what the conference is about now. They shouldn’t walk into the season with their eyes wide,” Spann said. “They know what’s going to happen. They know what the competition is like now. The experience that a lot of them got is definitely going to make a difference.”

Offense

Unlike last season, the Tigers know who will be taking snaps at quarterback. Some position changes forced Branzen Grodhaus and Justin Miller to move under center in 2015. Spann said both will remain at quarterback this season.

“Of course Branzen Grodhaus is back, Michael Shope is another all-around athlete, Andre Sloan is coming into his own—this is his third year starting and he’s only a junior,” Spann said. “We got a couple quarterbacks in Miller and Grodhaus. Our tight end is Hayden Dalrymple and he has great hands. Bradly Cline at running back is pretty nice. We got our skill set — it’s a very nice skill set.”

Spann expects a better offensive line. A number of young players had to step up after injuries early last season.

“We got some experience. Our line was very young last year — they got some experience, put on some weight, got a little stronger,” Spann said.

Defense

Many of Wellsville top players will go both ways. Spann said he expects the defense to be “really fast” in 2016. The Tigers lost two starters on defense but the staff still has high expectations.

Dalrymple will return to his spot at defensive end for a third season. Spann said he expects Dalrymple to make an impact due to his “great pass rush moves and he’s a good run defender.”

Cline returns at linebacker and Spann believes he can increase his production.

Grodhaus, Sloan and Shope will both start in the secondary again, but there will be a couple position changes. Sloan will move from safety to corner and Shope will move from corner to safety. Spann said the positions were switched to allow Shope to make more plays.

“You can’t throw away from him. We had him [Shope] at corner last year and he still had six picks. We got him at safety now. He’s got very good football skills,” Spann said.

Special Teams

Wellsville will have to replace punter and kicker Kurt Rosenbaum. Senior Austin Carter will probably pick up the kicking duties, but Wellsville is still looking for a punter.

Shope, Grodhaus and Sloan are return men. Grodhaus had 500 punt-return yards last season.

Outlook

Spann said he’s been trying to change the culture at Wellsville. He’s trying to build a family atmosphere and increase the team’s confidence.

“I’ve been trying to instill in them that they can compete with anybody,” Spann said. “We’re not asking them to play any college team or any pro team — they are all high school kids. We feel like we could compete with anybody. We got great athletes and I’m preaching family. We’re trying to think as one—nobody here is better than anybody else. The main thing is trying to think as a family and get them to think as a team.”