By MIKE McLAIN

sports@vindy.com

NEWTON FALLS

With 22 lettermen and 17 starters returning, you might think the Newton Falls Tigers have a senior-stacked roster.

That’s far from the case, which indicates exactly how inexperienced the Tigers were in the 2-8 season of 2016. Twenty six of the 33 players on the roster this season are underclassmen, including 19 sophomores and freshmen.

While third-year coach Josh Franke is confident of improvement in the win total, he knows it’s still a work in progress for a program that didn’t win a game two years ago.

“There are phases of building a program,” Franke said. “When you first get here, the first phase is you’re going to lose games by a lot. The second phase is you lose games by a little bit. The third phase is you win games by a little bit. You find out how to get over the hump. The fourth phase is you’re winning by a lot. I think we’re on the cusp.”

OFFENSE

The offense will be led by senior running back Bill Wright, who rushed for 1,012 yards last season. Senior Braden Bungard, who passed for 683 yards and five touchdowns, is back at quarterback. Sophomore Mitchell Harley will lead blocking out of the backfield at fullback.

The line has senior leadership in center Adam Wilson (5-11, 192), left tackle Chris Rankin (6-4, 246) and left guard Jacob Whisonant (6-2, 263). Completing the line are junior right guard Kyle Wilcox (6-1, 256) and sophomore right tackle Zach Brewer (6-2, 257). Junior Austin Lattea (5-1, 221) will be in the mix

Senior tight end Colton Hunt, who led the offense in receptions last season, is back. The receivers will be senior Jeremiah Dickey, junior Preston Rapczack and sophomore Jacob Wright.

Freshman Cole Marquette will see time at tight end.

DEFENSE

This unit made strides last year after a difficult 2015 season in which the Tigers lost eight games by more than 20 points. Nine starters return, which is a source of optimism.

“Our defense dropped from giving up more than 50 points a game to giving up 21 points a game,” Franke said. “Three games were decided by seven or less. The record doesn’t indicate how big of an improvement there was.”

The cornerstone of the unit is Hunt, a 6-2, 235-pound inside linebacker. Hunt is on pace to finish as the school’s career-leading tackler.

Surrounding Hunt at linebacker in the 3-5-3 look are Harley, sophomore Brant Bungard, Rapczack and Wright. Brewer will line up at nose tackle. Wilcox and Rankin are the ends.

Wright, who had seven interceptions last year, and Dickey are the cornerbacks. Braden Bungard is the safety.

“It’s led by Colton Hunt,” Franke said. “As he goes, we go. We pride ourselves on being able to stop the run. Teams that had success on us last year were able to throw the ball on us.”

SPECIAL TEAMS

Rapczack will handle kicking and punting chores. As of early in camp Franke was still in search of return specialists.

OUTLOOK

Reaching the .500 mark would be a positive step. For Franke, it’s about building the entire program, starting at the junior high level.

“We’re putting our playbook in and installing our philosophies earlier in the year, so we don’t have to spend as much time on it with this being our third season,” Franke said. “We are far ahead of where we were last year.”