HAMPDEN – As Harry McCluskey learns about his Hampden Academy football team and its opposition within the Pine Tree Conference Class B ranks, his priorities for the Broncos remain constant.

“My goal is that if these kids play hard, and we get better every week, and they don’t quit and give it everything they’ve got, that’s all I care about,” said the new Hampden coach.

“In fact, there are three things I want to try to do. One is we want to play smart, and not make stupid penalties and know what we’re supposed to do. Two, we want to play as hard as we can play for all four quarters every time we’re in a game, and the third thing is we want to be physical.”

McCluskey brings a wealth of experience to his new job, having coached high school football for 19 years in Colorado and 18 years in Texas, where he most recently coached at Channelview High from 1999 to 2001 before retiring. Hampden is a much smaller school than Channelview – which competed in Class 4A, for schools with up to 2,000 students – and that means McCluskey has had to take a more hands-on approach.

“The thing that’s been fun for me has been to do more actual coaching, because as a head coach where I came from you’re more a director and you have coordinators,” he said.

“I worked with the quarterbacks, but I didn’t get to work with the line or the DBs. This has been more time-consuming and harder, because I’ve had to go back and say, ‘OK this is the overall scheme, but what are the little coaching points of this?’ That’s been fun, because I’m a student of the game and always have been. Even when I retired I’d still go to clinics occasionally and talk to some of my former assistants to learn about the new trends.”

Now he’s trying to pass along his version of the game to a new group of players from a new part of the football world.

“The players have been real receptive and listened well, and retained a lot of what we’ve gone over with them,” McCluskey said. “Everything’s new, so it’s a tough task for them to pick it up real quick, but I’ve been real impressed with the way they’ve listened and tried to do what we’ve asked of them.”

The Broncos under McCluskey hope to feature a balanced offense led by senior Chris Morris, who ranked second among PTC B quarterbacks with 750 passing yards a year ago while completing 60 of 139 attempts. Morris also threw nine TD passes, with just six interceptions. John Lovell, a senior, figures to be Morris’ top receiving target.

“The one thing I’m not is one-dimensional,” McCluskey said, “so you won’t see us be a running team or a passing team. Hopefully we’ll be close to 50-50. It won’t be exactly 50-50, but I want to be as close as we can be. It just depends on throwing and catching.”

The Broncos will have good size along the line of scrimmage, a contingent led by two-way senior tackle Drew Chase. Classmate Som Ratsakonsy will be another defensive key at linebacker in addition to his duties as the starting fullback.

McCluskey won’t have a true sense of where the Broncos stand relative to their competition until they begin playing countable games. But he likes much what he has seen of his own troops throughout summer camp and preseason practices.

“Overall I’ve been impressed with the kids and their attitude and how hard they’re willing to work,” he said. “The senior class as a group has been very good. I wish I had another year with those guys. Another year with those guys would be great but I only have one, so we’ve got to try and make the best of it.”

HAMPDEN ACADEMY BRONCOS

2004 results: 3-6, seventh in Pine Tree Conference Class B

Head coach: Harry McCluskey, first year

Key players: Chris Morris, QB-DB, Sr.; Drew Chase, OT-DT, Sr.; Som Ratsakonsy, FB-LB, Sr.; John Lovell, WR-DE, Sr.

Outlook: McCluskey is focusing on the fundamentals as the season begins, particularly improving team strength and staying low to the ground. The Broncos will seek to put forth a balanced offensive attack and play aggressive defense. Chase is a leader along the line of scrimmage, while Morris is an experienced quarterback. Expect this team to improve as the season goes along and the players become more comfortable with the new system.