MILLINOCKET – While they’re playing in the shadow of Maine’s tallest mountain, the Stearns football team has a mountain to climb of its own.

The Minutemen are coming off an 0-9 2006 campaign, but with a solid junior class coming back for seventh-year head coach Chris Preble, the winless drought in the Magic City could be ending soon.

“I hope so,” the coach said. “The kids are working hard. We know there’s some games out there we can compete in and win.”

Stearns has some big shoes to fill in the backfield in replacing all-LTC back Gene Kim, but junior running back Charlie Osborne and junior fullback Cory Barnett have been strong candidates to take over.

“Cory’s a big, strong kid. He’s going to get his yards,” Preble said.

Since the Minutemen don’t have a lot of depth, they’ll be looking to mix up things on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball while taking what the opposition gives them.

That will include mixing some passes within the power running game, with senior quarterback Justin Pelkey, who was converted from tailback, calling the signals.

“He’s got a good arm, and he runs the ball pretty well,” Preble said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to run the option a little bit.”

Pelkey’s go-to guy will be junior split end Nate Cyr.

Preble says his team’s offensive strategy comes from keeping the defense back on its heels, and not trying to be too square-one on offense.

“We’ll try to mix things up a little bit, play within the strengths of the kids that we have,” he said.

That’s un-like a year ago, when opposing defenses geared up to stop Kim, who generally had more than 30 carries a game.

“We don’t want to be predictable,” Preble said.

Leading the way on the offensive line will be juniors Spencer Pelkey, Josh Stahl and Curt Hamilton.

With its lack of depth, it’s essential that Stearns stay healthy, limit mistakes and avoid getting behind the eight-ball on offense by committing penalties.

“We don’t have a lot of depth, so we’ll have to be careful with what we’re doing,” Preble said.

Preble has liked the work ethic his Minutemen have showcased thus far in training camp, citing that the effort and desire are both there.

“If you fly around on the football field, good things are going to happen,” said Preble.

On occasion, some bad things will happen too, but that’s all part of the game, the coach said.

“That’s what I told them. Physical mistakes are acceptable, but let’s not have letdowns mentally,” Preble said. “We want to go out and just be competitive. The scoreboard will take care of itself.”

STEARNS MINUTEMEN

2007 results: 0-9

Head Coach: Chris Preble, 7th season

Key Players: Cory Barnett, FB-LB, Jr.; Curt Hamilton, G-DT, Jr.; Charlie Osborne, RB-LB, Jr.; Spencer Pelkey, G-NG, Sr.; Nate Cyr, SE-DE, Jr.; Josh Stahl, OT-DT, Jr.

Outlook: After back-to-back winless seasons, the Minutemen will be looking to crack the win column this year. Stearns did let a couple of fourth-quarter leads slip away a year ago, and the Minutemen are hoping the lessons learned there translate into wins this fall. Look for the Minutemen to manage the game and try to eat up time on the clock on offense.