OLD TOWN – It’s going to take something special to bring Old Town out of its recent rut.

And new head coach Josh Curtis thinks he knows what it is.

Heart.

“Our strength is heart,” said Curtis. “They want it. They want it real bad.”

Curtis replaces former coach George McKay, who resigned after last season.

Curtis has a challenging road ahead of him. Last year, Old Town finished last among 12 teams in the Class B Pine Tree Conference. The Coyotes were winless and averaged just nine points per game.

“There were things that didn’t work [last year] and hopefully we’ll fix them,” Curtis said.

One difference is that Old Town has opted to compete in Class C for at least the next three years, and while the Coyotes won’t be eligible for postseason play, they hope the move will help in the program’s rebuilding process.

Football fundamentals will be pivotal to that effort.

“My expectations are really to just build the fundamentals,” continued Curtis. “Things will get better and we’ll see improvements every single game. When you start with the real basics with people who haven’t played before, you’ll see vast improvements.”

Curtis is dealing with a lot of youth as he only has seven seniors on his team.

“The majority of our team is sophomores,” said Curtis. “They’ll see a lot of playing time. We’re a very young team.”

With young players come mistakes.

“We’ll make a lot of penalties in our first game,” Curtis said with a laugh.

The Coyotes’ captains will have to show the younger players how to play together through their example.

“We need leadership from the few upperclassmen that we have,” said junior quarterback Josh Boucher. “Hopefully the sophomores can play as good as they have in practice.”

Curtis echoed his quarterback captain.

“All the upperclassmen have impressed me,” Curtis said. “They’ve stepped up to be leaders.”

Many challenges arise from having so much youth on the team and only so much can sink in before the season gets under way.

“We need to work on timing,” said Curtis. “It’s just getting the quarterback, running back and the receivers all together without thinking.”

Boucher added, “We’ve worked on our timing and getting to know where we’re going to be on the field.”

Though not one of the younger players, senior Thomas Gogan and his younger brother Mario recently came to Old Town from Germany and are expected to be key contributors to the team.

The elder Gogan was named one of the four captains along with Boucher and seniors Nate Edwards and Ryan Overlock.

Even though Gogan wasn’t on the team last year, he can see that this team shouldn’t be taken lightly.

“Everyone’s sacrificing, and everyone’s doing their part,” said Gogan. “Everybody’s got heart, and everybody’s got talent.”

Having young players eager to play and veterans looking to steer them, Curtis hopes this team will surprise some people.

“It’s been a long time since they’ve had a lot of victories,” said Curtis. “They’re really hungry for it, and they’re ready to work for it.”

OLD TOWN COYOTES

2007 results: 0-8, 12th in PTC B

Head coach: Josh Curtis, 1st year

Key players: Josh Boucher, QB-FS-CB, Jr.; Nate Edwards, NT-OT, Sr.; Thomas Gogan, FB-OT, Sr.; Ryan Overlock, OG-DE, Sr.; Tyler Hamm, TE-SS, Sr.; Mario Gogan, TB-SS, Jr.; Kyle Abbott, WR, So.; Ryan Boynton, FB-WB-SS, So.

Outlook: The Coyotes have moved to the LTC Class C ranks in an effort to rebuild the program, and with a group of young players willing to learn and a coach who can keep his players focused, Old Town could be a team to contend with in a couple of years.