Under a broiling summer sun, the first bricks are being laid for the foundation to a Marietta High football program which appears to be on the right track to.return to seasons of carving out more wins than losses.

The consistently winning touch will unquestionably take a lot of time. Multiple years more than likely. But new head coach Craig Farnsworth and his staff, all new, too, have established a blueprint for success. They realize the tremendous challenge but their enthusiasm, work ethic, and football expertise have been impressive.

Seven straight losing seasons, most in school history, is a monster task to overcome. The worst came last season, 1-9 by a team that was decimated by injuries and defensively was buried, particularly by running attacks.

"We're laying a foundation," Farnsworth said. "We're realistic as a coaching staff. I don't know how many games we're going to win this year, or next year, or the year after. You never know. But we're telling these kids we're going to do things better. We're going to do it the right way.

"We tell them there's going to be a tough workout program. We're going to get you stronger. We're going to get you faster. We're going to give you more flexibility. We're going to make you better athletes. We want to reduce the injuries you've had in the past."

Farnsworth probably won't know the exact numbers on the Tiger roster until the major preseason practice begins in August. But numbers are vital in football and Farnsworth emphasized he'd like to see much bigger numbers. Some players are tied up with summertime work. Others haven't decided if they want to play this season.

"And we've got athletes here who're not playing but should be," Farnsworth said. "We've got to get these kids out for football."

The Tiger juniors and seniors don't appear to have any mental hangover from a tough 2009 season. There's no negativity. There's plenty of positive and enthusiasm.

"This year is really intense, we're learning a lot, and we've got good team effort and helping each other out," said junior Matt McKitrick who was the ace quarterback last year and is among the prime running backs this year.

Marietta's basic offensive formation will be the Wing-T and don't expect a lot of passing. The emphasis will be on the run.

"What we do out of it will depend on what the kids can do," Farnsworth said. "We'll throw the ball a lot," he said. "sideways and backwards. In high school, you've got to run the ball."

The Tigers have a lack of size up-front and won't be able to overpower people. Big senior Conner Hess, a running back on offense last year, is ticketed for offensive tackle duty.

"We're not going to be able to run right at people, impose our will on them," Farnsworth said. "We're going to have to do things where we don't have to block as many people. We'll run misdirection We've got to execute what we do extremely well."

"We want to control the ball and control field position," Farnsworth said. "My philosophy is you win games with defense and control it with offense. You lose games on special teams and we don't want them (returners) to catch it."

Marietta has a number of running backs and several quarterback candidates. They love the Wing-T.

"I love it," said junior running back Mitch Gearhart who saw some quarterback duty last season.

"We'll definiely be able to run some good plays out of it," Gearhart said. "We've got a lot of good athletes and a lot of good running backs. We're going to be better. Everybody's working hard. Everybody's getting stronger, faster, and bigger."

Sophomore Eli Parmiter, a candidate for quarterback, wide receiver, and running back, says conditioning has been intense.

"We're doing a lot of running, exercising, and lifting," Parmiter said. "We need numbers. We're going to try to get more guys out."

Defensively, Marietta will operate in a 4-3," said defensive coordinator Rick Phillips, an All-American tackle at West Virginia and the state's No. 1 lineman at Parkersburg High.

"We want to stop the run," Phillips said. "We don't want long runs. We don't want to get beat deep.

"We'll have a two-whistle system on defense during practice. The first whistle will be when the running back will have been hit and stopped and the second whistle the other 10 guys will be there. When it comes to game time we'll expect them to be at the ball."

Marietta faces tough preseason scrimmages. The Tigers will take on perennial Division III power Sheridan, West Virginia Class AAA Brooke, and Washington Court House.

The regular schedule is even tougher.

"I don't worry about the schedule as much as I worry about us," Farnsworth said.

"I've been very pleased with the kids," he said. "They're improving and have made the commitment to make the program better.

"I've told the players that there are only two types of people in Marietta, - people that are part of the problem and people that are part of the solution. That goes for players, students, parents, residents, business owners, coaches, and so on. If this town wants a winning program everyone must make the commitment to be positive, supportive, and adapt to what we as coaches are asking the of the players.

"The sooner this happens, the sooner the students of Marietta will see that the football program is moving in the right direction. This will lead to an increase in participation and that will snowball into better athletes on the field, resulting in better teams."

Bill Robinson is a former Marietta Times sports editor.

Originally Published in the Marietta Times on July 10, 2010