MARYVILLE - An up-and-down season in 2009 left the Maryville College football team in a fifth-place tie in the USA South Athletic Conference standings.
Eighth-year Scots coach Tony Ierulli doesn't want to be stuck in the middle again.
"Like every year, I'm very optimistic," Ierulli said. "The goal of our program is not to be a middle-of-the-pack type program. Every year we should be judged by our ability to win the conference championship. That's what we're looking for."
Maryville College, 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the USA South last season, is also looking for its first winning season since the 2007 team went 7-3 and finished tied for third in the league with a 4-3 record.
This season, the Scots will be counting heavily on the passing attack led by senior quarterback Tim Conner and junior wide receiver Wesley Idlette.
Conner, of Tavares, Fla., threw for 1,800 yards and 14 touchdowns with 13 interceptions in 2009 despite separating his shoulder in the sixth game against Averett (Va.) University and suffering two concussions during the year.
Idlette, who played for Chattanooga Baylor School, had 62 catches for 997 yards and seven touchdowns last season and led USA South in receiving yards per game (99.4).
The Scots must try to replace all-time leading rusher Rommel Hightower and Division III All-American linebacker Kyle Chewning.
Former Alcoa High School standout Darrell Tate looks to be the top running back after waiting his turn the previous three seasons. Tate, 5-foot-9 and 201 pounds, was the team's second-leading rusher last season with 340 yards, a 4.5-yard average per carry, and two touchdowns.
Special teams will be led by All-USA South place-kicker Andrew Noboa.
"I feel really confident with the team we have coming back," Conner said. "We lost a lot of seniors (19) but we had some guys that are going to step up, guys like Darrell Tate, he's really going to take the rushing load. We've got some offensive linemen that have been waiting their turn, too."
The Scots' season opener is Sept. 4 at 1 p.m. at Huntingdon (Ala.).
Ierulli said one of his biggest tasks is getting his players ready for the heat and humidity in Montgomery, Ala., for the opener.
"However hot it is here in Maryville, I tell the guys it's going to be 10 degrees hotter down there," Ierulli said.
