Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Leetonia’s Brayden Gainey lines up during a passing camp over the summer.

LEETONIA — Coaches often use the mantra of “one day at a time.” But for the Leetonia Bears and head coach Matt Altomare, it is exactly what they are doing.

Low numbers at both the high school and on the football team mean that the Bears will be one of the smallest teams in the area in terms of the number of participating players. Having only about 20 players coming out for the Bears this year, they are not going to waste any energy thinking about Week 8, 9 or 10. They will just focus on tomorrow.

“Lou Holtz’s mantra always was WIN,’ which stood for ‘What’s Important Now.’ I got to thinking about that, and that is really how we have to approach it this year,” Bears head coach Matt Altomare said. “We can’t focus on what’s going to happen in Week 10, Week 6 or Week 4. Heck, we can’t really focus on what’s going to happen on Aug. 22.

“Today is what’s important right now, and what we have to focus on. Tomorrow is another day, and that will be what’s important now. It’s really the only way that we can approach it because we don’t know what the future holds. We have to keep chugging along.”

On the other hand, being one of the smallest schools in the area, the Bears can approach the season with a bit of a chip on their shoulder, feeling that it’s them against the world. Outside the Bears’ locker room, not many people are going to give them much of a shot at being successful.

“We’re trying to play that up. The bottom line is, we have to take care of ourselves,” Altomare said. “We have to understand that this is a game, it’s a competition, and we don’t want anyone to feel sorry for us. We have to approach it that way.

“If we were in a tight game in the fourth quarter, no one is going to feel sorry for you because we are the smallest school. These are the rules of the game. We are trying to impress upon the kids that it doesn’t matter. This is our schedule, and this is our school. We need to build our program and build each other up because the bottom line is that the 10 other guys on the field with you are the only ones that matter.”

Altomare is counting on his six senior players to be leaders both on and off the field. They will not only be vital in their play on the field but also help build up the younger players who will be needed and tested on Friday nights.

“Now, with that said, only three have played football. We have a few kids who never played football before, and they bought into the team concept, and they want to come in and help each other out and play with their friends. That’s great, that’s what I like to see,” Altomare said.

“We have pieces, we just need to work on getting more. Football is a long season, and a rough season. We have those pieces, but we are going to need everyone that we can.”

But perhaps the biggest strength this team will have this season is the closeness and camaraderie that they are enjoying.

“I think our strength right now is our cohesiveness and our togetherness,” Altomare said. “We don’t have that many kids on the team, and it’s easy to say, but every kid I have knows that they are going to play. So, you don’t get any sour grapes about this kid is going to take my spot or whatever. They all like each other, they really do.”

OFFENSE

One of the benefits of having low numbers is that everyone had a chance to play last year, and the coaching staff was able to evaluate what each player could do. With that, senior Dylan Johns, who played numerous positions for the Bears last year (21 yards passing, 17 rushing, 684 receiving, five TDs), will take over the quarterback duties. Juniors Brayden Gainey at receiver (30 receptions, 515 yards) and Dylan Brown in the slot and senior running back Ethan Mathia (33 receptions, 361 yards) all provide experienced players who will be counted on heavily.

The Bears will have junior Dylan Bennett and senior captain Jaden Rivers return to anchor the offensive line. Senior Michael Mango will start at center.

DEFENSE

“We run a base 5-2, but we need to put 11 guys out there that can make a tackle because they might be playing three or four positions,” Altomare said. “We have a great coaching staff who does a lot of one-on-one and one-on-two coaching, which is great, but the downside is that in our first scrimmage, it will be the first time we will be able to go against somebody.”

Versatility will be the key for the Bears on defense as Altomare stressed that players like Bennett, Rivers and Mango will probably play defensive line, but they may also need to know the linebacker position, as well.

Johns, Gainey, Brown and Mathia (34 tackles, three sacks) all return to the Bears’ secondary, providing the strength for them on the defensive side of the ball. Junior Jason King and sophomore Cam Price look to step up at the linebacker spot, with Bennett most likely playing a lot of linebacker, too.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Johns was both the punter and kicker last year (9-of-14 PATs), and he will assume those same duties again this year. Mathias also punted for the Bears last year and will be a backup again.

However, Altomare revealed that they will do a lot of situational kicking, punting the ball out of bounds or squib kicks, to help prevent injury and keep his linemen as fresh as possible.

Johns, Gainey, and Mathia will most likely serve as return men for the Bears on punts and kickoffs.