With his first season under his belt, Mike McClarin realizes there is still plenty of football education ahead in all phases.

“We are still learning as players and as coaches,” said McClarin. “We are learning how to play better and how to coach better. It is really a process.

“We all became better as the season went on. We all made sacrifices and it will help us in the end.”

The Roughies ended their season with a 49-14 loss to Northampton on Alumni Field Thanksgiving morning that left them with an overall 1-10 record.

Their lone win this season was a 37-34 overtime win over Wilson during the fifth week of the season Sept. 21. Over the final six games, the Roughies scored a combined 69 points.

Overall, Catty averaged 13.4 points per game and allowed an average of 47.5 per contest.

Still, McClarin will put the stats behind him and look at the bigger picture for his team.

“It was a long season, and the kids worked hard without a doubt,” added McClarin. “On Turkey Day, we were able to move the ball against Northampton, which has a pretty good defense. We did the same thing against Northwestern, which also has a good defense.”

McClarin also was pleased with his team’s demeanor throughout the season.

“Our kids behaved well all season,” he said. “They didn’t look to get into scuffles after the whistle like last year. The kids did the right things. We wanted to show that to the community.”

Offensively, the Roughies ran a triple-option, which can be a difficult scheme to adjust to in one season.

McClarin likes what he saw and plans to move forward with it.

“I think it gives us the best chance to succeed,” he said. “We’ll always be a small school, but we saw plenty of good signs this year that we can move forward with it. We will lose a number of skill people, but we basically have our line back.”

Doug Scott and Bailey Witt will return after both having strong campaigns up front as well as Mason Hess, Chace Miller, Tyler Monahan and Zach Scheier, all of whom could be part of a seven-to-eight man rotation.

The Roughies will lose quarterback Andrew Martinez as well as running back Wilquon Clemons, who provided the bulk of their offense. The duo also made an impact on defense throughout the year.

“Wilquon Clemons played a great game against us,” said Northampton head coach Kyle Haas. “He seemingly was all over the field. He is a solid player.”

“Andrew Martinez has a superb season,” added McClarin. “He got better as the year went on and you saw it at the end of the season. He definitely will be difficult to replace.”

Austin Brett, who saw action at running back and quarterback, looms as a potential replacement for Martinez.

McClarin is very enthusiastic about Adam Reinhart, who blossomed during the season, and McClarin referred to him as “possibly being one of the better receivers in the league next season.”

McClarin will begin offseason workouts soon, but he is aware that a good number of his players will be involved with winter and spring sports. He plans to have weight training sessions after basketball and wrestling practices.

“I encourage these kids to play other sports,” he said. “We want every program to succeed. It may not look it, but we accomplished a lot this season and we’ll keep moving ahead.”