Montrose enters its second football season under Russell Canevari looking for its first win in three seasons.

“We can only look forward,” Canevari said. “We can’t change the past.”

Canevari acknowledged, however, that the 28-game losing streak does create some extra challenges.

“It’s an obstacle in a sense that kids don’t want to come out for a team that hasn’t won in a while, but our kids have been very resilient,” he said. “Right now, we have 36 kids on the roster, which is the most we’ve had in four or five years, if not longer.

“People see the hard work that we’re doing and eventually it’s going to pay off. We see positives each day and try to correct the negatives.”

Montrose sought a solution by adding Elk Lake students in a cooperative sponsorship of the sport, similar to what Susquehanna did with Blue Ridge to help revive its then-struggling program.

The cooperation will not have an immediate impact.

“Unfortunately, we only have two kids from Elk Lake on the senior high roster,” Canevari said during the first week of practice. “We did get eight or nine on our junior high so that will help our junior high roster.”

The Meteors return two-way starters Brenton Warner and Will Ely and get back 230-pound fullback/linebacker John Lawson.

“Lawson was injured and missed nine games,” Canevari said. “We’re looking forward to having the most integral part of our offense back.

“It’s almost like having a new player come in.”

Dylan Heeman is back at quarterback.

Senior Evan Castrogiavanni, junior Trevor Tompkins and sophomore Billy Hewes are in competition for the tailback spot.

Warner is back at tight end.

Ely, the top returning receiver, is back at one wide receiver spot and newcomer Jake Blom is at the other.

“Jake’s a nice addition from the track team,” Canevari said. “He’s a real speedy kid.”

Blom was sixth in the District 2 Class AA Track and Field Championships in the long jump as a sophomore.

The offensive line is being decided during preseason.

“The line is all up in the air right now,” Canevari said. “We are having some great competition there.”

Canevari said Steve Shelp and Matt Legg were working at right tackle, Nick Moore and David Maxey at right guard, Kevin Bruno and Bryce Fair at center, Bryce Warner and Josh Giles at left guard and Chad Swift and Eric Donavan at left tackle.

Returning starters Warner and Castrogiavanni join Lawson to give Montrose experienced players at three of four linebacker positions in the 4-4 defense.

Hewes, Tompkins, Dan Zapolski and Bryce Warner are working at the other spot.

There is competition in the line defensively as well.

Canevari said he may use a rotation from among defensive tackle candidates Shelp, Moore, Bruno, Lake, Donavan and Bryce Warner.

Jack Fruehan could be at defensive end along with one of the players who is trying to land the open linebacker spot.

Ely and Dale Harder give the Meteors experience at cornerback.

Austin Cook, Heeman and Mike Vaness are working at free safety.

WEEK IN REVIEW

MOUNT COBB – Forest City’s Dylan O’Dell received honors for the second lowest freshman score Friday when the high school sports season got underway with the Jackman Memorial Tournament at Scranton Muni.

O'Dell shot 84.

Montrose’s Codi Bennedict had the best score by a Susquehanna County player, posting a 78 to tie for 16th in a field that featured more than 100 players from 20 schools.

Bennedict led Montrose to a 338 team score and a ninth-place finish.

Scranton Prep shot 292 to win the tournament with the help of a 2-under-par 70 by David Pompey, who took advantage of a hole-in-one while winning the individual title.

Lance Healey and sophomore Corey Morrison shot 85s for Montrose while freshman Austin Smith had a 90.

Forest City was 13th with a team score of 366.

Chad Wescott shot 83 and Tyler Salak 85 to lead Mountain View, which finished 15th with 379.

In professional golf, Willie Wood defeated Michael Allen on the first playoff hole Sunday at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott, N.Y. to win the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open and his first Champions Tour title.

Wood needed a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force the playoff with Allen, who also shot 13-under-par, 203.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Montrose is home against Mountain View Wednesday when the Lackawanna League golf season opens.

The league has switched from a North-South breakdown to Big School and Small School divisions.

Montrose, last season’s Northern Division favorite, appears to be a contender in the Small School Division. Dunmore, Holy Cross and Lakeland were the small school teams that finished ahead of the Meteors at the Jackman Tournament.

The rest of Wednesday’s openers are Blue Ridge at Riverside, Elk Lake at Old Forge and Forest City at Lackawanna Trail.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.

“BIF” WINS AT MICHIGAN

BROOKLYN, Mich.- Greg Biffle took the lead from an off-the-pace Jimmie Johnson with only six laps remaining in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race and held on through the final restart to earn Roush Fenway’s record 12th Cup victory at Jack Roush’s home track of Michigan International Speedway.

“We are going to make a run at the title,” said Biffle. “I know they don’t talk about us a lot, but they will when we get to Vegas.”

Biffle gained the lead after the engine let go in Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48. The win marked Biffle’s second of the season.

Brad Keselowski tried to catch Biffle during a two-lap run to the finish but fell .416 seconds short, taking second in a photo finish over fast-closing Kasey Kahne. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home fourth, followed by Marcos Ambrose.

“Greg had a fast car,” said Keselowski. “I just couldn’t keep up with him. We needed a little more horsepower.”

Greg Biffle celebrates his Sunday Cup win. (Furnished by NASCAR)

Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, and Martin Truex rounded out the top-10.

A bizarre accident involving polesitter, Mark Martin occurred on lap 65. Bobby Labonte was tapped from behind by Juan Montoya as the cars exited turn-4. Martin, who was running behind the pair lost control and spun down into the pit area. His car hit the concrete retaining wall that protects the crews, and caught on fire. Martin was not injured but finished 35th.

If it weren’t for bad luck Jeff Gordon wouldn’t be having any luck at all. A valve spring broke in the engine of his No. 24, and he finished 28th

“We’ve had a rough weekend,” said Gordon. “We weren’t handling all that well and never had good track position. Dale (Dale Earnhardt, his teammate) came up on me and I had to check up, but I know he didn’t mean to do it.”

Tony Stewart had a broken valve spring within the engine of his No. 14 Chevrolet, which relegated him to a 32nd-place finish.

Top-15 Chase leaders after 23 of 36: 1. Biffle-823, 2. Kenseth-803, 3. Earnhardt-801, 4. Johnson-795, 5. Keselowski-776, 6. Truex-763, 7. Bowyer-757, 8. Harvick-738, 9. Stewart-728, 10. Hamlin-727, 11. Kahne-694, 12. Edwards-689, 13. Newman-680, 14. Kyle Busch-669, 15. Menard-665. Note: Only the top-12 drivers will be eligible for the Chase which begins after race 26.

ALLGAIER GETS SURPRISE MONTREAL WIN

Justin Allgaier captured his first Nationwide win of the season in Montreal, Canada after emerging in front after a frenzied overtime finish.

“Today was just an awesome day,” said Allgaier. “Winning in Montreal means so much because all the people in the series enjoy coming here. The atmosphere is great, the fans never disappoint here but the race played out perfectly for us.”

Allgaier was running third at the second attempt for a green-white-checkered finish when a last-lap bump put him in front of Penske Racing teammates Sam Hornish Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve, who ended up second and third.

Elliott Sadler finished fourth, one position in front of 2008 Montreal winner Ron Fellows. Michael McDowell, Mike Wallace, Billy Johnson, Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch completed the top-10.

Top-10 leaders after 22 of 33: 1. Sadler-824, 2. Stenhouse-802, 3. Hornish-802, 4. A. Dillon-789, 5. Allgaier-756, 6. Annett-690, 7. Whitt-633, 8. Bliss-609, 9. Scott-540, 10. Nemechek-506.

PE-KAY RALLIES FOR TRUCK WIN

Nelson Piquet Jr. (pronounced Pe-Kay) rebounded from a spin on lap 56, to win the VFW 200 Camping World truck race at Michigan International Speedway.

Piquet and crew chief Chris Carrier employed a brilliant -- and race-winning -- strategy to capture the Brazilian's first victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The duo chose to stay out on the race track while the front-runners pitted under green, and managed a huge lead that ballooned to over 15 seconds with seven laps remaining.

“Me and Chris have been fighting for this win since the beginning of last year and we finally made it,” Piquet said. “It came in a dramatic way, but it came. It doesn't matter how, but we did it and I'm really happy that the whole team stayed behind me this whole time. It is a little weight off my back and for the whole family. I am just living to do what our family always did, win races and win championships.”

Piquet, whose father Nelson is a three-time Formula One champion, led the first 13 laps, and is only the second driver born outside the United States to win a truck race. Canadian Ron Fellows is the other. Piquet joined the series in 2010 after a two-year stint in F1. This 2012 season has been by far his most successful, with victories coming in the K&N Pro Series East, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and, now, the trucks.

Jason White, Dakoda Armstrong, Parker Kligerman, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Joey Coulter, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, and Miguel Paludo were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Top-10 leaders after 12 of 22: 1. Peters-449, 2. T. Dillon-449, 3. Buescher-443, 4. Lofton-432, 5. Kligerman-424, 6. Crafton-413, 7. Coulter-406, 8. Piquet-392, 9. Hornaday-386, 10. White-371.

MORE CANADIAN RACES FOR NASCAR

This weekend's Nationwide race in Montreal, Canada might be just a taste of what's to come north of the border for NASCAR. Since 2007, the Nationwide Series has visited the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road circuit. Every year, rain or shine the event draws one of the largest and most enthusiastic crowds of the entire season.

The success of the race has sparked speculation more of NASCAR's top divisions may compete in Canada in the not too distant future including the Sprint Cup Series.

Ron Fellows is now co-owner of what was once known as Mosport International Raceway, a storied motorsports facility in Ontario that includes a 2.5-mile road circuit as well as a one mile oval track. Fellows has made it clear he would like nothing more than to bring a Nationwide and/or Camping World Truck Series race to what's now known as Canadian Tire Motorsports Park sooner rather than later.

“We've talked to NASCAR and while we weren't able to put it together for 2012, we're pursuing something for our 2013 schedule,” said Fellows.

NASCAR CEO Brian France was in Montreal in recent months to meet with Circuit Gilles Villeneuve officials and speculation is the sanctioning body would consider adding a third road course to the Cup schedule and take the series international.

But the question is where would the date come from? NASCAR will not add another weekend to the racing schedule. In order for Montreal to host a Sprint Cup event, another track will have to lose one. Therein lies the roadblock for NASCAR to bring its premier circuit to Canada.

Weekend Racing: It’s on to the .533-mile Bristol bullring for three night races this week.

Wed., Aug. 22, Camping World Trucks Volunteer 200, race 13 of 22; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: SPEED.

Fri., Aug. 24, Nationwide Food City 250, race 23 of 33; Starting time: 7 pm ET; TV: ESPN.

Sat., Aug. 25, Sprint Cup Irwin Tools, race 24 of 36; Starting time: 7:30 pm ET; TV: ABC.

Racing Trivia Question: Which team will Cup driver Jamie McMurray drive for next season?

Last Week's Question: What year did Jimmie Johnson win his first Cup title? Answer. His first title came in 2006.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.