As the defense goes, so will the Oilers go this season. "That's our No. 1 concern," says second-year coach Bill Heber whose team  began drills Monday, Aug. 11. "We lost seven guys on defense. We need some people to step up. Our season is going to be decided on how well we play defense." Graduation took first team all-conference safety Kris Tawney, the team's leading tackler with 125; second team All-NWC linebackers Nick Woods (62 tackles, eight sacks) and Eric Sabin (67 tackles); and honorable mention defensive backs Joe Sundo and Mike Karnish (nine career interceptions) along with stellar linebacker Jack Watson (52 tackles) among others. The lone returning starters are junior end Mason Marsh, who was second team all-conference last year after receiving an honorable mention as a freshman; outside linebacker Corey Schwab; inside linebacker Jamail Jackson and tackle Nate Vogan (pictured). Schwab was third in tackles with 62, and had 10 tackles for losses and four sacks and caused four fumbles. Marsh was No. 5 in tackles with 58 and tied Schwab for the team lead with 10 TFL. The outlook on offense is brighter, despite the loss of second-team all-conference tackle Steve Drozdo, Sabin at fullback and Karnish and Sundo at wide receiver. "We have a lot of depth in the backfield and we have a lot of experience in the offensive line -- at least for most of the positions, especially the interior part,'' Heber says. " Schwab (at running back)  is a three-year starter, Jamail Jackson (at z-back) came into his own;  the whole backfield, except the fullback, is back." Heber, however, predicts the fullback battle between senior Ryan Stack and junior Josh Cherish to be one of the best in camp. The Oilers have what they call a Top 20 board that measures strength, speed and agility. Jackson is No. 1 on the list, but Stack is right behind and Cherish is No. 6. "So it's going to be a good battle at fullback," Heber says. The Oilers rushed for 1,962 yards last season as they posted a 7-2 record, losing only to Titusville and Warren. Schwab led with 797 yards  and scored eight TDs. He's rushed for 1,182 yards on 220 carries  and scored nine touchdowns and 64 points in his career. He also caught six passes for 88 yards last season. Jackson, who transferred in from New York last year after attending Oil City in junior high, added 604 yards on 75 carries and scored 10 TDs and 62 points. He rushed for 201 yards against Franklin, scoring on a 91-yard run, which is the third-longest in Oiler history. Jackson also is tied with Eric McDay for fourth-longest TD run from scrimmage -- 90 yards against Erie East in his first varsity carry. Senior Cody O'Brien returns at quarterback after throwing for 455 yards last year, and he'll work behind three senior all-conference linemen -- guards Chris Szabat and Corey Tarr and Vogan at center. Szabat was second-team All-NWC last season, and Tarr and Vogan were honorable mentions. The offense also returns two other starters, tackle Matt Dempsey (pictured) and tight end Nate Sickler. Seventy-one have signed up to play this year, and Heber says everyone must earn their starting job back.  As far as size and speed go, Heber says, "We're bigger than most in the backfield, but we're pretty averaged-size up front. We have no real burners, but overall our team speed is good." He figures the Oilers will challenge for the Northwest Conference title along with defending champion Titusville, Franklin and Strong Vincent. "Those are the four teams that are going to be toward the top," he says. The Oilers will host St. Marys at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, in their first scrimmage. Their second scrimmage will be at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, at Kittanning -- which has been mentioned as a darkhorse in the WPIAL this season after taking eventual state champion Hopewell into overtime in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs last year. The Oilers will open the regular season at home with Erie East on Friday, Aug. 29, in a Northwest Conference game. "We have a nice schedule -- three home games right off the bat, four of the first five at home and five of the first seven at home. That's big," Heber says. Here's how the pre-season battles shape up for the Oilers: Offense Fullback -- Stack and Cherish Split end --Ian Bialo, Andy Schwabenbauer, Steve McFarland, Nate Carll and Brian Hahn. "We've got five pretty good quality kids there," Heber says. Mike Strus is also in the picture, but Heber believes he'll probably help more on defense. Tackle -- Dempsey, Andrew Kumer, Kyle Say, Mike Lardin (pictured) , Andy King and "probably" sophomore David Grams. Tight end -- Sickler; Marsh; Josh Lutz, Jason Redfield and Matt Kulinski, who is moving from quarterback. Guard -- Andrew McElroy Backfield -- Ryan Murray and halfback and Jason McClintock at z-back will be pushing for time along with Matt Wilson. Defense End and tackle -- Marsh, Szabat, Vogan, Cherish, Wes Paxton (pictured left), Jordan Spuck, Grams, Kumer (pictured right) , Sickler and Lutz. "The guys pretty much rotate (at end and tackle)," Heber says. Paxton was second on the team with five sacks last season, and Szabat, although not listed as a returning starter, did receive an honorable mention on the all-conference team. Inside linebacker -- Heber predicts a "heckuva dog fight" among Jackson, Stack, Dempsey, Tarr, Lardin and Redfield. Outside linebacker -- Schwab, Murray, Kulinski, McClintock and Justin Wilson. Secondary -- Schwabenbauer, Strus and Bialo will be challenged by Carll (pictured left), Hahn and McFarland at cornerback. O'Brien, Matt Craig and possibly Nick Stallone will challenge Strus at safety. Kicking game McElroy has a "good leg" and will handle kickoffs, but if the Oilers were to start the season today, Heber says, Vogan -- the center -- "probably would be my punter."  Sabin handled the punting last season, and was second team all-conference. McClintock, McElroy and Kulinski are candidates to handle the placekicking. Coaching staff The staff has two new faces in Mike Willyoung, a standout guard on the Oilers' 1998 District 10 championship team, and Richard Smith, father of line coach Ritt Smith. The elder Smith, a volunteer,  was head coach at Kane for years.