The Conneaut Spartans had never defeated the Grand Valley Mustangs in three meetings all-time on the gridiron and, given the prospects of the respective squads, it wasn’t like to happen last fall when they met in the season-opening clash at Grand Valley Stadium.

It didn’t — Grand Valley 46, Conneaut 0, and it wasn’t really that close as the Mustangs led, 43-0, at the intermission before their bench was emptied for the final two quarters.

When the Mustangs and Spartans square off at Conneaut Stadium on Friday night, though, much has changed.

Grand Valley has graduated perhaps the greatest class of football players in its history and has a new head coach in the form of longtime assistant John Glavickas, who has stepped into the role held for the past seven seasons by Tom Henson, who led GV to a 6-4 finish in his final season as coach.

Meanwhile, Rocco Dobran, who was coaching in his first game as a head coach in this matchup for the Spartans a year ago, is back for his second season at the helm.

Both coaches are anxious to see how things play out in this matchup.

“My gut is telling me that this is just the very first step in a long season,” Glavickas said. “Friday night, we will get a true look into what this senior class is going to bring to the table, but, again, it is just the first step in a long season.

“My gut is telling me that they are ready to show what they can accomplish.”

Dobran, whose Spartans notched their lone victory of the 2011 season in their finale at archrival Edgewood, 30-28, doesn’t want his players trying to do too much.

“We won’t get fancy. We’ll do what we do well and what we have practiced for weeks,” the former standout running back at Poland said. “We need to eliminate mistakes, and I have no doubt our kids will give everything they got for four quarters.”

The respective coaches have come away from the preseason impressed with their Week 1 opponent.

“Conneaut is a much-improved team from last year. I was impressed with many of the things they do,” Glavickas said. “They have definitely improved from last year. They are primarily a spread team on offense. They like to involve their tailback a lot.

“Defensively, Conneaut looks to run a 3-4. But, throughout their scrimmages, they will bring guys from everywhere. They sometimes have three, four, and as many as six guys on the line of scrimmage. They like to bring their backers up and get them involved in their defense.”

Glavickas didn’t stop there, though.

“When the only time you see a team is in scrimmages, it’s tough to tell a team’s true intentions,” he said. “Watching Conneaut on film, you notice the talent they have at the tailback and quarterback position.

“Defensively, you cannot help but notice how well they get to the ball as a team. Their defense seems to play with a lot of enthusiasm and there always seems to be six to seven guys making tackles.”

Dobran offered a similar analysis of what he has seen of the Mustangs.

“It’s really hard tell this early in the season with just a couple of scrimmages,” he said. “Sure, they lost some really good athletes from last year, but it looks as if they got some good athletes to replace them, they just don’t have the experience that last years seniors had.

“Up front, I think they look really good and they play fast, hard, and physical.”

Dobran said the GV offense looks familiar and since Glavickas was GV’s offensive coordinator through last season, that comes as no surprise.

“Coach Glavickas was their offensive coordinator last year, so they are running a lot of the same sets and plays — some midline veer, iso and toss. They also like the three-step passing game.

“On defense, they switched to a 4-3 cover 4 look this year. They’re front seven is very aggressive and run to the ball well.”

The Mustangs, who have Kyle Orgovan, who saw some time under center a year ago at quarterback, come into Game 1 relatively healthy, according to Glavickas.

“We are probably no different then anyone else who just went through a few weeks of two-a-days and two scrimmages,” he said. “We do have a couple players who we have to check day-to-day.”

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Spartans, who were devastated by injuries a year ago.

Going in with only 30 players on its roster, Conneaut has already suffered some attrition.

In fact, starting quarterback Sam Distelrath (knee) and his backup — not to mention, a starter on defense at safety — Nick Root (ankle) are both doubtful.

Backup guard and outside linebacker Aaron Eddy (shoulder) is also out.

With Distelrath and Root not available, sophomore Troy Colucci (5-foot-6, 170 pounds) and junior Tyler Cox (6-2, 172) have been getting reps at QB in practice this week.

Still, Dobran is staying the course.

“You always want more numbers, but now that the season has started, that is not a concern at all,” he said. “I have 30 guys who want to play football. Everyone gets reps, everyone is getting great conditioning and everyone has the same ultimate goal.

“We don’t have guys that are only half in, or cancers who pull teams apart.

“I am very proud and excited about the 30 we have.”