Longtime Western New York high school football coach Mark Benton will take over at Springville-Griffith Institute this fall.

Benton had been the head football coach at Cattaraugus-Little Valley for the past two years. The Timberwolves broke three, separate long losing streaks, won three Sportsmanship Awards and moved up 173 spots in the New York State rankings, according to MaxPreps.

The Timberwolves also produced a running back that just missed eclipsing 1,000 yards rushing last season and a defensive end that made the Big 30 All-Star team.

“I enjoyed Cattaraugus-Little Valley, but could not pass up the opportunity to coach at Springville with their storied tradition,” Benton said.

Springville, however, has only produced one winning season in the past 10 years so this will be another challenge for Benton and his staff.

Besides Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Benton held previous head coaching positions at Gowanda, Dunkirk (two stints) and JFK.

“It is quite a challenge to repeatedly take over a downtrodden program and get players to believe they can win,” Benton said. “Springville, however, has a great tradition and several good athletes that should make the program competitive again.”