HS football preview: Uniontown
Bukowski hopes his sophomores are sensational
The numbers are up, and new head coach Tim Bukowski has plenty of young talent, but Uniontown only has two seniors, as the team enters its fifth year competing as an independent.
Bukowski was hired May 5 to replace Keith Jeffries, who worked to bring in more players while breaking a long losing streak, but the former Southmoreland head coach is looking to turn around the fortunes of a program that has fallen on tough times the last 15 years. The Red Raiders defeated Belle Vernon, 21-20, in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs in 2009 under longtime head coach John Fortugna, but the team hasn鈥檛 been back to the postseason since.
Jeffries led Uniontown to a 5-5 record in 2022, but Bukowski not only wants his team to compete, but to get back in the WPIAL and show the rest of the district what they can do.
鈥淭he plan is to play this year as an independent, and go back to the WPIAL next year,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淲e hope that will excite the players and get more kids out. The previous staff did a good job of getting the numbers back up, but now, we want to get more competitive because, at the end of the day, you are judged by wins and losses.鈥�
The Red Raiders had 42 players to work with in preseason, and Bukowski looks for that number to grow, but he will have to do it with youth.
鈥淟ast year, they had 17 seniors,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淚n general, it is a very small senior class, as they only have a total of 59 boys. However, we are excited about our sophomore class. They are very talented, and even though we haven鈥檛 picked out our starters yet, I am going to say we will start a minimum of six sophomores on both sides of the ball. It is the biggest class we have.鈥�
Bukowski has been coaching for 35 years, which included stops at his alma mater, Monessen, and Clairton, programs known for their athletic ability, but he and his staff are giddy when it comes to the potential of sophomore Marcus Evans.
鈥淢arcus is a good-looking prospect as a defensive end and receiver,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淗e is 6-3 and extremely athletic. We have coached a lot of kids in the past few years that are similar to him, but we think he can be better. We are expecting huge things from him.鈥�
Other sophomores that will be in the mix are running backs Michael Thomas and Nathan Hice, who will also play linebacker on defense, and wide receiver Taylor Galloway, who will play in the secondary on defense.
Bukowski described Galloway as 鈥渁n electrifying receiver and defensive back.鈥�
David Settles will be in the rotation at running back and will start at cornerback. Bukowski and his staff have been impressed with Settles鈥� work in the offseason.
Aden Brame will start at center and play on the defensive line, as Uniontown蘑菇视频 plethora of 10th-grade talent isn鈥檛 limited to 鈥渟kill players.鈥�
Senior Connor Hebda will provide the offensive and defensive lines with leadership.
Fellow senior Nick Smith, a player who was recruited from the soccer team, will handle the kicking and punting duties.
Kyler Tibby played sparingly last season on the offensive and defensive lines, but Bukowski expects the 6-5, 260-pound junior to take on a starting role this season. The other two starters in the trenches have yet to be named.
Junior Cam Dugan, who played quarterback last season, will start at wide receiver and safety, but Bukowski said the objective is to get the ball into Dugan蘑菇视频 hands as much as possible.
鈥淐am is a good-looking athlete, and someone that we are definitely counting on,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淗e is a tough kid, and we will be using him as our 鈥榳ildcat.鈥�
Brayden Hinzy didn鈥檛 play football last year, but the junior has picked up the offense and studied the opposition immensely. Hinzy has been tabbed as the front-runner to start at quarterback.
Bukowski said that if, for any reason, Hinzy can鈥檛 go, Dugan would step in at quarterback.
One concern Bukowski saw from watching last year蘑菇视频 games was the team蘑菇视频 tackling, which is something they have been working to correct.
鈥淔rom watching the film, tackling was one of the things that they didn鈥檛 do well,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淭heir tackling left something to be desired, so we are preaching it all the time, and hopefully, they will get better at it. We have a long way to go.鈥�
Bukowski brought three of his assistant coaches at Southmoreland to Uniontown. He retained Joe Hazel, a former Red Raider who was the interim coach after Jeffries stepped down.
Dave Wojtanowski, Jordan Pawlikowsky, Tubby Hall and Dylan McRae round out Bukowski蘑菇视频 staff.
Bukowski has been welcomed at Uniontown with open arms, especially from the school蘑菇视频 athletic director, Harry Kaufman.
鈥淗arry (Kaufman) has been great, but everybody in the school has been great,鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淚t is a fantastic team to work for, and I am really impressed with the whole school district, to be honest with you. They want to win, are supportive and good people. They turned over the keys of the football program to us, and we are excited about it.鈥�
The Red Raiders have county rivals Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Connellsville and Laurel Highlands on schedule, in addition to schools from the City League and outside Pennsylvania, including a Saturday afternoon tilt on Oct. 4 with Ironton, Ohio, who is a two-time state champion.
Bukowski said the choice to play Ironton has been one of the most asked questions since the schedule was announced.
鈥淎 team dropped us off the schedule, so Harry went to work right away to see if there蘑菇视频 anybody available, and really, this is the only team that was available,鈥� said Bukowski in response to why the game with Ironton was scheduled. 鈥淚t was either sit out a week and only play nine games, or play a two-time state champ from Ohio. I would rather play than sit out a week. It蘑菇视频 going to be a challenge, for sure, but I think it will be good for the kids to play that kind of competition.鈥�
Despite the struggles in football, Uniontown蘑菇视频 boys basketball team is still succeeding as a regular playoff participant, and have made deep runs in the WPIAL and PIAA tournaments over the past fours seasons, but Bukowski is quick to remind his team they can be winners in both sports.
鈥淚 preach to them all the time, 鈥業t蘑菇视频 OK to be good in two sports,'鈥� Bukowski said. 鈥淲e know they are good in basketball, but they can also be good in football.鈥�