Eagles tabbed 2nd in return to 11-man

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

PITTSBURG -- Uniontown can't defend the Three Rivers League football championship it won last season. But that probably won't bother any of the Eagles.

Uniontown won the eight-man championship last season going 6-0 in the league and 9-1 overall. But the program has made the jump back up to 11-man and will be competing against Jayhawk-Linn, Oswego, Northeast and TRL newcomer Yates Center, which moves back to the league after 20 years in the Tri-Valley League.

The Eagles were picked to finish second in the 11-man division behind defending champion Jayhawk-Linn in a pre-season coaches poll released here Tuesday. A different team has won the title four of the last five seasons with only Oswego repeating in 2012-13.

St. Paul, runner up in the eight-man division, was picked to win it this season.

Chad Hays, a former Eagle quarterback and a 2007 UHS graduate, also makes a move. He is now the head coach after spending last season as Uniontown's defensive coordinator and the junior high's head coach. He takes over for Chad Stroud.

The theme of transition continues as Uniontown will have to replace 10 players who graduated. Only Cale Coyan returns on offense and he and Gavin Fry are the only ones back on defense.

"Lots of new faces are going to see action for Uniontown on Friday nights," Hays told the media. "We're going to have to get those boys out there and get them some experience."

Numbers are not what Hays was hoping for, especially for an 11-man program. He said that there are just 18 boys who plan to come out for the team at this point.

"I've been out recruiting and getting the boys looking under every rock they can to find someone to come out and play football for us," Hays said. "We're going to have a lot of underclassmen who are going to see playing time this year. Our last two junior-high seasons have been really successful, so we have high hopes for them."

Hays will be putting in new offenses and defenses, going to a spread formation on offense and using a 4-4 defense.

"I think the boys are going to enjoy running that (offense)," Hays says. "Transitioning from an eight-man offense to an 11-man offense, hopefully it will be a little easier to stop people."

Hays is excited to take over at the school he played for.

"It's a dream job to be back at Uniontown and take over the program," Hays told the Tribune. "I'm thankful to Coach Stroud. He was a mentor to me. I'm really excited about the opportunity."

Even though Hays himself played 11-man football for the Eagles and that form is what most are familiar with, he says there is still a transition to be made.

"Any time there's a transition, there's going to be a learning curve," he said. "A lot of the fundamentals are the same. You still have to block and tackle and take care of the ball. There are some minor adjustments, scheme-wise, and in having more guys on the field. But since we're transitioning coaches, it's a good time to be transitioning from eight-man to 11-man."

Uniontown got one of the five first-place votes in polling. Jayhawk-Linn (2-0 TRL, 5-5 overall last season) received three. Northeast (1-1, 3-6) received the other one. Those two and Oswego (0-2, 1-8) were the only 11-man schools in the TRL last season.

Northeast, the 2014 champion, was picked third. Yates Center (2-7), which had become the smallest school in the mostly Class 3A Tri-Valley, was chosen fourth. Oswego received only 5 points in being picked last.

St. Paul (5-1, 6-3) got three first-place votes in the eight-man division and edged Crest (3-3, 5-4) by one point. The Lancers, a playoff team last season, picked up two first-place votes. Marmaton Valley (4-2, 4-5) received the other one as the Wildcats were tabbed for third.

Pleasanton (1-5, 1-8), which finished last in 2015, was picked fourth. Chetopa (2-4, 2-6), whose head coach, Jaunc Bradshaw says has only 10 players out --three of his four seniors have never played football --was chosen fifth. Altoona-Midway, which did not field a team last season, was picked last. The Jets were 0-6, 0-9 in the last full season they played in 2014.

The first day of practice allowed under Kansas State High School Activities Association regulations is Monday. The season gets underway Sept. 1 with a Thursday night contest between Pleasanton and St. Paul. Uniontown begins play the next night at home against Southeast.