After winless ’17 season, Uniontown focused on development

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | 10:33 PM

For second-year Uniontown football coach Cedric Lloyd, the 2018 season started late last October.

With a winless 2017 a tiny speck in the rearview mirror, coupled with a successful offseason, Lloyd is leading his Red Raiders forward with a fresh perspective that’s going to take time and a bit more patience.

“Development in the off-season is what is going to drive us to success,” Lloyd said. “Right now, since we didn’t have that in year one, we were kind of flying by the seats of our pants. But the analogy of the bigger, stronger, faster and all of the sudden we’re seeing that. We developed this off-season and are getting better step by step.”

It normally takes a few years before a new coach can say a team is his, but with just four returning starters on offense, six on defense and a productive off-season, those who earn starting jobs this season will no doubt do it Lloyd’s way.

“The young guys have to come into their own, and one of the things we tried to do is establish what leadership would look like moving forward,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd compares the process to “crawling, walking and running,” and after more than eight months to absorb Lloyd’s spread offense, the Red Raiders are ready to roll. Lloyd said 5-foot-11, 205-pound sophomore running back Ky’Ron Craggette will be Uniontown’s bell cow this fall. Lloyd said Craggette was a regular during off-season workouts and has turned into a man among kids. Craggette rushed for four touchdowns and more than 400 yards as a backup last season.

“He’s going to be a mainstay for us,” Lloyd said. “He’s a big man, and he’s a legitimate sophomore and a 4.0 student. He’s a stud.”

Lloyd said he likes the way Craggette approached the off-season and how strong he finished the 2017 season.

“What I noticed about him through the year was he came to work and got better,” Lloyd said. “He showed us that he could play this game, and (in) the last few games last year, he ran the ball hard, and that just shows me that he is capable.”

With Craggette’s development at running back, last season’s rushing leader, Ahmad Hooper, will move to the slot receiver position. Hooper is the only pass catcher that has earned a starting spot.

“Everybody that we will have on the outside will pretty much be new,” Lloyd said.

If there is one area where the Red Raiders are experienced, it’s on the offensive line. They will help 6-foot, 190-pound junior quarterback Jake Shiley adjust to varsity football.

“He’s a Tim Tebow-type guy,” Lloyd said of the QB. “He’s a hard runner and has a nice arm and (is) another one that improved in the weight room.”

Shiley will be making his first varsity start when the Red Raiders take the field against Connellsville in a Week Zero matchup. Last season, he was responsible for the program’s only two wins at the junior varsity level. Above all else, Lloyd sees Shiley as a natural leader.

“I like his leadership prowess,” Lloyd said. “He’s out to make his teammates better, and he sees leadership for what it is: It’s an opportunity to help someone else get better.”

On defense, the Red Raiders will line up in a 50-hybrid defense and float into a 4-2-5 on occasions.

Another fresh start for Uniontown is that the Red Raiders dropped down from Class 4A to 3A and will compete in the Big East Conference. Gone off of the schedule are Thomas Jefferson, Belle Vernon, South Fayette and West Mifflin. The Red Raiders will finally be fighting at their own weight.

Uniontown will face Connellsville, Freeport, Beaver Falls and Elizabeth Forward at home and travel to Deer Lakes, Burrell, Derry, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic and Mt. Pleasant.

“I can’t say right now if we’ll win a game, but I can say that we will compete in every game,” Lloyd said. “They have to earn it, and we’re going to battle all the way ‘til the end.”

Schedule

Coach: Cedric Lloyd

2017 record: 0-10, 0-8

All-time record: 485-515-45

Date, Opponent, Time

8.24, at Connellsville*, 7 p.m.

8.31, Yough*, 7 p.m.

9.7, at Deer Lakes*, 7 p.m.

9.14, at Burrell*, 7 p.m.

9.21, Freeport*, 7 p.m.

9.28, Beaver Falls, 7 p.m.

10.5, at Derry*, 7 p.m.

10.12, at CW North Catholic*, 7 p.m.

10.19, Elizabeth Forward*, 7 p.m.

10.26, at Mt. Pleasant*, 7 p.m.

*Class 3A Big East Conference game

Statistical leaders

Passing: Omar Teets*

56-128, 892 yards, 4 TDs

Receiving: Brian Harris*

38-572 yards, 3 TDs

Rushing: Ahmad Hooper

62-473 yards, 3 TDs

*Graduated

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Uniontown