Cooley leads young Baldwin football team into season

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 18, 2017 | 11:00 PM

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It's been a process.

Baldwin first-year coach Loran Cooley was hired March 8 and immediately began piecing together his staff.

Since then, the Baldwin coaches have been preparing meticulously for the start of the 2017 high school football season.

“We had to slow it down first. Now, we're speeding it up a bit and getting into our tempo,” Cooley said. “The summer was very important with our offseason workouts. We created an atmosphere where the players were competing and getting their body in condition. We competed against some top-level talent. I feel we are in shape.

“We run a lot of college-style practices. We're two and a half hours, in and out. I preach (competing) in between the white lines. Our practices are very strenuous.”

Cooley, 38, is a state trooper and a former assistant coach at Gateway, Plum and Clairton. He served as Clairton's offensive coordinator last year.

Discipline is at the forefront of the Baldwin football program, which has not produced a winning season since 2003. Baldwin finished 2-7 last season, which included a 1-7 mark in conference play.

The affable, yet focused Cooley inherited a young team at Baldwin.

“Our expectation is just to see growth,” Cooley said. “We're extremely young. We'll be playing a lot of sophomores and some freshmen. Being so young can be a curse as well as a blessing. How fast can those guys grow up? But their effort is what I care about.

“As far as playing fast and physical, we're seeing growth there. It's like night and day. We're consistently putting them in uncomfortable situations at practice. They're always in competitive situations. And I'm starting to see growth and confidence in these guys, which they did not have when I first started here.”

One of the first things Cooley was hoping to incorporate into the program was more parental and community involvement.

“It's been going good,” he said. “These guys, they're all in. The parents are being very receptive, and we're getting a lot of support from our boosters. I think they want change here — I know it's still a honeymoon now — and I've seen a lot of positive things.”

While the Baldwin might young this season, it does have its fair share of athleticism.

“The strength of our team is probably the offensive backfield,” Cooley said. “We have a very crowded backfield.”

And that crowd includes senior Nick Lachut, junior Isaiah Felix and sophomores Zach Pettit, Angelo Priore and Tyler Gurchak.

“Tyler Gurchak's going to be an all-purpose guy. He's just a hard-nosed, tough kid,” Cooley. “Nick Lachut's like a Danny Woodhead of the Ravens (and formerly of the Jets, Patriots and Chargers).”

Lachut, who won the WPIAL Class AAA boys pole vault title last spring, did not compete on the football team in 2016 after playing as a freshman and sophomore.

“I realized that I couldn't keep dealing with the ‘what if I played again' thought anymore,” Lachut said. “Also, since it was my senior year, I knew it was the last time I would pad up and for some reason that made me want to go back even more. I just want to do my best for my team and not let anyone down.

“I expect to have a winning season because we fight and grow every day together.”

Jeremy Jenkins, a senior who missed a chunk of last season because of an injury, and sophomore Mason Stahl have been battling for the starting quarterback job.

Other players expected to make an impact this season include junior Andrejs Howell (WR/DB), sophomore Naseer Penn (WR/DB), and seniors Aaron Novak (TE/LB) and Frank Owusu (TE/WR/LB). One of the top freshman prospects is Connor Lavelle (WR/DB).

The last time Owusu played organized football was in eighth grade when he lived in Omaha, Neb.

“He's very athletic, and very strong,” Cooley said. “He's put together; he's just raw. He's starting to buy in.”

Owusu will be a second-year forward on the boys varsity basketball team in 2017-18.

“I wanted to get stronger and be a better athlete,” Owusu said. “I didn't like how my basketball season ended last season, and playing football is going to set me up for higher success. My goal is to start on both ends and get a scholarship.

“Our expectations (as a team) are to have a winning season and make the playoffs and shock some people around the WPIAL.”

Another Baldwin hoopster, Jake Monroe, is a senior kicking specialist who Cooley anticipates will rank among the leading kickers in the WPIAL.

A pair of juniors, Noah Bartic and Lucas Perfetti, and senior Bradley Friedman are top linemen on the team.

“We're skilled. We have some big guys up front,” said Cooley, whose top assistants are offensive coordinator Mauro Monz and defensive coordinator Darrin Walls. “We're very athletic. Again, we're young. That's something to build on, which helps the process. The future is promising.”

Baldwin competes in the Allegheny Nine Conference in Class 5A, along with West Allegheny, Woodland Hills, Upper St. Clair, North Hills, Fox Chapel, Moon, Chartiers Valley and Hampton. West Allegheny won the WPIAL championship last year.

The Fighting Highlanders open the season with back-to-back home games against Woodland Hills (Sept. 1) and Hampton (Sept. 8).

“It's a brutal conference,” Cooley said. “Every game is going to be a dogfight. To develop a winning culture, you have to compete for 48 minutes. That's all I've been saying all summer.”

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

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