Eagles the choice to win TRL eight-man crown

Uniontown High School head football coach Chad Stroud speaks from the podum as the Three Rivers League Eight-Man coaches' poll is shown on the screen behind him during a pre-season media conference Tuesday in Pittsburg. The Eagles were picked to win the eight-man division by league coaches. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

PITTSBURG -- Uniontown was picked as the coaches' choice to win the Three Rivers League Eight-Man football championship at a pre-season media conference here Tuesday.

The Eagles finished in second place behind Chetopa last season and finished with a 6-4 overall record, qualifying for the playoff for the first time since 2009.

Uniontown received five of seven first-place votes while Chetopa received the other two -- one of those from Eagle head coach Chad Stroud as coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.

Stroud says he expects 22 players, including 10 seniors, to report when practice begins Monday, the first day allowed under KSHSAA regulations.

"Our biggest hole to fill will be at the quarterback position," Stroud said. "Jacob Duffey did a lot of things for us the last couple of years.

"Also crucial to our success will be avoiding injury. The last couple of years, it seems like we've been snakebit with injuries. The flip side of that is that a lot of younger kids had to step into roles they weren't expected to be in and they gained valuable experience. That should pay off for them this year."

There will be five starters back both on offense and on defense for Uniontown. Five others started at some point.

"We've also got a smart group of kids," Stroud said. "Over half of our kids were on the honor roll last year."

The rest of the poll has Crest in third place followed by St. Paul, Marmaton Valley, Pleasanton and Altoona-Midway.

A look at the other teams in reverse order of predicted finish:

Altoona-Midway has only one senior, Dakota Carter, but head coach Robert Dickinson is encouraged by the overall numbers that reported during summer workouts.

"We're young but we're going to have some talent to work with," Dickinson said.

Dustin Johnson takes over at Pleasanton, which beat only Altoona-Midway lasts season. Although the Blu-Jays have All-TRL performer Ronnie Duncan returning, Johnson said his starting quarterback is going to be a freshman.

Second-year head coach Justin Hurley says that his Marmaton Valley coaching staff has a combined 70 years of experience. The Wildcats have 18 returning letterwinners and have six starters back on each side of the ball.

Top returning players include quarterback Keegan Boyd and cornerback Michael Beggs.

Keith Wiatrak is in his second season as head coach at St. Paul. He's been a coach there for 17 years and is a St. Paul graduate.

There are four seniors and five juniors among the 20 to 25 players Wiatrak expects to report. Four are seniors and five are juniors. Noah Winter will be a third-year starter.

Crest head coach Chuck Mahon was unable to attend the conference as he is also the USD 479 superintendent and those duties could not be ignored.

Jaunc Bradshaw, who was once an assistant basketball coach at Fort Scott Community College, takes over for Sean Price at Chetopa. Price has taken over as head coach of Labette County in the Southeast Kansas League.

The Green Hornets lost nine starters with only one offensive starter returning. Austin Carter will move to running back and Cole Swanwick will play linebacker.

"They're going to have to learn the game on the fly," Bradshaw said. Bradshaw, also Chetopa's boys' basketball coach, will also be learning as he goes as he said that this will be the first year he has ever been the offensive play caller.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.