Aug 17, 2005 By Jim Wexell For The 3 min read

John Fortugna saw just about all he needed to see last week when his players came together for three-a-days in one of the hottest weeks of the summer. “The first week we went through three-a-days in the heat and they hung in there. I highly respect them for that,” said Fortugna, who hopes his Uniontown football team can rebound from last season’s 2-7 record.

The Red Raiders are practicing as if they’re serious about bouncing back. They open the day with a two-and-a-half-hour practice at 9:15 a.m., break for lunch and return to the hard, dry field at 2:30 p.m. for another two hours. The dog-tired players then come back at 6:30 p.m. for a third practice.

But that was the first week. Things have eased, and by comparison this week’s two-a-days are a breeze.

“We put them through some tough practices and they have all of my respect,” Fortugna said. “They’re tough kids. We only had a couple minor injuries, and those kids will be back in a couple of weeks.”

It will be a hard-boiled bunch that opens the season Aug. 26 at Connellsville. And it will be a Uniontown group seeking more than its coach’s respect after what it went through last season.

Uniontown had made the playoffs four years in a row – or every year since leaving the Quad-A division – and had compiled a won-loss record of 24-16 in those four years. But last year, Uniontown finished at the bottom of the Keystone Conference with a 1-6 record (2-7 overall).

Fortugna, though, believes the team played better football than its record indicates.

“Last year I thought we were in almost every game,” he said. “A break here and a break there and we would’ve been over .500. The Yough game could’ve been the turning point. I think we would’ve gone into the playoffs.”

Instead, Yough won the game, finished 5-2 in conference and made the WPIAL playoffs.

“Our kids played hard, but when we needed them we didn’t get the breaks like we did the year before.”

This year, Uniontown has close to 60 players out for the team, with 16 seniors and a strong class of sophomores. And the game plan for getting back to the playoffs?

“We’ve talked to these kids and we’re going to have to take it one game at a time,” Fortugna pointed out. “We’re looking at a situation this year where we’ll take it one game at a time. We’re not thinking about the next game, but the game we’re going to play this week, nothing else.”

The key each game, he said, will be the offensive line and defense.

“We gave up a lot of yards, didn’t tackle well last year,” he said. “We’ve worked on our tackling these first few weeks.”

Anything else?

“Defensively we changed the scheme to more of a four look,” he said of the defensive line. “We have some other looks too, but we ran a 50 defense for years and figured we didn’t have the personnel to do that. The personnel we have right now fits this defense.”

The defense is loaded with speed, particularly in the secondary where Quindell Dean and his cousin Kevin Sanders are the backbone of the deep patrol.

“We also have to develop an offensive line,” Fortugna said. “We have a lot of prospects and positions are up for grabs. They’re getting better, but we’re not there yet. So, yes, the key is our offensive line and playing defense.”

And taking them one game at a time.