HS football preview: Brownsville
Castor striving for reversal of fortune at Brownsville
Brownsville will be playing football under its fourth head coach since the 2023 season began.
Chad Castor intends to stick around a lot longer as he tries to get the Falcons football program back on track.
Castor, a Uniontown graduate who starred for the Red Raiders and played four years at Penn State, has the transition underway at Brownsville.
“It’s just trying to raise the floor,” Castor said. “We’ve worked really hard to try to build them up as athletes in the weight room, trying to teach them schemes offensively and defensively, how we can come together to make this the best we can.”
Castor takes over a team that has gone a combined 1-37 the past four years but the past doesn’t matter to him as he tries to instill a winning attitude into his players.
“We talked the other day and said if you want to be the big dog, and everybody wants to be the big dog, you’ve got to knock off a big dog to do it,” Castor said. “We can’t just hope we transform into it, we’ve got to come into some of these games wanting to take it away from teams.
“I’m just doing the best I can everyday with these kids, trying to make myself better as we go along, evaluating my own choices to see how I can improve for what these kids need, and just trying to push them and I think it’s already been a very positive thing early on.”
Castor does have a veteran quarterback to lean on in 6-foot-4 senior Kaden Wimmer who quarterbacked the Falcons to their lone win of the last four years in 2023 although he didn’t play a full season in 2024.
“Kaden Wimmer is someone who took snaps early in the season last year as quarterback and he’s shown the strong ability to be able to handle that position again this year,” Castor said. “He throws a really nice ball. He’s a tall kid that can see over the top of everything. We’re hoping he can have a big impact for us.”
Wimmer has pushed himself to take on a leadership role for the team.
“He stepped up at one of our most recent practices out on the field and spoke to the team following that and I was extremely happy to see that coming from him because I think he is naturally a little bit of a quiet kid,” Castor said. “I’ve been trying to call three kids up at the end of every practice just to make sure the players are communicating with each other and taking some ownership of their team. When he stepped up with two other teammates I was very excited to see him do that. I think he was overcoming some of that quiet nature and showing his ability to lead.”
Castor is already familiar with Wimmer and several key players on the football team through being an assistant boys basketball coach last season.
“Exzavier Vargas, Kaden and Jaiden Praster are three seniors that I was able to work with on the basketball team,” Castor said. “Vargas is a returning running back. He’s a little bit shorter than most of our players but he is not lacking in heart and explosiveness. He’s definitely able to be fast and aggressive and hopefully will be assertive in the running game for us.
“Jaiden Praster is someone who catches the ball really nicely that I’m really excited for. Knowing those three have a good relationship from playing together in multiple sports, I’m looking forward to see what we can put together for them for their senior year.”
Brownsville has several more skill players of note.
“Some other people that have really stood out to me are Maxime Dieudonne, Cynseir Douglas and Silas Patterson who are also very good multi-sport athletes at our school,” Castor said. “I can see Max and Silas as receivers and Cynseir as a running back as well as in the slot. Max and Silas both run track on the four-by-100 relay and are extremely fast kids. Cynseir is also a wrestler and has had some really incredible gains over the summer in changing his physic a little bit.
“That’s been a big priority for me this summer with the kids is trying to teach them how to use the weight room properly. We just finished maxing out last week and I’m really excited to see some of the numbers the kids are starting to put up as they’re getting confident with their bodies.”
A consistent sore spot for the Falcons in the past has been the offensive and defensive line.
Castor is depending on a trio of players to help out in the trenches this season.
“One of our returning seniors is Anthony Ricco. He’s our center and he’s done a really good job in the past as I’m able to watch film,” Castor said. “He’s a very strong young man with lots of returning experience.
“We also have two other seniors, Kam Shumar and Blake Olesko, who’ve been working with us over the summer. I’m hoping with their size and seniority that they’ll be able to help us as we move people in the running game.”
Castor’s goal on defense is to have his team play well as a unit.
“We’re still looking for a leader on defense,” Castor said. “I think some strong pieces of it are going to be all 11 playing together. We have some strong young men that I’ve mentioned in the senior group and Max and Silas and Cynceir with their speed should be able to run to the football and finish plays in the open field.
“Some young sophomores on the team, Stevie Campbell, Thomasray Stimmell, Alex Remington and Logan Ross, have done really well also, so I’m hoping they can be contributors on the defensive side of the ball.”
Castor’s squad doesn’t have a lot of depth which means the Falcons will have plenty of two-way players.
“For about the last three weeks we’ve had about 20 to 30 kids, including some middle school kids working out,” Castor said. “So I am excited about how much involvement we’ve had through the summer. But I definitely envision people playing on both sides of the ball as the numbers are not as high as I’d like them to be.
“But I’m also trying to have a role for everyone on our team to the best of our ability. If they’re ready to play their role safely and protect themselves and help the team, it’d be great if we could balance out the reps that are going to come across a game through all of our roster.”
With a new coach comes a new offense and defense, and the Falcons are trying to pick up Castor’s system.
“They’re learning it. We’ve been focusing on trying to repeat our installs offensively and defensively, so we’ve been able to put those in recently and we intend to repeat them during heat acclimate and the first install of camp so that the base offense and base defense are really well understood by the kids,” Castor said. “It’s more about how we run them than how many things we can run right now.
“It’s definitely been a teaching thing. We had them up in the classroom and I spent about a half an hour on the board trying to see what they were able to retain and asking them to come up and fill in information. It’s going to be a process because it is new to them and I told them straight forward it doesn’t matter how well I know the stuff, it’s how well you guys know it. We’ve got to be able to try to start picking this up as best as we can. We’re going to give opportunities, trying to teach on the board, through some film and on the field as well.”
Castor has welcomed some outside help in an attempt to inspire his players further.
“We’ve had some great coaches working with them and one of them is Amonti Marsh, a former Brownsville athlete,” Castor said. “He’s been talking to the kids after practice the last couple days about stacking good days and I think that’s a really good message for us right now. The message I’ve been trying to relay is do the best you can until you know better and then do better.
“We’re definitely in a learning phase, trying to understand how we support each other on the football field and knowing the assignments of yourself and those nearby you.”
Brownsville, as it has since the 2022 season, will play as an independent and its schedule includes Fayette County rivals Uniontown and Albert Gallatin. The Falcons have a nine-game slate.
Castor’s coaching staff includes Bill Rouse, Ken Silva, Amonte Marsh, Jeremy Ulery, Nick Seto, Tyton Brunner and Joe Hough.