Mustangs welcome a new, but familiar head coach
Laurel Highlands quarterback Conner Basinger pitches to Ryan Fike during media day at Mustang Field.
First-year Laurel Highlands head coach Jake Just (left) takes over for his brother, Zack Just, who remains on staff as an assistant. Zack resigned after last year.
Ryan Fike (left) and Conner Basinger will be key for Laurel Highlands to have success this season.
Laurel Highlands senior Ryan Fike will be an important part of the Mustangs' offense.
Laurel Highlands senior Ryan Fike is about to pull in a pass during media day at Mustang Field.
Laurel Highlands seniors in the front row from left are Ben Delorenzo, John Sabatula and Zachary Chandler-Jones. Standing in the back row are Cheikh Dossou, Conner Basinger and Ryan Fike.
Conner Basinger was Laurel Highlands' starting quarterback last season as a junior.
Laurel Highlands quarterback Conner Basinger passes during media day at Mustang Field.
Laurel Highlands quarterback Conner Basinger passes during media day at Mustang Field.
Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard
Laurel Highlands’ quarterbacks for the 2018 season are Daniel Carney, Robbie Sleighter, Conner Basinger and Trent Livingston.
Laurel Highlands quarterback Conner Basinger is about to throw a pass during media day at Mustang Field. Basinger returns after a strong junior season.
The beard, the last name and the philosophy stays the same, but Laurel Highlands will have a new head coach for the first time in eight years.
Jake Just, who had served on staff under his brother, Zack, will be guiding the Mustangs for the 2018 football season. Zack, who resigned as head coach last year, will remain on staff as an assistant.
“The expectation before was to be here as a coaching staff whenever we could and that hasn’t changed,” Jake said. “The only thing that has really changed is I get to talk to the parents, I get to talk to the media and to the coaches. It is really the same responsibilities as I had before, and Zack has made it a seamless transition. Any question I have, I call him and bother him all the time.
“We will change very little, if anything. We were really high on the program as a coaching staff, and that is really why I applied. We want to keep the discipline, the rules, the standard that he had set before, and we didn’t want to change that. We are not going to change anything schematically.”
Laurel Highlands welcomes back senior quarterback Conner Basinger, but lost key players in Brandon Chury, Jadakiss Collins, Jacob Dukman, Ian Edenfield, Elijah Guynn, Alec McLay, Jacob Mikluscak, Chad Petrush, Ryan Richter and Shawn Richter to graduation.
“We lost a lot of good players, including four linemen, but that is part of high school football,” Just said. “We were blessed to have a really good senior class last year. We have a senior class that is not nearly as experienced or as big, so we will rely heavily on juniors and sophomores.
“Conner (Basinger) does everything that he has to do to prepare this offense and be a leader, we are very hard on him and he answers the bell every time it rings. We think he is going to have a big impact on this conference.”
Senior Ryan Fike returns at wing and starting safety and Robbie Sleighter will see time at safety.
Cheikh Dossou (senior) Daniel Izzi (junior), Tyler Christopher (junior), Ronnie Romesburg (junior), Shineil Thomas (sophomore) and Christian Burchick (sophomore) will be part of Just’s plans on Friday nights.
“We have 10 or 11 guys that we need to play well at this level and we are expecting them to do that,” Just said.
Izzi and first-year player Zackery Layton will compete at kicker.
The Mustangs opened up at Washington on Week Zero in a non-conference game. They travel to Albert Gallatin tonight in non-conference play.
LH will continue to play Belle Vernon, Greensburg Salem, Thomas Jefferson, Ringgold, Trinity and West Mifflin. Indiana is the new team in the Big Eight Conference. The Mustangs host Montour on Sept. 7 in non-conference action.
“We weren’t really affected by realignment,” Just said. “We added Montour and we play Wash High in Week Zero instead of Mount Pleasant. We will play whoever they put in front of us. We can’t worry about schedule and alignment.
“Thomas Jefferson and Belle Vernon are the front-runners in this conference, make no bones about it. We haven’t beat Belle Vernon or TJ and it is a big test for us. We are ready to take that challenge. We expect to go to the playoffs this year, and if you are not on board with us, then you don’t belong in our locker room.”
The obvious omission from Laurel Highlands’ schedule is Uniontown, who has moved down to play in Class 3-A. Just would still like to see the game played, even if it’s a non-conference contest.
“It is a shame that we don’t play Uniontown because it’s such a large gate and huge for the community,” Just said.
In addition to his brother being on staff, Just is assisted by Andrew Rossi (offensive coordinator), Chris Edenfield (defensive backs), George Mikluscak (head JV coach, wide receivers) and AJ Bosley (linebackers).