Brownsville seeks end to long losing streak

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, August 25, 2023 | 12:28 AM

Baby steps.

For Brownsville, taking a patient approach appears likely to be the best method for attempting to halt a long losing streak and reverse the negative trend plaguing the school’s once-proud football program.

So says second-year coach Scott “Skooter” Roebuck, whose first season resulted in an 0-8 record that saw the Falcons badly outscored in all their games.

Following a preseason scrimmage Aug. 19 at Carmichaels, Roebuck said, “I expect us to be much improved from last year. We didn’t score, but we competed.”

He’s hoping a tweak of the coaching staff’s philosophy will aid the process.

“I don’t want to speak badly of anybody, but I just think some of the (previous) younger coaches meant well,” said Roebuck, a Brownsville alum and longtime school administrator. “But it seems it always was all about offense and defense and plays.

“We’re starting to spend more time with individual drills. We’re running basic drills, trying to teach. We’re not going to run exotic plays.”

Roebuck, who for several decades has played a part in past coaching hires as the school’s athletic director, decided to take over the football position when it last became available in 2022.

He won’t promise a miracle cure for Brownsville’s longstanding woes.

“What we’ve decided to try to do is build relationships with the kids, ask them how they are at home and at school, things like that,” he said.

A handful of regulars from last year have decided to come back this season with the idea of ending the school’s 30-game losing streak dating to a 27-26 victory over Beth-Center on Sept. 6, 2019.

Their presence, Roebuck said, has been an inspiration for younger players with aspirations of playing high school football.

“We entered camp with 34 kids and we came out of camp with 34 kids,” Roebuck said. “It’s been a while since that’s happened here.”

Roebuck predicted an offense that will be led by quarterback Harlan Davis, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior, and running back AJ Evans, another senior, who was sidelined last season following ankle surgery.

Junior Mike Ulery (6-0, 260) will anchor the Falcons’ offensive and defensive lines.

“Those three, in particular, are guys, I believe, can be leaders for us,” Roebuck said. “With those three, after every practice in camp, we’d pull them aside and ask them what they thought and what we can do better. Just thinking they have a say in the team means a lot.”

Brownsville has enjoyed only sporadic success since claiming its only two WPIAL championships two years apart, winning Class 3A titles in 1940 and ‘43. Since then, there’ve been a handful of high points. But mainly, the Falcons have struggled, suffering through 22 consecutive losing seasons since a 5-5 record in 2000.

Now, in its second season as one of four WPIAL independents in football, Brownsville is looking to end District 7’s longest losing streak after enduring four consecutive shutout losses to close the 2022 schedule.

Roebuck got his first inkling of improvement during the scrimmage that saw Carmichaels score several times early and come away a winner.

“If that’s a real game, Carmichaels scored and we didn’t,” Roebuck said. “We met with the team afterward and basically went through what practice would look like (this) week and then told them, ‘Come Friday (Aug. 25), we beat Bentworth (in the regular-season opener),’ and they were really excited.”

Others expected to help make up the Brownsville offensive lineup include Omarion Grayson and Alex Booker at fullback, Jonathan Vasbinder and Kaden Wimmer at wide receiver, Donovan Wimmer — Kaden’s brother — at tight end and Dylan Brachna and freshman Eli Booker joining Ulery on the offensive line.

Short on numbers as a Class 2A program, Brownsville will rely on a host of two-way players.

The defense could feature Brachna, Eli Booker, Kameron Shumar and Nolan Hudock as linemen up front and Harlan, Evans and Donovan and Kaden Wimmer in the secondary.

“We’ve been trying to figure out a linebacking corps,” Roebuck said.

Grayson played the position, at times, last season.

“He’s the only one with varsity experience there,” Roebuck said. “The rest of the guys are either young or we switched up positions.”

Sophomore Jaydyn Wingrove is another candidate to fill a linebacking spot, Roebuck said.

A victory or two this season could go a long way in helping to revive Brownsville’s ailing football scene. Roebuck said he’s being selective on when to reference the team’s losing streak, which by far outdistances the next-longest in the WPIAL, held by Derry at 19.

“They’re getting after it a lot better. These kids are good kids,” Roebuck said. “I believe they’re starting to get what we’re teaching them about culture. We’re trying to be positive with them. We want them to come out and have some fun because that’s what sports is supposed to be.”

Brownsville

Coach: Scott Roebuck

2022 record: 0-8

All-time record: 415-517-34

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.25, at Bentworth, 7

9.1, Uniontown, 7

9.8, at Buckeye Local, Ohio, 7

9.15, Shadyside, Ohio, 7

9.22, at Carrick, 3:30

10.13, at Meyersdale, 7

10.20, Albert Gallatin, 7

10.27, at Uniontown, 7

FAST FACTS

• He teaches, coaches two sports and is the school’s top administrator in athletics. Scott “Skooter” Roebuck, a fixture for years around Brownsville sports, is in his 30th season as the school district’s athletic director. Two seasons prior, in 1991-92, he became the Falcons’ baseball coach, and more recently, Roebuck tackled the football job, where he’s entering just his second season as coach.

• Roebuck maintains it was no surprise that his center fielder this spring, Derrick Tarpley, was drafted in July by the Oakland Athletics, who selected the 6-foot-4, 185-pound Brownsville graduate in the 18th round. “Derrick is a special talent. You can tell by watching him,” said Roebuck, who led Brownsville to a WPIAL Class 3A baseball championship in 2018. “We usually don’t have pro scouts come to Brownsville, even with our good teams.” Tarpley is the third player for Roebuck to be drafted, joining Mike Patitucci in 2002 and Chad Rice in 2007.

• Bentworth, which entertains Brownsville in a season-opener Friday, represents one of just three WPIAL schools on the Falcons’ schedule. Albert Gallatin and Uniontown — like Brownsville, schools playing as independents — are the others. The rest of the schedule features City League school Carrick, District 5 member Meyersdale, and back-to-back contests against Buckeye Local and Shadyside of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

• Nine seniors and juniors each appear on Brownsville’s roster.

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