With new coach, Brownsville focused on running, stopping run

By: Greg Macafee
Sunday, September 6, 2020 | 11:16 PM

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The Brownsville football team hasn’t had a winning season in quite some time, but first-year coach Ramont Small is ready to get the Falcons pointed in the right direction.

The Falcons finished 2-8 last season with wins over Bentworth and Beth-Center, but they haven’t had a season with more than two wins since 2005 when they went 4-5. Small and the Falcons are hoping brighter days are ahead, and they are willing to put in the work to achieve it.

For 28 years, the new Brownsville coach has held several assistant coach positions. He’s been an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator. He’s coached multiple positions, and he’s coached at the high school and college level. Now, he’s ready to take over his own team and bring all of it together.

“There are a lot of coaches I’ve been with, and I just want to add pieces of what they’ve taught me about the game,” Small said.

If anything is for certain, Small knows he wants his team to be hard-nosed, strong and tough to stop on the ground.

“I look at all the teams that have had success, and they all run the ball,” Small said. “It’s an old philosophy, and we want to pound the rock, and we have a couple good running backs with an offensive line that is strong.”

With the size the Falcons have in the trenches, pounding the rock sounds like a good strategy. Center Wally Furlong (6-foot-4, 258 pounds) is the lone sophomore on the line, and he’ll be surrounded by four seniors who have the size to push guys around.

Patrick Shumar (6-2, 265), Leonard Harris (6-3, 310) and Ross Swords (6-1, 330) all return. The Falcons also received a boost when Jeremiah Fortune (6-2, 280) transferred in from Georgia. Small said defensive and offensive line coach Gage Ivory has helped get them ready for this season.

“He has done a great job with them in the weight room and working with them on their feet and stuff like that,” Small said. “We still have a long way to go, but I have seen a lot of progression so far.”

The Falcons also have a solid group of athletes that Small is depending on to make plays this season.

Senior running back Danny Grant is back, and so is junior quarterback Hunter Assad, but Small will rely on junior wide receiver Josh Bass and senior Ayden Teeter, who is a 6-4, 265-pound tight end that played on the line last season.

“We call him Baby Gronk,” Small said with a laugh.

The Falcons aren’t just looking to impose their will on one side of the ball either. With the size they have, they are looking to attack teams on defense as well.

“We are going to clog holes up and let our linebackers make plays, and our secondary will do what they have to do,” Small said. “But we are going to be aggressive and we are going to try and get to people and stop their running game or whatever their specialty is.”

As the Falcons get set to play another season, Small said his team is ready to push the program to a new level.

“They are tired of losing,” Small said. “They are trying to be the first group to make the playoffs, trying to win the conference for the first time in a while, so they have been working really hard.”

Schedule

Coach: Ramont Small

2019 record: 2-8, 1-6 in Class 2A Century Conference

All-time record: 415-494-34

Date, Opponent, Time

9.11, East Allegheny*, 7

9.18, at Elizabeth Forward*, 7

9.25, South Park*, 7

10.2, at South Allegheny*, 7

10.9, Mt. Pleasant*, 7

10.16, at Southmoreland*, 7

10.23, Yough*, 7

*Class 3A Interstate Conference game

Fast facts

• Brownsville won its two games by a combined seven points last season. The Falcons defeated Beth-Center by one.

• The Falcons return seven starters on both sides of the ball.

• The last time the Falcons won at least the share of a conference championship was 1998 when they went 10-2 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

• Improvements on the defensive side will be needed as well as the Falcons allowed six teams to score over 40 points last season.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Brownsville