Prep Football Preview: Uni High looks to the future

Bob Laws

Special to the Mirror

   Last year was a learning experience for the University High School football team, and for first-year Coach Andrew Haas.
   "We struggled last year quite a bit," Coach Haas admits. "It was kind of a roller-coaster ride." Uni finished 1998 with a 2-8 record.
   The team would play well one week, lose a close game, and then regress the following week, according to Coach Haas.
   "We just seemed to shoot ourselves in the foot whenever we got going. We lost four of our games by less than eight points. Those are four games that we easily could have, and should have won."
   Haas takes much of the blame for the team's less-than-stellar 1998 season. "It was young coaching, honestly. That was my first year, and we didn't have the right coaches in the right places."
   With a year of seasoning under his belt, Haas expects bigger and better things for his team in 1999. He has brought in several new coaches, and he believes he has seen a new attitude on the field.
   "The 'I' is gone and the 'we' is back. Last year, there were several key players who didn't seem to realize there is no 'I' in the word "team." Those players are gone this year.
   While their skills will be missed, their attitudes won't be, and Haas feels that will ultimately have a positive impact.
   Another reason for optimism is the arrival of two new players, Josh Lewis and Ethan Katz. Lewis, a baseball and basketball player who had never played football, approached Coach Haas three weeks into last season and asked to join the team. The Coach recognized the young man's natural athleticism and happily welcomed him into the fold.
"He's a big, strong kid, and he just had an immediate impact," Coach Haas says of Lewis, now a senior. By midseason, Lewis was starting at wide receiver for Uni and tearing up secondaries all over the Western League. "He's quick and he just goes up for the ball."
   Like Lewis, Katz was a baseball player first. "He has a great arm, but he's never played football before," Coach Haas says of the junior. "He's someone we could nurse along and somewhere down the line, he could be our go-to guy at quarterback just because he throws the ball so well. But he's got a long road ahead of him." 
   For now, Katz will probably be third on the depth chart because he will have to compete with two of Uni's best athletes for the starting quarterback position.
   When asked about his key players, Coach Haas mentions senior Steve Handy first. Handy was the backup quarterback last season, as well as the team's top wide receiver. 
   "We're really counting on number 13 this year," Handy wears 13 on his jersey and carries the team's hopes and dreams on his shoulders. "We're expecting big things from him."
   Uni just started full-pad practice on Monday, and Coach Haas says he intends to let Handy and junior Jamarre Townson take most of the snaps. He and his coaching staff will watch them closely and then make a determination about the starter in the next two weeks.
   "They're different in their styles. Jamarre played running back for us on the lower level, so he can run the option real well. The only concern is that he's young-he's only a junior."
   Handy is a NFL-style quarterback.
   "Steve is a lot taller and more of a drop-back quarterback," Coach Haas said as he watched his team practice Monday. "He likes to throw the ball.
   Another advantage for Handy is that he knows the offense since he was the backup last year. The question Coach Haas is struggling with is, where will Handy's formidable talents best help the team?
   "If we feel we can get more out of him by having him at wideout and having Jamarre running the option, then we'll do that," Coach Haas said, while counting his lucky stars that the fiercely competitive Handy puts the team before himself. "He's the kind of kid who'll play wherever we ask him to play-he doesn't have that ego trip about playing quarterback."
   Coach Haas is also entertaining the idea of a platoon situation.
   "There's been talk that we might just have one guy play one half and the other guy play the other half." The advantage of this scenario would be keeping opposing defenses off-balance with the two quarterbacks' contrasting styles.
   Uni's defense is lead by Kris Zagaya, a senior defensive end who also plays fullback on offense. Says Haas, "We're expecting him to really hold down that defensive line and be a force this year," 
   It's a young team, top heavy with juniors and even a smattering of sophomores. Because of their youth, finishing this season with a .500 record and placing third or fourth in the Western League are Coach Haas' goals for the season. Anything else would be icing on the cake.
   "Generally, we have a hard time against Westchester, Pali and Venice," Coach Haas concedes. "Westchester is usually on top of the league, but I would say we fit in that third or fourth spot."
   Coach Haas is actually looking forward to playing Westchester this year. Last year, Westchester blew them out 39-9, but he thinks they could be vulnerable.
   "They've got some great talent over there, and a lot of big kids, but I don't think they have the commitment or the character of our kids. If we can go into that game and keep it close and not have it be a big blow out like last year, we feel that would give us the edge. They kind of fall apart when their backs are against the wall."
   Uni plays their two biggest games, against Westchester and Pali, late in the season. Coach Haas feels the key to this year is starting strong and playing well in the non-league portion of their schedule, the first three games of the season. 
   Uni opens their season September 10th at home against Santa Monica, and then plays Roosevelt and Centennial.
   The Coach is working with a two-year plan and believes that once his kids get a year of varsity experience, they could rise up and compete for the Western League title in 2000.