With more than a century of history to draw upon and plenty of glorious moments during that long tenure, the Christian Brothers Academy football program is as established as any in Central New York.
Yet in the T-shirts the team has brought out for 2018, the slogan – “Tradition is always under construction” – assumes nothing, which is just what the Brothers need to do.
Having won the Section III Class AA title in 2016, CBA expected to do the same last fall, only to see its two most potent players, running back Stevie Scott and quarterback SirVocea Dennis, go down to injuries.
Somehow, the Brothers still went 6-3, but fell in the sectional semifinals to eventual champion Cicero-North Syracuse, and left the stage wondering how things may have turned out different with a healthy Scott and Dennis.
At the same time, though, those injuries forced many young players to assume larger roles, and if the lessons they learned carry over into 2018, a restoration of CBA’s championship status is possible.
“We have a bunch of hungry young kids,” said head coach Casey Brown.
Two of those younger stars are sophomores Travis Ward and J.J. Razmovski, both of whom are in the mix to replace Dennis at quarterback.
Even if both of them take snaps, Ward and Razmovski will find themselves throwing to a new group of receivers. The task falls on one-time CBA great Bruce Williams, now an assistant coach, to make those receivers a consistent threat.
Yet the Brothers have time to figure that out because Tim Denham returns at tailback. Having started much of 2017 after Scott’s injury, Denham had an instant impact and is now counted on as a veteran presence.
“He leads by example, and is holding the other guys accountable,” said Brown.
Once vaunted for its passing attack, CBA has proven stronger in the ground game in recent years. Having Denham, Melvin Beard, Jason Boule and Nate Torrence on hand to carry the ball this fall might further than trend.
Every starter on the Brothers’ offensive line saw game action a season ago. Ethan Hunt is at left tackle, joined by left guard Eddie Niles, center Colin Slafkosky, right guard Will Laun and right tackle Nick Laznicki.
Ward, regardless of how many snaps he takes, will be an impact player because he starts at linebacker, an anchor to a group that also includes Boule, Jack Szatkowski and freshman Jamar Ballard.
Up front, Mike Garafalo returns for his senior season, joined at tackle by Adonis Singler, with Beard leading the end rotation. Tom Marzullo and Nate D’Arcy gives the Brothers a proven cornerback duo as Denham should flourish at safety.
CBA gets the biggest test right away when it goes to Bragman Stadium to face C-NS this Friday night. Then Fayetteville-Manlius visits Alibrandi Stadium on Sept. 7 before the Brothers go into Class AA-1 division play.
Taking that defeat to C-NS last fall stayed with CBA’s players throughout a busy and productive off-season, said Brown, and the whole group is bent on a glorious restoration beyond what takes place on the gridiron.
“They want to be great in the classroom and in the community, not just on the field,” said Brown.
