Should the Christian Brothers Academy football team redeem its defeat to Liverpool last November at the Carrier Dome and reclaim the Section III Class AA crown it last won in 2013, it may look to what happened on the first weekend of August as a turning point.
Granted, this took place long before a practice or game, but the three days CBA’s players spent at a “boot camp” might prove as valuable as any pass, run, tackle, kick, turnover or touchdown.
Kyle Francis is one of CBA’s volunteer assistant coaches. He also is a former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Together with ex-Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Francis put the players through military-style training designed to build up trust and respect among teammates.
“It was a lot of push-ups, blood, sweat and tears,” said linebacker Dan Damico. “We were all suffering to do the same thing together, digging deep.”
Next to that, getting ready for football was comparatively easy. But CBA didn’t forget about the boot camp, installing some similar drills into August practices, including those involving the flipping and lifting of tires from an 18-ton truck.
Casey Brown, beginning his second year as the Brothers’ head coach, said it all comes back to accountability and responsibility, something the players are willing to accept in their quest to return of the top of the AA ranks.
Over the years, the Brothers have evolved from the pass-oriented spread attack popularized by former head coach Joe Casamento into a run-oriented offense. It may have that again with Stevie Scott back to anchor the ground game.
Already a strong athlete, Scott has bulked up to 225 pounds, and though he’s the featured back, Brown said that Scott is just as happy blocking for his fellow runners, which include the likes of Jaden Mitchell and Tyler Forhan.
Yet if defenses worry too much about Scott, they could get burned by the likes of Noah Jordan-Williams (who’s made a verbal commitment to Boston College) and Deandre Dowdell, who both return as part of a strong wide receiver corps that also includes Reed DelFavero, Hassan Bridges-Bay and Avian Othman. Such depth helps the Brothers weather the transfer of Charles Pride to Liverpool.
This strong group of skill players allows CBA to take its time determining if SirVocea Dennis or Nick Brotzki takes over at quarterback. Both of them are getting tutelage from a familiar name to Brothers fan – Tyler Hamblin, a Harvard University graduate who’s returned to teach at CBA and work as an assistant coach.
Time is also needed to develop an offensive line around returning starters Matt Jann (tackle) and Jordan Allison (guard). C.J. Carbone, Eddie Niles, Ethan Hunt and Jake Vercillo are all vying for starting spots. Brown said the line’s maturity is crucial to his team’s prospects.
“Having the most talent doesn’t matter if the lines aren’t up to speed,” said Brown.
Defensively, CBA will, as usual, rely on speed and aggressiveness to do its job. Damico, a four-year starter, was already a top-flight defensive end, but with his size (6-foot-2, 230 pounds), he has a better chance of playing linebacker in the college ranks.
So Damico moves to linebacker this fall and is paired up with Scott, who is a defensive starter for the first time, and Jordan-Williams, who moves up from the secondary. This trio anchors a terrific linebacker corps that includes Forhan, Joe Thompson, Jake Maser and Matt Vavonese.
Jordan-Williams can make the move because, with Dowdell at cornerback and Dennis at free safety, the Brothers have a pair of first-rate defensive backs who pair up with DelFavero.
The only defensive question mark is at tackle, where there’s an open competition to join ends Taylor Kirschenheiter and LaMar Peters. CBA also has the kicking game locked up, too, thanks to Mike Mathison, who will handle field goals, punts and kickoffs.
Among the Brothers’ four home games this fall is a high-profile season opener against Baldwinsville next Friday night and, on Sept. 30, a visit to Alibrandi Stadium from Fayetteville-Manlius, whom CBA beat, 41-14, last year in the opening round of the sectional playoffs.
For all of the enormous expectations put on the Brothers, Brown said he, his fellow coaches and players don’t look beyond that day’s practice and to win the day, and then to win the games when they roll around.
To do otherwise would squander the lessons learned in last year’s defeat – and reinforced nine months later at a boot camp already ingrained in the memory of the players in CBA’s purple and gold.
