St. Luke's Varsity Football: Season Preview

The St. Luke’s Football team looks to be in great shape heading into the 2018 season with it’s largest roster for many years.

 

The St. Luke’s Football program continues to put player safety at the forefront and will be wearing the top-ranked helmet in the National Football league as well as continued use of Roger the MVP and other inanimate objects for tackling purposes.

 

Head Coach Noel Thomas returns for his sixth season in charge of the Storm and has been buoyed by what he has seen during preseason. “The first few weeks have been a great experience. As a team, we are stronger than we have been in a long time and most of the guys came back in great physical condition,” said Thomas.

The team only graduated four seniors so Thomas has many of last year’s group returning as well as a number of new players: “We have six new players on the team as well our freshman class. We have 36 on the roster which is the most we have had during my time here so that gives us a lot more flexibility. We have more of an opportunity to rotate and rest players which should help keep the team healthier.”

Thomas knows the team has some holes to fill with Brendan Casey ‘19 (UConn), Ben Joseph ‘19 (Monmouth), and Shaka Moales ‘19 (Choate) all moving on but is confident he has the players to step into the roles. “Austin Andersen [‘19} is healthy again and he is our defensive catalyst. He is emotional and animated and the whole team feeds off that energy. We also have Christian Haas [‘20] and Frank Intrieri [‘20] who have both played Varsity Football before and have had a seamless transition. Christian is very high-energy and an experienced lineman and Frank has done a really nice job too,” said Thomas.

This year’s squad is captained by Michael Hage ‘19, Shamond Moore ‘19, Juan Rosario ‘19 and Seth Kim ‘19. Thomas is excited by what they will bring to the team. “Shamond will be 100% healthy very soon. He is a playmaker and a vocal leader so I expect him to lead from the front. Juan is a Division one prospect and a prototypical lockdown corner. He is super fast and a huge talent. I’m expecting him to carry a load on both sides of the ball. Seth is very mature and ready to handle leading the team. He’s physical and he’s got the attitude and the personality to be a great leader for us. Michael suffered an unfortunate injury in our first game but he will still be around the team and will have the full support of the St. Luke’s Football family.”

Hage suffered a season-ending injury in the 27-6 win over Rye Country Day School on Saturday with freshman Everett Andersen taking over at quarterback midway through the second quarter. Thomas was impressed with the rookie’s performance. He said, “He already knows most of the playbook and is unflappable. He is up for the challenge and it’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve. I think he’s ready and everyone is rallying behind him. He executed the offense about as well as you could. He was mentally focused and ready to go and I couldn’t have asked for anything more from a young guy in that situation.”

The win at Rye was a fantastic start for a team that went 4-5 last year and the head coach is hopeful that the Storm can turn the tables on a few teams this season. “We are looking for some redemption against a few teams who beat us heavily last year and who will provide our biggest challenge again. King, Capital Prep and Hamden Hall will probably be our toughest three games this season but we’ll be ready,” Thomas said.

St. Luke’s Varsity Football continues its season with another road trip this Saturday to Albany Academy but the head coach saved his last words for Hage. “Losing a senior QB who is a captain and has worked as hard as he ever has done in his life is extremely tough. I appreciate everything Michael has done and I know he will come back stronger. Our hearts are heavy for the fact that he has an extensive injury and I just hope he and his family are okay. We as a Storm Football family are going to do everything we can to support him and each other," said Thomas.