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St. Luke's Varsity Football: Season Preview
The 2019 season brings many new things to St. Luke’s Football: New players, new coaches, and a new league.
For the first time this fall, the Storm will compete in the Evergreen League, which also means competing against a number of new teams.
Despite all these changes, the team’s philosophy of one line, no gaps, no excuses remains steadfast. Head Coach Noel Thomas, returning for his eighth season, is excited about the new challenge: “Outside of King and Albany Academy, we will face teams that we have never seen before. This is a new journey for our football family, and it gives us a great opportunity to breathe new life into the things we have been doing for some years.”
St. Luke’s is captained by Jordan Robinson ‘20, Frank Intrieri ‘20, Shamond Moore ‘20, and Austin Andersen ‘19. Thomas expects the quartet to lead by example: “I expect the same from the four captains that I expect from all members of our football family, which is to lead from the front, to give maximum effort, and to display supreme character. They have been doing an outstanding job meeting these expectations.”
The team has been working extremely hard during preseason, which included a joint practice with Weston High School before a controlled scrimmage against Kingswood Oxford on Saturday, September 7. Thomas is thrilled with the team’s preparations: “Preseason has been great. I am really pleased with the energy level and the commitment to our philosophy. I believe our offensive line is going to be one of our biggest strengths, and I’m excited to see what we can achieve this year.”
Robinson and Intrieri are part of that line, and Thomas is confident they can be the catalyst for the team: “Jordan is a force. He is hard to block and even harder to stop and the team rallies behind him. Frank is another one of our linemen who will also play guard and some d-line. He is going to be huge for us again this year.”
Thomas also expects another big year from Andersen, who led the league in tackles in 2018 with 88: “Austin is a hard hitter and amazing leader. He is everywhere on the field and a huge impact player for us again.”
Some other returning players Thomas expects to play key roles include Michael Thompson ‘20, Andrew Lau ‘20, Dylan Johnson ‘20, Christian Haas ‘20, and Everett Andersen ‘22.
The Storm welcomes Drew Priore ‘21, Jeremey Reid ‘21, and Brandon Bulerin ‘22 to the team, as well as Jack Truwit ‘20, who will all be playing Football for St. Luke’s for the first time this fall. Thomas has been impressed with the new teammates: “ Jeremy is dynamic and super fast. He’s a playmaker and shown flashes of what we can expect already this preseason. Brandon plays linebacker and fullback and will be a huge impact player, too. Their character is exactly at the standard that we are looking for at St. Luke’s Football.” On Truwit he added: “Jack has worked really hard. He’s a tight end and a defensive end, and he is coming in early and staying late and studying the game. He’s just been a really great surprise. He’s such a sponge and will run through a brick wall for you.”
St. Luke’s Football starts it’s new journey against a familiar foe on Saturday, September 14, as it makes the short trip to play King School at 3pm. The game was traditionally the last game of the year but has been moved to accommodate the Evergreen League schedule. Thomas believes his team will rise to the challenge: “This is a game we look forward to every year so we will be ready. I expect maximum effort from every one of our guys. They are excited to get started and King week is always a fun one.”
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
