The Xavieran football team is facing a youth movement on the gridiron this season.
The reigning Catholic High-School Football League A-division champs are in the midst of a big-time rebuilding process, looking to fill major holes on both sides of the ball after graduating 18 seniors.
It won’t be easy, but this year’s Clippers squad is more than ready for the challenge. In fact, the team is embracing its newfound underdog status already.
“It’s just about trying to get the guys into the system that we started last year,” Xaverian coach Mike Jioia said. “It’s going to be difficult. We’re just trying to get them to play the way we do at Xaverian and get up to that intensity. It’s going to take all of our coaches a lot to get to that point.”
Xaverian doesn’t boast a deep roster this year — it has just 27 players who will have to play both ways every week. The Clippers will also play nine sophomores and one freshman this fall.
That presents a very particular challenge for Jioia and his coaching staff as they try to bring the first-year varsity players up to speed.
“Basically it’s just freshman and sophomores who need another year of work, learning, really, how to play,” Jioia said. “So going from that to playing on varsity — even though we’re in the A division — it can be tough.”
The Clippers have six returning seniors from last year’s title squad, and those players are already sharing the weight of leadership. They want to win another championship, and they know the only way to do that is to lead by example.
“It’s going to take a lot of patience with the younger guys,” linebacker Julius Arcaro said. “I think we can do it. We want to at least make a deep run and really set the tone for our last year.”
Xaverian doesn’t have a lot size on its roster this season, but that doesn’t mean the Clippers squad isn’t ready to get physical. In fact, this year’s offensive and defensive lines are expected to be the cornerstone of the team’s success.
If the players in the trenches can control things, everything else will fall into place.
“It’s a lot of young kids, so our backfield is all young kids too,” lineman Daniel Wilson said. “That means if we’re not solid up front, it’s going to be a rough year. If we can be solid up front, we’re going to be fine.”
The Clippers know that nothing will be handed to the team this fall. Every yard, every touchdown, and every victory will be a battle, but if Xaverian can find a way to make it all work, the end result could, very likely, be a second-straight championship.
“I think we can do it,” Wilson said. “I think we have the people to do it and the talent to do it. It’s just actually doing it. It’s going to be going one hundred percent every time.”
