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Div. I Super Bowl champion SRA returns to drawing board |
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Monday, 18 August 2008 |
By TERRY NAU
Sports editor
PAWTUCKET – What will St. Raphael Academy’s football team do for an encore this season? After all, last year’s squad completed the greatest season in school history, compiling a 13-0 record en route to the Division I state championship.
“We’re trying not to bring up the past too much,” Saints coach Mike Sassi admitted prior to Sunday’s first official preseason practice. “As far as encores go, the big thing our coaching staff must do is not remind this team about last year. We have to keep them humble and that shouldn’t be hard when you consider we’re replacing 17 starters from last year’s team.”
This year’s squad will be built around those few returning veterans from the 2007 Super Bowl champions.
“We have some pieces of the puzzle,” Sassi understated. “Our biggest concern is (lack of) depth. Our ‘twos’ from last year are going to be ‘ones’ this year. That leaves us very thin in some areas. We’re going to have to be creative in how we substitute during games.”
The job of replacing all-state quarterback Stanley Dunbar falls to last year’s backup, Tyler Malo, who started the final three games of the season when Dunbar injured an ankle in early November. Malo completed 9 of 25 passes last season and got some valuable experience under extreme pressure while running the offense and avoiding the kind of mistakes that would cost his teammates that perfect season.
“Tyler got some great experience,” Sassi admitted. “He came out of the whole situation with some confidence. Tyler did a good job under difficult circumstances. The way he handled himself in helping us win the Super Bowl should be something he can build upon this season.”
Malo has been elected one of the team’s captains for the coming season, which begins on Sept. 13 with a non-league game against Cranston East.
Other captains include Evan Howarth, Chris Brown and Wayne Thornhill.
The Saints do return some speed on offense. Nael Pierre-Louis and Jean Roussel – who lit up the indoor track boards with their sprinting skills this past winter – should keep opposing defenses honest in much the same way that Dunbar and Jordan Monk did last year.
Pierre-Louis, who started at defensive back last season, will take over as the No. 1 running back behind Malo. Roussel, who also plays in the defensive secondary, is ticketed to replace Monk while lining up in the slot and at the split end position.
The strength of this team appears to rest with the line. Brown and Thornhill will play both ways.
Richard Casiello, a 5-foot-11, 280-pound junior who made some big plays in the Super Bowl win over Hendricken, will play a key role in the defense this season, drawing attention from opposing offenses.
Casiello has excellent quickness and even speed for a player his size. He ran down Hendricken’s Brandon Sowa from behind to save a big play in the Super Bowl.
“Richard had an angle on Sowa,” Sassi recalled, “but he showed us something the way he ran him down.”
Evan Howarth will help anchor the defensive backfield, playing in a strong unit that will also include Pierre-Louis and Roussel.
Kyle Sequin, a 5-10, 230-pound junior, will handle inside linebacker chores and also take over as the fullback.
“He’s going to be a load at fullback,” Sassi said, giving a hint of what opponents can expect in the very near future.
The Saints will play an Injury Fund scrimmage on Friday, Sept. 5, against Coventry in a 6 p.m. kickoff at Cranston Stadium. They open the regular season with two non-leaguers – against Division II power Cranston East on Sept. 13 and Division III contender Central High of Providence on Sept. 20.
“We drew a bye for the first week of the league season,” Sassi said, explaining why the Saints are visiting Central on the 20th of September. “We’ve played Central two teams and they will compete with us, physically. It will be a good test for us.”
It’s also a good way to ease in the Division I season. And as Sassi is quick to acknowledge, his club will sneak up on no one this season.
“That has some merit,” he said, speaking of the idea that defending Super Bowl champions have a target on their back. “Obviously, everyone in our league lost to us. I think, being a private school, we’ve always had a bulls-eye on our backs. That’s just the way things are around here.”
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 August 2008 )
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