The St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School football team looks a lot different than a year ago. Graduation Day can do that to a program.
“We only have three returning starters,” said St. Pat’s head coach Dominic Dickerson, whose team lost 20 seniors to graduation. “It wasn’t until after the season ended a year ago that we noticed, ‘Yeah, we have a lot of holes to fill.”
Despite the inexperience at the varsity level, the Bruins have bought into Dickerson’s motto for the season.
“Whatever it takes.”
“We’ve had a few guys that wanted to play a certain position, but we had to switch them to another one because we thought they fit our needs somewhere else,” Dickerson said. “They dove right in and bought into that immediately.”
The Bruins finished 5-6 a year ago, placing second in the Tri-County Athletic League Stone Division before falling in the first round of the playoffs to Kelseyville. They open the season on Friday Night at home against Napa.
“We’ve lost a lot of seniors from last year, but we have some good talent coming up from the junior varsity level and I’m still pretty confident in this team,” senior quarterback Trevor Moelk said. “We’ve been working very hard in the offseason and spending a lot of time in the weight room.”
St. Patrick-St. Vincent High quarterback Trevor Moelk throws a pass in a Monday afternoon practice. (Thomas Gase – Times-Herald)
Another returner, junior Baron Laxa, said the team has a ton of confidence in its coaches and if one asks them to play a different position, so be it.
“A lot of us aren’t playing the position we originally wanted to play, especially people on the line,” Laxa said. “But we’re more flexible and overall the team communication has been good. If the coaches say something, then we’re all on board.”
Dickerson is in his second year after taking over for longtime head coach Lane Hawkins, who stepped down in 2022 after previously guiding the Bruins to a state title in 2016. Although Dickerson has a relatively new team in 2024, he’s taking comfort in the fact that the majority of the team will be one-way players this season and not playing both offense and defense.
“That’s been a blessing for us,” Dickerson said. “In that way we can sharpen iron with iron a little more.”
The offense is led by Moelk at quarterback, who Dickerson said has looked good in the preseason.
“He’s kind of like Cool Hand Luke — nothing really bothers him,” Dickerson said. “In fact, I kind of want more emotion from him as a leader on this team. He’s taken more control and has full control of the offense. What I want him doing more is him coming up to me and communicating and if he sees something that looks like it might run as a better play, I want him communicating that with me.”
Moelk said he’s worked a lot on getting stronger as well as his footwork and being able to throw the deep ball better. He’s also more confident in 2024.
Moelk will be behind an offensive line led by the Bruins’ third returning starter — Dominic Peterson. He will be at center.
Danny Corvinelli of St. Patrick-St. Vincent practices blocking in a Monday afternoon practice. (Thomas Gase – Times-Herald)
“He may be one of the smallest guys on the team, but it’s got a high football I.Q.,” Dickerson said. “It’s been a pleasure coaching him for a few years.”
Other players on the offensive line are Brandon Johnson, Madden Collins, Jose Garcia, Danny Corvinelli and Beau Westad. Dickerson said he didn’t know which position each of them would play, and added that he’s trying to find “the best fit for all of them.”
The wide receivers for the Bruins are Drew Christensen, Laxa in the slot position, Solomon Alexander and Amelio Vigil. Bobby Caine will see time at tight end.
Marshall Obenchain and Tyree Johnson will anchor the Bruins’ running game.
“We’re going with the spread offense again, but it won’t be the air raid like last year due to us losing a lot of our playmakers from a year ago,” Dickerson said. “This year will be more of a veer and shoot offense.”
The defense is led by Laxa at safety and a secondary that is more experienced than other spots on the field for St. Pat’s. Alexander will play corner back, as will Christensen at times, along with Kevent Meraz, Peyton Rhodes. Obenchain, Vigil and Peterson will play linebacker, while Hermes Soto will be on the defensive line.
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Publish date : 2024-08-27 05:36:00
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