BACK TO THE FUTURE
Aquinas Hopes to Build Back 40 Years
By Ben DiCola
It's another brand new high school football season, and St. Thomas Aquinas is hoping to turn back the clock 40 years while maintaining its eye to the future. During Week #7, the Knights will host first-time opponent Crestline at Sirpilla Stadium and have invited back members of its 1984 squad that won a state championship that season in Division IV, going 12-0-1 overall. Maybe the members of that team can impart some words of wisdom to help this year's Knights.
To say that things have changed a bit in the 40 years since would be a colossal understatement. October, 2020. That's a landmark period in St. Thomas' football history. That was when the Knights defeated Garfield Hts. Trinity, 42-26 at Ralph Adams Stadium in Cuyahoga Heights in a D-6 playoff game. Sadly, the program has not tasted a victory since, losing 25 straight games, including last year's 0-10 result. The team was outscored a year ago 390-62. In ten weeks, Aquinas never scored more than eight points in a game.
The road back begins at home in the opener against Campbell Memorial. Second-year head coach Kevin Henderson remains upbeat, while realistic. "We will be a lot more competitive in games this year, and I expect a drastic improvement. We are still young, but we have a year of experience, the kids are buying into what we are telling them and our participation in the off-season weight program has been better. We've also tried to get a schedule that is more conducive to our skill set," the coach added. "But we also know the schedule is tough. We play a number of teams--Mineral Ridge, Warren JFK, Mogadore, and Central Catholic--who all have a history of winning and playing in the playoffs."
Aquinas will send out 27 players to help right its fortunes, including 10 letter winners and five seniors. Those five include two-way lineman Mattai McCleskey, defensive back/wideout D.J. Cross, linebacker/running back Mykel Gilmore, two-way lineman Josh Smothers and tight end/linebacker Joey Sinclair. Two juniors will battle it out for quarterback with Devonte Harper and Cal Stewart getting reps. Senior John Perdue will play at safety and wide receiver while sophomore Ca'ron Winn is a running back along with senior transfer Will Knowles.
"We still have starters filling in that have no football experience," Henderson said. "We've come a long way. But we also have a long way to go." And sometimes, when the going has been as rough as it has been at Aquinas the last few years, it helps to have a sense of humor. At a pre-season coaches kickoff dinner, Henderson got a chuckle from the crowd. "I told my athletic director to ask anybody that calls to ask them if they won a game last year. If they say 'Yes', hang up!'
This fall, the Knights hope to hang some points and some victories on the opposition.
