St. Mary's head coach Brad Best directs two of his players during a recent practice.
ADVERTISEMENT
Annapolis
Annapolis
Published August 27, 2008
COACHING: After a three-year coaching hiatus, Brad Best makes his return to the St. Mary’s sidelines to take over head coaching duties for the Saints. Best served as the team’s head coach from 1989-1999 and then returned as an assistant coach. Best takes over for Mike Clay, who was let go in the offseason after three years with the program.
Best has taught at St. Mary’s for the past 18 years and said his relationship with the school has made the transition to coaching easier.
“I know the kids very well,” Best said. “It’s been a very, very smooth transition.”
OFFENSE: The Saints return three starters from last year’s offensive line, as well as senior running back Neill Lewnes and junior wide receiver Mark McNeill. While the Saints will have to replace last year’s running back, Dontra Peters, Best said the team will still look to have an upscale aerial attack.
“We’ll open it up, throw the ball around a little,” he said. “If teams give us the run, we’ll run it.”
DEFENSE: The Saints return several defensive starters from last year, including senior linebacker Jason Gonos, senior strong safety John Anderson and junior corner back Ryland Depol.
Seniors Charlie Buenaman and Drew Stanford are returners to the defensive line. The Saints will move to a 6-2 defensive scheme, which is not much different from last year’s 4-3 system, according to Best.
“It’s still the same type of philosophy … attacking, blitzing,” Best said. “We’ll make things happen. It’s been a good transition for the kids.”
SPECIAL TEAMS: Lewnes, an “excellent kicker” according to Best, will maintain the placekicking duties from last season. The punting job is up for grabs for now.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sam Duquette, Sr., OL, 6-3, 260
Garrett Norris, Sr., C, 6-0, 230
D.J. Ratliff, Jr., OL, 6-3, 300
Neill Lewnes, Sr., RB, 5-8, 170
Mark McNeill, Jr., WR, 6-3, 200
Jason Gonos, Sr., LB, 6-0, 205
Charlie Buenaman, Sr., DL, 6-1, 220
Ryland Depol, Jr., CB, 5-9, 170
John Anderson, Sr., SS, 5-10, 185
Drew Stanford, Sr., DL, 6-5, 215
Justin Ely, Sr., DB, 5-10, 185
Trey Quinn, Sr., LB, 6-3, 215
Ryan Hart, So., QB, 6-1, 185
J.P. Coombe, Sr., OL, 6-3, 220
Joe Liberto, Sr., WR/DB, 5-8, 165
SCHEDULE
Aug. 29, Gilman, 7
Sept. 5, John Carroll, 7
Sept. 12, at St. Vincent Pallotti, 7
Sept. 19, Calvert Hall, 7
Sept. 26, Boys’ Latin, 7
Oct. 3, at Georgetown Prep, 4
Oct. 10, at Cardinal Gibbons, 4
Oct. 17, Archbishop Curley, 7
Oct. 24, at Spalding, 7
Oct. 31, at St. Paul’s, 3
Nov. 7, Severn, 7
2007 RESULTS
Gilman, L 36-0
St. Vincent Pallotti, W 50-0
John Carroll, W 52-0
Boys’ Latin, W 56-14
Georgetown Prep, L 23-20
Cardinal Gibbons, W 20-7
Archbishop Curley, W 26-3
Spalding, L 21-19
St. Paul’s, W 32-6
Severn, W 48-0
Spalding, W 26-20* *- MIAA B finals
OUTLOOK: The Saints went 8-3 last season, capping the year with a 26-20 victory over Archbishop Spalding to capture to Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference championship. St. Mary’s returns to the field this season with several new faces.
The Saints lost a lot of key pieces from a season ago, including its coach and starting quarterback. But Best replaced Clay, and he brings a lot of experience at the school and on the sidelines.
Despite all the changes, Best is confident the team will build on last year’s success.
“There are a lot of real good kids coming back,” he said. “Like I told the players, everybody tries to knock off the team that won. Everybody’s going to come harder at you. With the kids we have, we’ll be fine.”
And, while last year’s accomplishments set the bar high for this season, Best said the team has what it takes to match last year’s success.
“We have a good group of young men that work real hard,” said Best, who has a 59-41 coaching record in 10 seasons at St. Mary’s. “We’ll take it one play at a time. If we get to where we’re playing hard each play, we’ll be fine.”
Comments solely reflect the views of and are the responsibility of users, not Capital Gazette Communications, Inc. or its suite of online properties including HometownAnnapolis.com, CapitalOnline.com, HometownGlenBurnie.com, and others. Readers may find some comments offensive or inaccurate. To comment, users agree to abide by rules of participation. If you believe a comment violates these rules, please notify us.
Post a comment
By posting a comment you acknowledge that you have read and will abide by the rules of participation.
To post comments, you must have a Hometown Account. Join now!
