Prep football | After an incomplete start to spring, Saint Stephen's is ready to build on historic season
BRADENTON -- It took until May 9, less than two weeks before Saint Stephen's takes the field for the first time in 2016, for the Falcons' offense to finally start resembling the machine it was in 2015.
Eleven days before SSES' spring classic at Saint Stephen's Episcopal School, quarterback Fred Billy, running back Demetrius Davis, and wide receivers Jordon Murrell and Lethario Jones finally made their way to the football field at Moore Athletic Complex at Turner Fields.
The foursome was two days removed from helping the Falcons secure a fourth-place medal in the 400-meter relay at the Class 1A track and field championship at IMG Academy Field, and
they joined a team which had to make strides without the foundation of both its offense and secondary, where all four are contributing defensive backs.
"I was just happy to be back," Billy said. "Everyone was doing their job and we just hopped right back in. We didn't skip a beat."
With less than two weeks of having any semblance of a full roster together to prepare, SSES will host St. Petersburg Catholic at 7 p.m. Friday for its spring classic in Bradenton.
Saint Stephen's hasn't had to worry about reshuffling much of its roster from last year, which brought the most successful season in program history. The Falcons rode a high-powered offense to the Sunshine State Athletic Conference championship game with only two seniors on the roster.
Replacing defensive end Jake Westberry, a Fresno State commit, and safety Bobby Harrison, both of whom were All-Area selections in the fall, will of course present some challenges. The spring has been a chance to figure out how.
"Although they're two kids, they started in all three aspects of the game, so it's really like losing five or six. That's the challenge," head coach Tod Creneti said. "Our young guys are learning how to lead and taking over the roles that were vacated by those guys. I've seen some guys be vocal. I've seen some guys ratchet up their work ethic because they understand it's their time to be part of the leadership."
One of SSES' top contributors who has been around since Saint Stephen's started spring practice May 2 is Peyton Vining, who spent last year playing alongside Harrison at safety and is sliding into the box full-time as an outside linebacker this year.
Westberry's 10 sacks made him the Falcons' most productive defensive player last year, Harrison was described by Billy as "the heart of that defense" and joined his fellow senior on the All-Area second team.
Westberry's size will be the hardest aspect for typically undersized SSES to overcome and Creneti hopes rising freshman Dylan Davis, a 6-foot, 220-pound lineman, can fill some of that physical hole.
Replacing Harrison is as much about finding a leader as it is finding an athlete to make plays on the perimeter, and Vining is a logical replacement.
"Peyton for me is probably the biggest change physically," defensive coordinator Chris Valcarcel said. "He's bigger, faster, stronger exponentially than he was last year. He's going to fill Bobby's shoes physically and be a huge upgrade physically. Our biggest thing with Bobby was he was the quarterback of my defense."
Saint Stephen's will go into its spring game with 23 players, three fewer than where the Falcons were to start the fall last year and 10 fewer than where they finished the season.
The expectation for SSES is to once again crack 30 in the fall, when relatively little turnover from last fall should have Saint Stephen's in position to once again contend in the SSAC.
"As it always with us in the spring, we'll look completely different in the fall," Creneti said. "Everything we're doing right now is to prepare for the fall."
David Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be contacted at 941-745-7057 or on Twitter @DBWilson2.
This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Prep football | After an incomplete start to spring, Saint Stephen's is ready to build on historic season ."