Senior-laden Saint Stephen’s defense ready for final step in 2016

It has been four years since Saint Stephen’s finished with a losing record. The Falcons moved to the Sunshine State Athletic Conference for the 2013 season and immediately rounded the corner.

They won six games during the regular season that year and have added to that total every year since. For the seniors at St. Stephen’s, all they know is playing for a winning team.

So when Jordan Murrell, Jordon Murrell, Peyton Vining, Lethario Jones Jr. and Alex Virgilio came together as freshmen during the fall of 2013, they viewed themselves as the core of a defense — and program — ready to become a private-school powerhouse.

“We were all really excited about this year,” Virgilio said. “We were all freshmen at the same time. We were all excited. We were like, ‘Man, when we get to be seniors, we’re going to cause a lot of teams some trouble.’”

Four years later, Virgilio and Co. have already delivered on their promise. Saint Stephen’s defense in 2015 featured two seniors but held opponents to fewer than 200 total points for the first time since 2005. They should once again start across the linebacker corps and secondary and could make the defense even better despite the graduations of second-team All-Area stars Jacob Westberry, a defensive lineman now playing for Fresno State, and Bobby Harrison, a safety.

The departure of Westberry is critical because of his sheer talent and versatility. A two-way starter, Westberry solidified both lines and left both units with a measure of uncertainty. Harrison’s departure creates as much a leadership void as one of talent.

“If something happened to Bobby last year,” head coach Tod Creneti said, “that hole develops right away.”

He and Virgilio, a linebacker, split defensive playcalling duties in 2015. Virgilio called out the strong side while Harrison relayed coverage calls to the rest of the defensive backs. As the lone senior in the defensive backfield, Harrison was used as defensive coordinator Chris Valcarcel’s on-field surrogate.

This year, Virgilio should take Harrison’s place as Valcarcel’s primary playcaller Peyton Vining will take the lead in coverage. All five, though, will play a role in Creneti’s ideal defense.

“They all have a sense of what we do,” Creneti said. “We’re seeing a defense that’s relying on more pieces to communicate, which I actually think is probably good.”

Vining will take Harrison’s place at safety while also sliding up to an outside linebacker role. Jones will play a similar role as an inside-the-box strong safety with Jordan Murrell filling a more traditional pass-rushing outside linebacker role. Jordon Murrell should be St. Stephen’s top cornerback for the second straight season.

A defense four years in the making has cultivated the depth to survive even the biggest losses. This coming season will test what Saint Stephen’s has built.

“We’re not just one or two players,” Virgilio said. “We just had to the fill the gaps.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Senior-laden Saint Stephen’s defense ready for final step in 2016."