As over 200 freshmen came streaking down Oakland Ave. last Friday doused in blue to kick off their time as Jr. Bills, the St. Louis U. High football team also kicked off its 2026 season, facing off against Hazelwood Central. With head coach Adam Cruz entering his fifth season as head coach, the Jr. Bills were eager to show the world their new team, new playmakers, and new identity. The team dominated the Hawks 43-2 in front of an ecstatic home crowd, giving just a brief glimpse of what is to come for the SLUH football team this season.

^{Fitzpatrick dives in for the touchdown.  photo | Andrew Hammond}

“It’s always a great atmosphere coaching in front of the crowd,” said Cruz. “They’re actually a huge distraction to the other team whenever they come in.”

The Hawks won the toss and chose to receive, giving the famed SLUH defense the chance to take the field first. On the first defensive series of the season, SLUH defense took advantage of a botched snap, a penalty, and an attempted screen pass to push the Hawks back ten yards and force a punt on fourth and 20. 

“It felt great to be back out there. Defense was flying around, making plays,” said junior captain Anthony Busby Jr. “We all played connected and everybody was on the same page.” 

The Jr. Bills offense, led by sophomore Patrick Ramella, younger brother of captain John Ramella, took the field on the Hawks’ 46-yard line, and wasted no time showing off their running attack. On just the second play of the drive, Ramella took off, barreling into Hazelwood Central’s defense for a gain of seven.

“I had confidence in myself, and Coach Danzy and Coach Cruz had the confidence in me to go out and do what I needed to do,” said Patrick Ramella. “I used box breathing, which I learned in Dr. Scarpino’s English class, before the game to calm my breathing down.”

On third and 2, behind the moving wall which is SLUH’s offensive line, junior Tyler Kozminske broke free for a 34-yard rush, being shoved out of bounds at just the 4-yard line. Kozminske finished the job on second and goal, taking a jet sweep handoff, breaking four tackles and diving into the end zone for SLUH’s first score of the year. Senior Mason Wilkerson knocked the ball through the uprights as “Oh When the Bills” trumpeted from the sidelines to put SLUH up 7-0.

“I feel like I fit in well, I trust my line, I trust the QB, and we’re only getting better so can’t wait to see what the new position brings,” said Kozminske.

A long kick return from the Hawks gave them excellent field position on their 47, then improved by an offsides penalty from SLUH. Despite this blunder, defensive captain Anthony Busby Jr stepped up and had two straight tackles behind the line of scrimmage, forcing yet another punt. 

Taking over at their own 25-yard line, the Jr Bill offense went right back to work, as Ramella took off on a designed QB run, bouncing off multiple tackles for a gain of 18. After a roughing the passer penalty, SLUH got into Hawk territory, where Ramella continued to show off his legs, rushing for 8 more. 

“I get my running from Coach Danzy, he’s told me to just go out there and have fun,” said Ramella. “Just staying up, not falling down after one hit, being an athlete.” 

Now in the red zone, Ramella put junior tight end Henry Fitzpatrick in motion, who snuck behind the defense into the flat where Ramella connected with him. With the ball in his hands, Fitzpatrick broke one tackle then dove into the corner of the end zone for the Jr. Bills second score and Ramella’s first passing touchdown of his varsity career.

The Hawks’ offense, taking over at the 35, started their drive getting obliterated by Busby in the backfield, but hit on a screen pass on second down for 35 yards, with junior Markell Armstrong tackling the ball carrier before he broke to the end zone. 

Kicking off the second quarter with a holding penalty, the Hawks threw an interception to junior cornerback Cornelius Anderson Jr, a transfer from Althoff Catholic (Illinois), who took it to the 45. 

“CJ was a lockdown corner for us,” said Busby. “He got a great interception. The whole corner room is full of dogs.” 

The ensuing drive, just four plays long, consisted of four completions, the last one being a 48-yard bomb to Kozminske, streaking down the Hazelwood Central sideline. Being chased by two defenders, Kozminske planted his foot into the ground and spun, sending the defenders crashing into each other, before speeding to the end zone for his second score of the night.

Hazelwood Central started their next drive at the 48, and quickly capitalized on the good field position, finding a receiver downfield for a big play, putting them at the 16, their best field position of the night. However, the hope didn’t last long, as on the next pass attempt, senior NIU commit John Ramella picked off a deflected pass at the 21 for SLUH’s second of the night. However, a flag was thrown for celebrating, pinning the offense in the shadow of their goalposts at the 10-yard line. The offense was unable to produce any yardage, and was sacked in the end zone for a safety, giving Hazelwood Central their only points of the night.

“The safety was just a dumb, underclassman mistake,” said Patrick Ramella. “But I had guys on the sideline telling me to keep my head up, bounce back and be a better player.”

“Starting as a sophomore will have its inevitable ups and downs,” said Cruz. “But he’s got a lot of moxie, and he’ll need it.”

The struggles continued for the Jr. Bills, as the Hawks took the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Jr Bills 18. The SLUH defense looked as though they would be off the field quickly, getting two TFLs and forcing an incomplete pass to bring up fourth and 19, but the Hawks completed a heave to get the first down and put them within six yards of the end zone. 

However, the Jr. Bills quickly made up for their mistakes, getting right back in the backfield and getting two straight sacks before forcing an incomplete pass on fourth and goal from the 23. 

This gave Patrick Ramella and the offense another opportunity from inside their own 25, this time with the clock ticking under 2:00. A pair of runs from both Ramella and Kozminske gave the Jr. Bills a fighting chance for another score with 0:45 left in the first half. Ramella connected with sophomore Tristen Johnson to flip the field and put the Jr Bills right back in scoring position. 

It didn’t take long for Ramella to get his third TD of the night, finding sophomore Graham Ghere wide open down the field, who dove to the end zone for his first catch of the season. With a successful two-point conversion, the Jr Bills went to the locker room up 29-2.

With the sun setting behind the Science Center, the Jr Bills emerged from the locker room for the second half receiving the opening kickoff. The ball fell into the hands of senior cornerback and captain Quincy Jones, who, behind the superb blocking of the kickoff return team, took the ball all the way down to the Hazelwood Central 40-yard line. Despite this great field position, the Hawks’ defense forced a turnover on downs after just one first down. 

However, the Jr. Bills defense refused to let up, as Busby was right back in the Hazelwood Central backfield on second down for a nine yard sack. On third and 18, the defensive line forced the Hawk’s QB to scramble, and with senior middle linebacker Sam Yust rushing towards him, hurled an errant throw down the field. Armstrong, streaking in from the opposite side of the field, leapt over the receiver to snag the interception.

The mishaps continued for Ramella and the offense, as a sack on second down proved to be too much for them, forcing a punt after a three-and-out. The defense continued to do what they do best, with Yust getting the quarterback to the ground after he attempted to scramble away. 

“Sam did a really nice job starting his first game at middle linebacker,” said Cruz. 

The Hawks lined up for yet another third and long, and as the defensive line collapsed in, an attempted screen pass was intercepted by senior defensive end Finn Kavanagh, who, with eyes on the quarterback, jumped the pass and took the ball down to the 18. 

Senior quarterback Patrick Stein was subbed in for Ramella and took advantage of the prime field position he was given. Executing four straight runs down the mouth of the defense, Stein hammered his way into the end zone.

“Once I got into the groove, we were rolling” said Stein. “It’s really easy running behind Kaiden (Eleby), Jay Green, (Alex) Reh, Cash (Kirberg).”

After yet another celebration penalty was called on the Jr. Bills, they kicked off from their own 25, and Hazelwood Central took the squibbed kick back to SLUH’s 46. Now, with the clock ticking closer to 0, Hazelwood Central was able to break off one run of 18 before being stopped shy of another first down by senior cornerback Micah Shaw. 

With the ball at their own 20-yard line, Stein went right back to work, scrambling for a gain of 11 before finding senior Atticus Arbetter on the sideline for a gain of 25 yards . 

After setting up a second and 6, Stein bounced another rush outside, this time taking the ball himself up Hazelwood’s sideline for 32 yards before being shoved out at the 7-yard line. Stein finished the job, punching the ball for his second score on the ground, capping off his 82-yard and two touchdown night.

“I see a lot of correlation between rugby and my running style” said Stein, who won a state championship with the rugby team last year. “That was a major reason why I played rugby, to get better for football.”

SLUH’s defense forced one final three-and-out and a punt, allowing the clock to tick to 0:00, sending the freshman into one last craze. SLUH finished out the game with four interceptions, 200 yards on the ground, 206 through the air, and six touchdowns.

“It was a really good start, something we can build off of,” said Kozminske. “I thought it gave a glimpse of what we could do and what we can be if we all play the game we know we’re capable of playing.”

CBC

Tonight, the Jr. Bills will head down I64 to face off against the 0-1 CBC Cadets. The Cadets, who suffered a 52-21 loss last week to Louisville Trinity (Kentucky), are a year-in and year-out top-10 team in Missouri, despite having a younger roster this year.

”Number one thing (against CBC) is to continue getting to the quarterback like we did against Hazelwood Central,” said Busby. “Get some hits on him and do that for all four quarters.”

“The biggest change every team goes through is from Week 1 to Week 2, so we’re gonna grow a lot,” said Cruz. “They're talented, very well coached, but we have a lot of talent too, we’re well coached too, and that’s why you play the games.”