In 1916, Art Thomas became the first coach of SLUH football. 106 year later, Adam Cruz is the 17th. His goal will be to improve on the team’s 7-4 record from last season, which ended at the hands of the Class 6 champion CBC Cadets in the District Finals. The Jr. Bills have a lot of good to build on as they return 11 starters from last year's playoff run. SLUH is ranked No. 7 in the area by both STL Today and GSV, but hope that the star-studded roster surrounding the first year coach will lead them to exceed expectations.  

Leading the team will be Marco Sansone who, like Cruz, also has a new title: starting quarterback. The junior will replace Luke Johnston ’22 and will hope to continue the legacy of the Sansone name in the program. 

“I am excited to be able to work with Coach Cruz and throw to some really talented guys,” said Sansone. “It should be fun.”

Sansone will have a plethora of weapons at his disposal, most notably junior Ryan Wingo. The 6-foot-2 five-star wide receiver caught 32 passes for 632 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, and scored four more on the ground and one on a punt return. Wingo’s sophomore season helped earn him 33 collegiate offers, and he is poised to have an even better year this time around. 

With last season's top wideout Chris Brooks, ’22, moving on to the University of Wisconsin, Wingo should see an increased target share and more volume. However, he is more than just an offensive threat. Wingo will serve as the punter for the second straight year. He averaged 42 yards per punt as his athleticism makes him a threat on fourth downs.

The rest of the offensive weapons also cannot be overlooked. Tight end Zach Ortwerth committed to Iowa over the summer and looks forward to his potential larger role in the receiving game. His 6-5 basketball frame makes him an elite run blocker and the perfect safety blanket for any QB. 

Sophomore Landon Pace will be behind Ortwerth in the depth chart, but also has the talent to be a starting caliber tight end most other years. The son of NFL Hall of Famer Orlando Pace, Landon has garnered much interest from college scouts, which has culminated in an offer from his father’s alma mater, Ohio State. 

Juniors Joe Harris and Nathan Gunn will complement Wingo in the receiving room and look to breakout in their expanded roles. Star cornerback Jacobi Oliphant will make the move to wide receiver this season, further boosting the aerial firepower of this years receiving threats.

“I am looking forward to the new season. Marco is looking good, and the rest of the offense has the talent to make an impact,” said Ortwerth. “As a team we had a good summer, we built a lot of trust in each other working out and learning a new offense and defense. We will have some new guys that will step up and fill some roles. I’m excited for what we can do this season.” 

To the relief of Sansone, the offensive line should be much improved from last year for one reason: experience. SLUH is returning four of the five starters from last season: senior Matthew Barnes at left tackle, junior Vince Chappius at center, senior Alex Fowler at right guard, and junior Gus Dames at right tackle. The left guard position has been a mix of junior Virshaun Mosely and senior Diego Torrez, who are battling for the starting job. 

“We have been looking pretty good so far,” said Barnes. “We have no first year varsity players starting for us and I think that our experience will help us work together as a unit.”

Senior Kam Bailey will look to take over as the starting running back, and freshman Jordan Taylor is also expected to have a sizable role running the ball. They will look to replicate the work of last year’s RB1 Derrick Baker, who accumulated 1,003 rushing yards.

On the defensive side of the ball the Jr. Bills return a number of starters, most notably junior defensive end Archie Carruthers, junior cornerback Jacobi Oliphant, and senior linebackers Louis Kertz, Ryan Kellogg, and Dillon Ramella. The secondary will see the additions of senior Trey Smith, freshman Keenan Harris, and Ryan Wingo, who will play free safety for the Jr. Bills. The defensive line will add juniors William Sheffield and Oliver Barcizewski, senior Jaylen Morris, and sophomore Landon Pace. 

“We have a very robust junior class, that’s just a fact. We have two junior captains and a lot of our returning starters were sophomores that started last year,” said Cruz. “But we still have a lot of great seniors that have been starters for the last three years. There’s Zach (Ortwerth) who’s committed to Iowa, Louis (Kertz) who was third last year in Class 6 in tackles, and many other guys who deserve praise.”

“I think our team kind of got into the lexicon of thinking ‘we’re going to be really good next year.’ I’ve really tried to keep us focused because this year is our year too,” said Cruz. “I’m really excited for our seniors and I want to see those juniors develop. There’s also a couple of sophomores and freshmen that can take the next step; we made a lot of good strides last year.”

The Jr. Bills’ first test came last Friday where they took part in the Eureka Jamboree along with Rockwood Summit and Vianney. Their first scrimmage against Eureka saw the defense shut down Eureka’s high powered rushing attack with key tackles made by senior linebackers Ramella, Kellogg, and Kertz. Once SLUH took possession they didn’t let off the gas as Sansone led the way with touchdown passes to juniors Jacobi Oliphant and Joe Harris leading SLUH to victory 2-0. 

Against lowly Vianney, the Jr. Bills pulled their starters in favor of giving some JV players some experience and still ended up shutting out the Griffins 2-0. 

The Jr. Bills faced off against Rockwood Summit for the final game who, again, were left scoreless with key defensive plays by senior cornerback Tre Smith, junior cornerback Jacobi Oliphant, and freshman safety Keenan Harris. SLUH finished the deal with another touchdown from Sansone to Oliphant to end the game 1-0.

Looking forward, the Jr. Bills have quite a daunting path ahead of them as their schedule has them facing a series of challenging out of conference foes. These include St. Mary’s (12-1 last season) in week one, who went undefeated in inner-state play last season, Timberland (7-4) in week two, Vashon (9-2) in week four, Jesuit cross-state rivals Rockhurst (4-6) in week 8, and Cardinal Ritter (7-7) in week nine.

“Our schedule is very challenging and what’s awesome about that is that we can never get tempted to look ahead because every week we have a really good team,” said Cruz. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves because there isn’t a single game on our schedule that we can take lightly. Last year, it was hard to keep our minds set versus now we know every week we’re going to have to be committed.”

The Jr. Billikens’ first showcase sees them face off this Friday night against last year's Missouri Class 3 Champions and inner-city rivals, St. Mary’s High School. It’s been six years since the Jr. Bills have won the opening home game of the football season, widely touted as the Running of the Bills, but this year's contest will come with a few challenges. While the Dragons lost star wideout Kevin Coleman, they come into the matchup led by a trio of highly recruited seniors: Chase Hendricks, a three-star wide receiver, Jamal Roberts, a three-star running back committed to Mizzou, and Donovan MacIntosh, a lengthy cornerback committed to Kansas State. St. Mary’s is ranked at the top of every small-school ranking of the St. Louis area and will provide a well-welcomed challenge to the Jr. Bills. SLUH currently holds a considerable 21-3 matchup advantage all-time but fell short in their last meeting 40-24, making Friday night’s matchup a must watch. To pull off a victory at the Running of the Bills, SLUH will need to shutdown Roberts in the trenches, prevent big plays through the air, and exploit their aerial advantage.