By Kyle LoJacono
The Steinbrenner football team posted a 5-5 record in the program’s second season in 2010. Good enough for most new schools, but not for one that already has two state championships.
The girls soccer program won the Class 4A state title in February and Alexis Wright claimed the 2A girls 100-meter hurdles crown in April.
“It’s really amazing the school already has state titles and it’s pushing us to get better,” said Warriors football coach Floyd Graham.
Steinbrenner will not lose too many graduating seniors, but two will be difficult to replace. Tight end Tobi Antigha and inside linebacker Alex Bombino were the leaders of the offense and defense respectively, according to Graham.
“We had 13 injuries in the first two games, so we had to move a lot of kids up,” Graham said. “We had a lot of starters who were freshmen last year, so they have eight or nine games of experience. We’re still trying to find someone to replace Tobi at tight end and for a go-to receiver. John Marc Carrier and Josh Roberts are having a great spring, and I hope they can step in.
“Bombino, that’s a tough one to lose, but one guy who has taken over his leadership role is Amiri Brown, and I think he is going to be one of the best linebackers to ever walk out of here,” Graham continue. “Logan McKnight is moving from running back to focus on linebacker and I think can be very good too.”
McKnight, a sophomore, will likely replace Bombino at inside linebacker in 2011. He is not shy about what his goals are in for the coming fall.
“I want to lead the county in tackles,” McKnight said. He then added, “Alex was a great player for us. I’m hoping I can do all the good things he did and improve on what he did for our defense.”
Another force for the Warriors defense will be junior lineman Alex Vega, who transferred from Plant as a sophomore. He believes the defense will be a strength in 2011.
“We have a lot of underclassmen on the defense and that’s a good thing because they’re all coming back,” Vega said. “We lose Bombino, who was a great player, but we’re mostly all back on the defense.”
Vega played football at Plant, which has won three state championships and finished as the 5A runner-up in 2010. The difference in history is stark between the two programs, but Vega relishes the opportunity to help build a football legacy with the Warriors.
“We were starting from ground zero,” Vega said. “You don’t have a program established like Plant. Coach Graham and the other coaches had to have kids coming from other schools and make them a team. It’s different, but it’s exciting too.”
The offense was a little unstable for Steinbrenner at the start of 2010. Senior Christian Carrier was the main quarterback for most of 2009 and the start of last year, but Graham made the switch to freshman Curtis Fitch near the middle of the season. Fitch finished with 656 passing yards and five touchdowns and is expecting more consistency in 2011.
“I want to get a more stable offense going,” Fitch said. “It’s going to happen if we continue to work hard in every practice. It starts with that.”
The Warriors employed a Wing-T offense most of last year, which uses a power sweeping running game and short passes. Graham said freshman running back Jake Carroll will be key for the scheme to be effective.
“We moved him up from junior varsity after we had all those injuries,” Graham said. “The first time he touched a ball in a varsity contest he had a kickoff return for a touchdown against Jesuit. He won the spot and averaged more than 100 yards a game and had 12 touchdowns.”
Carroll said the team was building momentum at the end of last year and thinks a good spring can springboard them into the fall.
“We’re so new, so we want to set the tone this spring,” Carroll said. “We want to continue going in the right directions and go out and make the playoffs for the first time.”
Graham agrees with Carroll about the roll the team was on to end 2011.
“Our goal was to be competitive last year,” Graham said. “We were competitive in all but two games, which were against the top two in the district in Jesuit and Robinson. We won five of those other eight games and lost one by one point and won our last two games. It was those young guys who did that and they’re all back.”
