Football: It wasn’t exactly a picture-perfect start to the season for the St. Clair/Loyola Spartans football team. They suffered one of their biggest losses in recent history in a 59-0 shellacking against Norwood Young America on Friday, August 30. The two teams played each other in the Spartan’s opener for the 2023 season. While the Spartans conceded a 21-6 defeat against the NYA Raiders, a late-game push gave the Class AA Spartans a brief moment of opportunity for a comeback against the juggernaut that would go 8-1 to end their 2023 season.
Coach Dustin Bosshart enters the year with a young squad filled with sophomores and juniors who would experience Varsity-level play for the first time; he detailed the game plan for a fresh Spartan squad that would focus primarily on “Doing our job and staying within our roles. We know we’re a young team, but we have to pick each other up and focus on the play in front of you.”
After a series of scrimmages held the previous week, the Spartans decided who to start at the quarterback position as senior Preston Grams earned the spot after an impressive control of the offense. The scrimmages also gave Bosshart and his coaching staff homework as Coach admitted “there were some growing pains” due to the team’s youth, but it would be a point of emphasis to “focus on the fine details of our game and work to cut down on our mistakes. The rest will come as the season goes on.”
A rematch between the two schools quickly became a highly anticipated matchup as Spartans fans filled the bleachers, the student section was located at the Spartan endzone, and scores of students wore bright yellow shirts and orange safety vests for whatever reason as the start of the football season always brings everyone together. Football. However, it was a tough outing for the Spartans as the Raiders overwhelmed them at all three stages of the game on the path to a shocking 31-0 lead in the first quarter. It was a quarter of firsts for many football fans as the Spartans fell victim to two safeties within minutes of each other and had one safety punt returned for a touchdown.
The Spartan offense struggled throughout the entire game as they netted -11 total yards; protection was a key issue throughout the game as Grams and Chase Bade were met by defenders quickly as the line struggled to contain a dominant Raider front. Grams was under constant duress as the pocket collapsed, and he received several hard hits, with one defender slamming him to the turf. The Spartan defense showed some promising signs after giving up a quick touchdown to the Raiders as Danny Wood forced a turnover during the next Norwood possession, but that good feeling was short-lived as Austin Ward fumbled on the following play for the Spartans.
The second offensive possession went from bad to worse as a broken play resulted in a safety for the Spartans; to pour salt into the self-inflicted wound, the proceeding kickoff would then be returned by the Raiders as the return man zipped past oncoming tacklers. A nine-point swing in about 10 seconds served as a gut punch for the coaches, the players, and the fans as the Spartans found themselves down 25 points after the first quarter.
The second quarter showed a bit of heart from the Spartans as the defense forced a fourth and five for the Raiders, but a conversion led to a touchdown on the next play. Grams provided some much-needed grit as he scrambled and endured some punishment to gain a first down for his team; however, the Spartans continued to be pushed back by an aggressive Raiders line as the drive stalled out, and the punt would again be returned for another touchdown for Norwood.
While the defense played well enough to contain the Raiders to several punts, the offense could not capitalize on their brief windows of momentum as they entered halftime down 45-0. It was certainly not the ideal way to start the season for a team filled with passionate athletes and a determined coaching staff, and Bosshart gathered his players to “play with a sense of Spartan pride. We are going to dig deep and work on one thing to improve on to get back into this second half and build on that.”
That one thing appeared to be the defensive side of the ball. The Spartans appeared more locked in out there, holding the Raiders back on several possessions throughout the second half. The offensive woes remained as Austin Ward took a few snaps at QB as the Spartans began to use motion into the flow of the offense, which had some occasional success; however, Grams rarely had enough time to assess his options to make a decision as he faced swarming defenders within moments of hiking the ball. The game seemed more competitive going into the fourth quarter as the reserves for both teams played out the rest of the game, and Will Youngerberg returned a kickoff for 39 yards. Ultimately, the Spartans had much to consider as the final seconds ticked off the clock of a 59-0 defeat.
It was a tough loss for a Spartan team and its fans, as emotions seemed to overtake some players. But their teammates would be the first ones to offer support with some seniors motivating the younger players to use that emotion as inspiration on the field. There were plenty of promising signs of life from a youthful team that will no doubt remember this feeling and use it as fuel to get better. Bosshart and his coaching staff will work to bolster its defense and find a way to mix the talent on offense to put some points on the scoreboard as they go on the road to face off against Mayer Lutheran on September 6. Go Spartans!
