The Cardinal Huskies’ football roster may be small in numbers, but Coach Keith Fife said they are not lacking in spirit. The Huskies will show just what a small team can do as they begin play in the Northeastern Athletic Conference this year.
“We have 19 kids, so it is a little rough with having 19 kids right now, but we are getting a lot of work and a lot of reps in with everybody,” the first-year coach said. “Technically we only have six kids that played under the lights on Friday, and we are trying to get everybody up to speed and prepared game one.”
In addition to having a small roster, the Huskies will enter the season fielding three seniors with only one of them having any meaningful varsity reps last season.
Fife said that although Cardinal’s roster size is underwhelming at the moment, the Huskies are expected to usher in some new talent over the next several years with promising numbers at the middle school and youth level. For now, Fife noted that it is all about setting the building blocks in place for the foreseeable future.
“We are doing a lot of classroom time going over offenses and defenses,” he added. “Print outs, paper, they have a whole notebook full of paperwork and we are spending a lot of one-on-one time with them. I have to tell them it might be rough now but by the time they are juniors and seniors we are going to be in a good place.”
Although Cardinal will have a lot to overcome with a small roster, it is beginning play in a new conference filled with teams that have roster sizes similar to theirs, which makes it more of an even playing field compared to the Huskies’ previous experience in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division.
“If we can be feisty and a hard-hitting team of tough little guys we will make it through the season just fine,” Fife said. “If we make it through the first part of the schedule, our toughest part, we will be able to hang with everybody in the NAC.”
Cardinal’s only returning senior with varsity experience is senior Matt Canfield, who will split time between tight end and outside linebacker. In addition to the 6-foot-3 senior, the other upperclassmen on the roster are senior offensive lineman/linebacker Sam Pannetti, and senior offensive lineman/defensive lineman Josh Phillips.
Leading the offense will be junior quarterback Joshua Miller, who will assume the role of signal-caller for the first time in his varsity career while also playing safety on defense.
“He has been studying our offense because it is a totally different offense than what we ran last year,” Fife said of the 6-foot junior. “He has the offense down to where he knows everybody is supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. I am going to say he has mastered our playbook already.”
After featuring a pass-heavy offense last year, Fife said that Cardinal will seek balance with a heavier focus on the running game, with the likes of junior tailback/outside linebacker Dominic Harris and sophomore running back/linebacker Mason Thistlethwaite in the backfield.
Fife called the 5-foot-7 Thistlethwaite the team’s swiss army knife, as he will fill a variety of roles on offense.
“With him being a sophomore and having time last year, even with our skill players, he has been a real role model to them and is explaining what it is like on Fridays to the incoming freshmen that will be contributing for us and is getting them ready like he got ready last year,” Fife said,
Junior Jaiden Fix, freshman Brayden Page and Canfield will be the key receivers that the team will look to ignite the passing game when the Huskies want to throw.
Fife said that the offensive line looks very promising, with the 6-foot-4 Phillips at left tackle, sophomore Aaron Kuzma at left guard, freshman Axel Young playing center, freshman Mason Adams at right guard and junior Xavier Apathy slated to play right tackle.
“Let me put it this way, they can be dangerous if they want to be.,” Fife said. “We are getting their minds in the right spot to get them to be very dangerous.”
Fife acknowledged that Cardinal’s depth will be tested especially on the defensive and the team has worked hard on improving its conditioning to prepare the players for playing on both sides during the full 48 minutes.
Fife said that Cardinal’s secondary will be tested but noted that the front seven consisting of the 5-foot-7 Thistlethwaite, the 5-foot-10 Fix, the 6-foot-4 Apathy, the 5-foot-10 Kuzma and the 6-foot-4 Phillips will play important roles on the defensive line.
The Huskies’ season begins when they travel to Leavittsburg to play LaBrae at LaBrae Stadium in Warren on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m.
