Nothing represents St. Stephen’s more than the hard work and determination of the Spartan Football team. While the team may not be off to the most convincing start thus far, they certainly have shown some promise against a much more rigorous schedule than last year. Given that it’s only the team’s second year playing 11-man football, they have shown grit and determination, and they are coming off a close game in which they lost to Cistercian by nine. 

Led by quarterback Cole “The Man” Davenport, the offense came alive last game for a total of 33 points, and the team was winning at the half before ultimately losing the lead. They were missing some key defensive players, which ultimately led to some points being scored, but it was a good fight nonetheless. Though they didn’t claim the victory,, they did show signs of a successful football team on both sides of the ball. Safety/wide receiver Ben Foster quoted that “they ain’t seen nothing yet. We may be down right now, but we’re going to come back stronger each game.” On the special teams side, kicker James Fear said “we’ve got some serious talent. All these guys play their hearts out, and I can feel it really starting to come together for us.”

Coached by Jay Patterson, otherwise known as J-Pat, the Spartans look forward to an away game against Oakridge on September 25. They then come back to The Hill to take on Fort Worth Country Day. The home games on campus are lively ones, with baseball phenom Bryce O’Sullivan saying he “[loves] the friday night lights on Denius.” Every Spartan fan—and football fan in general— should rest assured knowing that the rest of the season will be a blast.