Around the county in 30 days A daily spring preview of every football program in the county
St. Petersburg Catholic
Coach: Tod Creneti (third season, 5-15)
Last season: 2-8
District: Class 2A-5 (George Steinbrenner, Jesuit, Lennard, Middleton, Robinson, Strawberry Crest)
Key losses: OL Jon Halapio, WR/DB Quinn Lyons, WR Nick Filtz, RB/LB T.J. Snead
Who's back: RB/DB Keelyan Bryant, OL/LB Cody LeClair, OL/DL Paul Medling, QB Chris McKay, WR Tim McKay, WR/DB Julian Smith, OL/DL Mike Yanchunis, OL/LB Jacob Zinge
What's new: The Barons have a large hole to fill on the offensive line with the graduation of Halapio. The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder will be playing for Florida. Two holdovers from last year's line, Tom Eckelcamp and Tim Conti, will be counted on to provide experience. Another lineman, Medling, went down with a knee injury in the spring game, and Creneti said he is waiting to hear how long he will be out. If the line comes together, St. Petersburg Catholic could do some things on offense. Chris McKay is back at quarterback and has plenty of targets, including brother Tim McKay and Smith. The ground game is set with the return of Bryant, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season. On defense, the Barons return eight starters. Yanchunis and Medling anchor the defensive line, and LeClair and Zinge are the leaders at linebacker.
Audible: "We've got a lot of guys back and we're excited about the guys coming up. We should be better on both sides of the ball. I think we can win some more games this year." — Creneti
Did you know? Smith already has an offer from Indiana and Creneti said more should follow. Bryant doesn't have an offer from a major Division I school but should by the fall.
Spring game: Lost 48-12 to St. Petersburg
2009 season
Sept. 4vs. Berkeley Prep
Sept. 11at Northside Christian
Sept. 18at Keswick Christian
Sept. 25vs. Lennard
Oct. 2at George Steinbrenner
Oct. 9at Strawberry Crest
Oct. 16vs. Robinson
Oct. 23vs. Middleton
Nov. 6at Jesuit
Nov. 13vs. Clearwater Central Catholic
Bob Putnam, Times staff writer
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