News Headlines
Cary Christian football gaining ground
Four years ago, Cary Christian fielded its first varsity eight-man football team. Two years later, coach Dell Cook still had to teach players the basics of football itself, not just the intricacies of the eight-man game. There were hard times during the NCISSA program’s beginning years, but that patience might pay off sooner rather than later.
When last year's season ended with a heart-wrenching 42-40 loss against Northeast Academy, the No. 2 team in the state, it proved to the players just how far things had come, and how close the Knights were to becoming an established presence.
“We had the opportunity to beat the No. 2 team in the state, and we let it slip away,” junior quarterback Robert Schultz, who has been in the program since his seventh grade year, said. “That fresh blood is still there, the taste is still there. I think everybody is still fired up for this season.”
Since last year’s Cary Christian team was mostly underclassmen, there were a number of returning players hungry to exceed last year’s success.
“Through workouts this summer, everybody was like, ‘This is for Northeast.’ We want to be there to beat them and be ready, so that was huge motivation,” linebacker Sam Kasucci said. “The way it ended last year was horrible for most of us.”
But if there’s one thing being so close to breaking through can do for a program, it’s excite the fan base. Interest at the school has reached a high-water mark this year, as indicated by the 33 players that have come out to play junior varsity. Just nine players made up the school’s first JV team in 2005.
“They’re really buying it. I think they love the idea of playing for their school,” Cook said. “That generates a lot of enthusiasm so we’re really excited for the future, regarding to their commitment to this school’s program.”
Players said they’ve noticed the groundswell of support from the rest of the school in recent years. Last year was the first homecoming in school history, and this year there will be a Knight mascot.
“It’s still growing and it’s got more room to grow and over the years, definitely, as more people have put time into the system, it’s become more and more popular,” junior running back/linebacker Matt Daum said. “We keep adding new things and drawing in more people, [and] the school has really been backing us up, which is great.”
Schultz added, “Every year we get a few more bleachers to add to the stands,” as an indicator of how the program continues to grow in popularity.
If the Knights are to make this a breakout season after finishing 4-6 last year, they will rely heavily on Daum, Kasucci, Schultz and senior wide receiver/defensive end James Montgomery.