A breakout sophomore season didn’t quiet William (Trey) Solomon’s apprehension and nerves heading into his junior year.
It only heightened them.
“Now he’s supposed to be something,” Xavier coach Chris Stevens said.
Solomon considered himself a safety last year and just the fill-in in for injured starting running back Brent Scardapane. Now the job is all his and he feels the pressure of carrying the load and building off his success.
“This year I feel like I have to do something,” Solomon said.
Having his teammates and Stevens tell him he has plenty of help calmed him down somewhat. But it didn’t change his expectations for his team, which returns 13 starters after going a perfect 7-0 in the CHSFL Class AA-A division before losing to St. Joseph by the Sea of the ‘AAA’ in the playoffs.
“If you are going to be good and you already won the division, what kind of noise can you make in the playoffs?” said Stevens, who believes his team should be the league favorite again.
Solomon will form a versatile duo with Jimmy Wolfer in the backfield of Xavier’s vaunted single wing offense. He is the explosive runner and Wolfer has the better arm. The two will also be in the defensive backfield at free safety and cornerback, respectively. Solomon ran for 1,168 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.
“It will be a real threat to teams,” Wolfer said.
Brendan McCabe returns at fullback along with John Strehle, who has a cannon for an arm. There is an open competition for the second running back spot, which includes Marlboro junior transfer Marsalis Fairclaw. They will run behind a veteran offensive line that brings back Nick Turturro, Ricky Comis, Bryan Carley and Connor Sweet.
“If the defense throws something at us that we are not expecting, we can discuss it amongst outselves and not panic,” Comis said.
The depth continues on the defensive side of the ball as well where Stevens said they go two deep across the line with Sweet, Joe Cutrone, Luis Carpio, Mike Palillo, Comis and Joe Vasquez. He believes physical and hard-hitting junior Kevin Fitzpatrick could make a big impact at inside linebacker, a group that has some holes to fill.
“The kids from JV said once he puts pads on he’s an animal,” Sweet said of Fitzpatrick.
The Knights have plenty of reasons to believe they will be fighting for a spot atop the league again. This group wants to do that and a little bit more.
“The whole season we were on such a high then it was just a shock losing that first game,” Sweet said. “Because there are so many returning starters, it is making us work a lot harder.”