As the first week of practice wound down at Christian Brothers Academy, football coach Joe Burke threw himself into the action.
During defensive pursuit drills, Burke acted as the opposing team’s quarterback. At times, he’d hand the ball off to a tailback. Other times, he’d throw it in a manner that allowed his defensive players to intercept the pass.
It’s not the first or the last time Burke said he would take to the practice field as his team prepares to defend its Section 2 Class AA title.
“Things have gone pretty darn well so far,” said Burke. “We’ve got good turnout, and the kids have come back in pretty good shape.”
The Brothers have some questions to answer entering the season — the biggest being who will replace their trio of talented tailbacks of Elliot Croskey, Nick Marini and Max Anthony, all of whom graduated in June.
“No doubt, we lost some big kids,” said Burke. “But both Jaylen McIntyre and Nasir Tune have had some (playing) experience. Nasir had some great carries as a sophomore and again last year as a junior, and Jaylen had some big plays.”
One thing Burke said CBA will do to take pressure off its running game is to get some big plays through the air. Quarterback Joe Kolbe returns this season, along with receivers Austin Ellis and Mike Leffler.
“I think we’re going to have to do a better job of mixing the run and the pass,” said Burke. “Joe Kolbe did a great job for us last year. He threw for about 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. We didn’t throw it a lot, but he was very effective when he did.”
CBA’s vaunted defense also took some hits during the off-season with the graduations of Anthony, Croskey and Marini. But Burke said this year’s crew will be tough on opposing offenses for a different reason.
“I think we’re going to be a little bit different. We’ll have a little more speed on defense than we did last year,” said Burke. “We lost some big guys up front, but we’ll be experienced in the secondary.”
Ellis and Donald Vivian return to anchor CBA’s secondary. Vivian was one of the Brothers’ top defenders last year, as he was among the team’s leaders in tackles (85), interceptions (seven) and sacks (eight).
“We’re going to get him more involved in the offense, too,” Burke said of Vivian, who started some games last year at quarterback when Kolbe suffered an injury.
CBA will be tested out of the gate this season. The Brothers open at home Friday, Sept. 5, against the team they defeated in last year’s sectional final, Shaker. Then they travel to LaSalle Sept. 12 for the renewal of the Sabre Game, followed by their Empire Division opener Sept. 19 against Shenendehowa in Colonie.
Burke said facing Shaker in a rematch of last year’s final — which CBA won 12-7 on a goal-line stand — could be the best thing for both teams.
“I think there’s an advantage to that,” said Burke. “Regardless of the team CBA and the team Shaker put on the field in week one or how we wind up at the end of the year, it’s an advantage because it’s an easy motivator.
“While the motivation is great, it’s still week one. We’ll have a couple of weeks to see what kind of team we’ll have,” said Burke.
2014 schedule
Sept. 5 — Shaker, 7 p.m.
Sept. 12 — at LaSalle, 7 p.m.
Sept. 19 — Shenendehowa, 7 p.m.
Sept. 26 — Ballston Spa, 7 p.m.
Oct. 4 — at Guilderland, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 10 — at Saratoga, 7 p.m.
Oct. 17 — Albany, 7 p.m.