Varsity Football

BY COACH DAN BURKE

“Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort.” This Theodore Roosevelt quote captures the attitude of this team, a team that was ready to put forth the effort required to be successful starting last winter. After finishing 3-5 last season, and knowing that the margin between victory and defeat was so small last year and always is in this league, the captains, Landon Bailey, Ryan Donovan, and Zion Simmons, and the rest of the senior leaders decided that this team was going to work harder in the offseason and in practice than they ever had before. All of this hard work, dedication, and unity earned us a 6-2

In addition, this team had two angels looking over us this season. On the back of our helmets we wore the initials KK and RN in memory of Ken Kelly, father of George Kelly ’26, and Regina Najarian, mother of Sebu ’24. Playing for them, their brothers on the team, and their extended Seb’s football family gave the team extra motivation each week.

As the season started with high hopes after all of the hard work in the offseason, we wanted to make sure we did not get too far ahead of ourselves and adopted a “1-0 each week” mentality. Starting with Governor's week one, we knew we had a tough matchup since we had lost in one score games the last two times we opened the season with them. We got off to a great start in the game but up just 14-6 at halftime, it looked like it could have been heading the way of another one score game. The extra work in the offseason and preseason paid off though as we had reserves in the tank, scoring three second half TDs on the way to a 34-12 win over a strong Governor's team who also finished the ISL season at 6-2. The defense was outstanding in that game and all season, finishing as the stingiest defense in the ISL, yielding just 13.1 points per game in league play. Quarterback Ty Ciongoli ’25 threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns in his first varsity start to lead the offense. 1-0 after week one, we knew we hadn’t accomplished our larger goals yet and, in our minds, reset our record to 0-0.

After a gritty 14-6 victory over Nobles in week two to go 1-0 that week, our third game was our Homecoming game vs. Belmont Hill. On a beautiful day in front of hundreds of alumni, family, and friends, the Arrows jumped out to an early lead when Quincy Pickett ’23 stripped the ball from the Belmont Hill quarterback and fellow defensive lineman Jordan Atkinson ’23 scooped up the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. A couple second half scores by the offense and tough Arrows defense throughout brought us to 1-0 for the third week in a row with a 24-8 win, punctuated by the fans rushing the field to celebrate the Homecoming victory with their Arrows brothers.

Coming off a week four 20-3 win down at Tabor, the table was set for a showdown with also undefeated Lawrence Academy in what was one of the best St. Seb’s football games in recent memory. Lawrence Academy struck first and looked to take a 7-0 lead into halftime, but the Arrows offense executed a 95-yard drive that began with just 1:23 left, ultimately scoring on a 49-yard screen pass from Ty Ciongoli ’25 to George Kelly ’26 with eight seconds left in the half. That touchdown evened the score and won us momentum that we retained for the remainder of the game on the way to a

19-14 victory. Now at 5-0, we felt great about the start but maintained our 1-0 every week approach. Unfortunately, we dropped our next two in close games to Milton Academy (20-13) and to BB&N (21-20). After these tough losses, the team did not give up, and the senior leaders made sure that we were going to do all we could to be ready to go 1-0 in the final week vs. Thayer. On slippery terrain and in wild, stormy weather that gave way to tropical heat, two interceptions, one touchdown, and two 2-pt. conversions by tri-captain Zion Simmons ’23 led the way to a tight 23-21 victory in the final regular season game, leaving us with a 6-2 ISL record. We knew that this victory likely secured us a NEPSAC Bowl berth, and shortly after our game, we learned that the only one loss team left in the league, Lawrence Academy, lost their final game, resulting in a three-way tie for the ISL title between them, us, and Governor's. We were ecstatic when we arrived back on campus from Thayer and were able to celebrate the ISL title in the locker room together.

We found out the next day that we did receive a berth into the Dave Coratti NEPSAC Bowl Game vs. Brooks (7-1) the following weekend up at their campus in North Andover. Brooks jumped out to a quick start, and we were not able to respond in the first half, resulting in a 21-0 deficit heading into the second half. While we played much better on both sides of the ball in the second half, Brooks ended up holding on for a 21-12 win.

Football and sports in general are about a lot more than wins and losses, and even if this team had not earned an ISL Championship, this season would have been a success because of how tight we were as a team. I always want our guys to love competing together, to never give up in any situation, to play with respect and dignity, and to respond well to adversity. There is no doubt that this team lived up to those expectations, and so much of that is due to the leadership of the Class of 2023.