“The old saying ‘Defense wins championships’ is especially true in high school football. If you look at the past few state champions in Division I, they all had one thing in common - the best defensive units in the state.” - Dave Cicetti, Saint Ignatius defensive line coach
Coach Cicetti, one of the most talented coaches on the defensive side of the ball, has high expectations for this year’s D-line.
This year those high expectations will need to be met by the likes of Aidan Wells, Zach McMahan, Anthony Gerace, Max Watters, and Rico Levert.
The Wildcats start the season off with a bang as they take on three young but dangerous offenses in defending Division II state champion Archbishop Hoban, Division I state finalist Mentor and an up-and-coming Euclid team.
Cicetti acknowledged that the Wildcats’ first 3 opponents have a combined one year of starting experience at quarterback. Since those field generals are very talented, Cicetti said that the Wildcats need to force third-and-long situations and keep constant pressure on the young quarterbacks. Forcing early throws is a key, according to the Wildcats’ seasoned coach.
Coach Cicetti, along with Coaches Franzinger and Johnson, have worked tirelessly to form a “strong, tough-nosed, defensive unit that plays together in a unified effort.” The coaches use this as a point of pride and their players have bought into it. The Wildcats held opponents to 20 or fewer points eight times last season and only allowed 17 points per game in the playoffs.
Coach Cicetti is confident in the Wildcats’ offensive abilities but is also convinced that “if the opposing defense is having a good game and limiting our scoring opportunities that the defense can help take over the game and put our offense in good situations.”
Expect the Wildcats to play as fast as usual this year as Coach Cicetti mentions, “Much of our game plan is designed to confuse our opponents, but not be so elaborate that our defensive players hesitate due to too much thinking. This is the key to our aggressive defense, including stemming our fronts often.”
Cicetti also cited how “the game has evolved in such a way over the years that the offense has a significant advantage. The one advantage a defense has is to show one look pre-snap and change that look just prior to the snap. It messes up the offense’s reads and line-blocking assignments. This is how we create problems for opposing offenses.”
While expecting a lot of his defense this season, Coach Cicetti believes some of the main challenges this season will be facing those three great offenses early on in the season and trying to get promising newcomers Gerace, Watters, and Levert going right away.
The two leaders of this year’s D-line will be Zach McMahan and Harvard commit Aidan Wells. Both are expecting a confidence leap from last year.
“I’m expecting a confidence that I didn’t have last year; one could dare call it a swagger,” McMahan said.
McMahan, the senior hailing from Saint Thomas More, and Wells are two big names to learn if you don’t yet know them because this season both will live in the opposition’s backfield rent-free.
If you are a fan of HBO’s Hard Knocks, which this year is following the Cleveland Browns throughout training camp, you are familiar with star linebacker Christian Kirksey. Kirksey’s question to his teammates is “What is your why?” That is, why do you play football, or why do you do anything you do in life?
Zach’s “why” is “to continue the lineage of Saint Ignatius and all those who support the school.” Aidan’s “why” is “definitely playing for the guys that have come before us. I can vividly remember seeing disappointment on the faces of the 2016 team in the locker room following our loss in the state title game. It’s something I never want to experience again. Likewise, the D-line was particularly close with the seniors on the 2017 team, and all of us are playing for them. We want to make them proud.”
Wells said his ultimate goal is to “emulate the guys that have come before us, especially the 2016 D-line. The 2016 group understood the intricacies of playing the position, and they worked extremely hard at practice. My biggest thing is to set an example for the younger guys by giving everything I have while we are on the field.”
The rest of the Wildcats D-line will be covered by the junior trio of Anthony Gerace, Max Watters, and Rico Levert.
Gerace, who was an integral part of the JV team and doubled as the punter, will be a huge presence for the Wildcats this season. Anthony is a great athlete who could probably pick up any sport and do well. Aidan singled out Anthony, saying he will be able to hold his own at nose.
Watters, a Saint Angela graduate, also has been a multi-sport athlete throughout his life and caused two big fumbles two years ago in the freshman game versus Saint Edward. Max cited how tight the defensive line is on this year’s team. He loves the competitive level of practice as he said, “You can’t be successful in football or even in life if you’re not working to be the best at what you do. At the end of the day, we all just have to be there to help each other and improve.”
Levert dominated during the Solon scrimmage, plowing over a few guys in the O-Line vs D-Line drills. He’s primed to do well for the Wildcats this season. Rico has a great stature for his position and will be a force for the Wildcats. Aidan said Rico, along with Max, will be huge assets to the rotation this season.
Most plays are won or lost at the line of scrimmage, and the Wildcat defensive line should stand tall and be talked about for years to come - hopefully as a key unit that helped produce state title No. 12.