Veteran Marquette Academy squad smaller, but more athletic

It remains to be seen whether the 2022 Marquette Crusaders will be able to grind opponents into submission as they have most years during the tenure of head coach Tom Jobst.

But if they can this year, they’ll be doing it in a little different way.

The Crusaders will be missing two of their biggest pieces – graduated offensive guards Beau and Brady Ewers – but the veteran coach will have at his disposal a whole passel of very talented, very athletic, very smart returnees from last fall’s 9-2 club who will be more than capable to repeating that dominance, and maybe even tack a few more wins on that record.

The Times Fall 2021 Football Player of the Year Tommy Durdan, fullback Jurnee Reed, quarterback Alex Graham, a trio of stout linemen in Noah Barth, Stefan Swords and Aiden Thompson and many other returnees should have the Cru loaded and ready for bear when its independent schedule kicks off against Aurora Christian on Aug. 26, the first of four straight home games at Gould Stadium.

“One thing about this team is that we’re smaller than we’ve been in a long time,” said Jobst, who has posted a 91-34 mark since taking over the MA program in 2010, “but we have good athletes, decent speed and smart kids. We’ll probably look a little different than we have in the past, but we’re still gonna be fun to watch.”

Jobst, always an advocate of the power wing-T ground game that last year averaged 265.4 of its 381.6 yards per game on the ground, has the versatile Durdan coming off a junior season in which he accounted for 1,183 rush yards and 19 touchdowns, 19 catches for 437 yards and eight TDs, and netted 174 of Marquette’s 454 points.

He’s teamed in the backfield with classmates Reed, who added 867 ground yards, 12 TDs and 186 receiving yards and two scores, and Graham, a strong-armed leader who completed 61 of 112 passes for 1,290 yards and 15 TDs, with only five interceptions. All three were Times All Area First Team selections.

Graham will have perhaps the most athletic group of receivers in school history in 6-4 junior tight end Charlie Mullen and at wideouts 5-10 Griffin Walker, 6-2 Logan Nelson and 6-4 Caden Eller.

Walker may also see time at running back, along with seniors Vinnie Battestelli, Pete McGrath (both starters prior to injuries) and Gabe Almeda, and sophomore Payton Gutierrez.

“Anyone who wants to know if we’re gonna throw the ball more this year wasn’t paying attention to last year, because we threw the ball a lot last year,” Jobst said with a chuckle. “Of course, I’m not averse to throwing the ball, but if we’re not running the ball, we’re not winning.

“You always have to do your stuff, but the speed will probably make it look a little nicer, plus we’ll be able to do some other things that maybe we haven’t done in the past.”

Much will depend on the line, where senior Ethan Price (6-0, 210), junior Henry McGrath (6-1, 175) and sophomore Sam Mitre (6-1, 220) figure to fill the guard spots between tackles Thompson (6-3, 230) and Barth (6-1, 240) and around center Swords (5-11, 220). Vying for time in the line will be senior Luke Amicon, junior Andrew Hamm and sophomores Tommy Walsh, Tommy Stafford and Sean Kath.

“Having so many people returning, typically we’d be able to start ahead of where we usually would,” Jobst said, “but when your guards are your engines and you’re breaking in two new ones, you can only go as fast as they can go. They are doing a nice job of picking things up.”

Defensively, the linebackers seem set with Price and Reed inside and Mullen and Nelson outside, while the defensive backfield of Walker, Durdan and Eller will be tough to beat. The D-line is a work in progress, with Henry McGrath, Barth, Swords, Battestelli and possibly Pete McGrath leading the way in the trenches.

Also, Mitre, who connected on 42 of 53 PAT kicks last season, was seen at practice clearing field goals from 40-plus yards.

“We’re where we want to be at this point,” Jobst said. “Things are going good … and we’re itching to get started.”