St. Xavier football has high hopes in 2023 but coach says it won't be easy. Meet the Tigers
A six-time state champion, Kevin Wallace normally isn’t one to shy away from great expectations.
But with so many questions surrounding his St. Xavier High School football team entering the 2023 season – namely on defense – Wallace is downplaying the Tigers’ top-100 national ranking and likely No. 1 spot in The Courier Journal’s preseason Class 6A poll.
“That’s a joke,” Wallace said. “We’re not close.”
St. X returns eight starters (five offense, three defense) from last year’s 10-2 squad that dropped a 22-21 overtime heartbreaker to Male in the second round of the playoffs.
Nearly nine months since that defeat, Wallace said he's over it – and his team is, too.
“I hated losing, but it’s not like we fell apart,” Wallace said. “I don’t think there was a great deal of difference between a number of teams in town last year. Personally, I think we had the best team. But we didn’t finish.”
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The Tigers have a highly anticipated scrimmage on Aug. 11 at Frederick Douglass, last year’s Class 5A state champion and a new member of Class 6A this year. St. X will open its regular season Aug. 18, hosting Floyd Central (Indiana).
Last season Bullitt East became just the second school from outside of Louisville to win the Class 6A title since 2007. Wallace expects more parity this season.
“It’s not just going to be three schools in Louisville anymore, I don’t think,” he said. “Winning 6A has become a slugfest that requires you to stay healthy and be at your best for five weeks.”
Here are three things to know about the Tigers entering the 2023 campaign:
Havill clear choice at QB
Trevor Havill and Adam Boone shared starting quarterback duties much of last season, but Havill is the clear No. 1 now after Boone’s graduation.
Havill (6-foot-5, 205 pounds) passed for 1,006 yards and accounted for 16 touchdowns (12 passing, four rushing) last season. Also a high-level lacrosse player, Havill has football offers from Bucknell, Cornell and Tennessee-Martin.
Wallace said Havill has emerged as a leader among the skill-position players.
“It’s not just a physical maturation,” Wallace said. “It’s the things he’s doing that elite quarterbacks have to do in terms of making everybody else around them better. I think there’s a little bit of a personality change to understanding he’s the guy. … He’s done the little things around his teammates that make them want to play hard around him.”
A more pass-heavy offense?
The Tigers averaged 16 pass attempts per game last season but could see that number increase in 2023.
“We feel like we have four exceptional high school receivers,” he said. “They’re going to be really good.”
Leading the way is sophomore Marlon Harbin, who had 24 catches for 360 yards and three touchdowns last season. He has offers from Kentucky, Louisville, North Alabama and Tennessee-Martin.
Junior wide receivers Cameron Hollaway and Anthony Barbee were plagued by injuries last season, and junior Kyle Krupp is another threat “who’s probably the fastest player on our team,” Wallace said.
Wallace also expects two tight ends – junior Miller Kron and sophomore Karsten Busch – to contribute.
Senior Davis Yates (445 yards, five TDs) and junior Manny Gray (110 yards, one TD) return to lead the rushing attack, but the Tigers lost some depth with the transfers of Don’Tre Richardson (Pleasure Ridge Park) and Michael Curry (Atherton).
Seniors Carter Guillaume and Tommy Rosenbarger anchor the line. Guillaume was a second-team All-State pick last season and has committed to Southeast Missouri State.
Defense a work in progress
The Tigers return just three of their top 13 tacklers from a stingy defense that allowed 9.7 points per game last season.
“Last year you pretty much knew we were good defensively, and our offense had no success against ourselves,” Wallace said. “This year it’s been flipped. I hope it’s a sign that our offense is pretty good and not that we’re weaker than we thought on defense.”
The front of the Tigers’ 3-4 defense will be the strength, with senior ends Ashton Jones (35 tackles, for sacks Southeast Missouri State commit) and Tyler Neal (23 tackles) returning.
“They better be good because we’re going to need some time for the guys who are behind them to get their feet wet and get used to playing,” Wallace said.
The biggest question is at linebacker, where the Tigers must replace graduated stalwarts Jaxon Panariello, Austin Uhrhan, Holden Siebel and Henry Murr.
Senior safety Sam Crum (24 tackles, two interceptions) is the other returning starter and joins talented junior cornerback James Burnett in the secondary.
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Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA football: Your guide to St. Xavier High School for 2023 season
