2024 Pigskin & Hoops Preview: St. Marys Bears Football
TEAM: St. Marys Bears
CLASSIFICATION: 2A (up from 1A in 2023)
LEAGUE: Big East
COLORS: Blue & White
SOCIAL MEDIA: @SMJSHSBearsKS on Twitter/X
HEAD COACH: C.J. Marple (1st season, 0-0)
2023 RECORD: 7-4 (1A Regional champions, Sectional runners-up)
2023 IN REVIEW
It’s hard to replicate success following a state championship, but the St. Marys Bears found a way to buck that trend and make a deep November run last season. The Bears started slowly in 2023, dropping their first three games of the year, before ruling the rest of their schedule with an iron fist, winning seven straight games by an average of 38.4 points per game before a hard-fought loss to St. Mary’s Colgan in the 1A sectional round. That long winning streak also included sweeping district play for a second consecutive year. St. Marys finished last season in the top 10 in scoring offense, total offense and scoring defense in Class 1A.
KEY DEPARTURES
Four players who earned postseason awards for St. Marys last year graduated at season’s end, three of whom received first-team All-Mid East League honors. Offensively, that starts with receiver Nate Hutley and lineman Atticus Martin, both of whom played major roles on the 2022 state championship squad. The same can be said for first-team all-league defensive back Michael Gallegos, who intercepted a pass to effectively end that aforementioned championship game. JoJo McCann was also a standout for the Bears last season, also patrolling the secondary at an all-league honorable mention level.
TOP RETURNERS
St. Marys is bringing back a ton of talent from last year’s team to their 2024 roster. That includes a number of postseason award winners, beginning with running back Korleone Holz. He rushed for nearly 1,000 yards a year ago. He’ll take handoffs from veteran quarterback Brady Hurla, an All-Mid East League honorable mention last season who also passed for nearly 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns. As far as passing game weapons, the offense returns receivers Howie Rezac and Brenden Griffin, as well as tight end Kyler Holz. Many of those same players will make an impact on defense, a unit led by leading tackler Mekhi Ketter and Bush at linebacker. The offensive and defensive lines will be anchored by a veteran group including Tyler Birch, Brayden Hager, Kodyn Moylan and Dalton Schleif.
2024 SCHEDULE
9/6 vs Perry-Lecompton
9/13 @ Rossville
9/20 vs Jeff West
9/27 vs Silver Lake
10/4 @ Riley County
10/11 vs Osage City
10/18 @ Council Grove
10/25 @ Sabetha
Big East League, District game
2024 OUTLOOK
After two sensational seasons at the 1A level, St. Marys has reclassified into 2A for 2024-25. What’s their prize for moving up? Playing one of the most fun yet challenging schedules in the state as part of the newly formed Big East League, not to mention a very deep district slate. The Bears will also be making the jump back to 2A with a new head coach taking over, C.J. Marple, though he’s St. Marys’ former defensive coordinator and no stranger to the program. Even with all those changes, this team is ready to compete right away. Offensively, the Bears have a chance to be an even better rushing team this year than they were last season, thanks to the one-two punch of Korleone Holz and Brady Hurla running out of the backfield behind an even more experienced offensive line. Meanwhile, their odd-front defense is bringing back a wide array of weapons, from sure tackles to pass rushing experts to sticky coverage players. St. Marys should be one of the favorites to not just win another district title, but to be a legitimate contender for the 2A state crown.
FROM THE COACH’S HEADSET
“We will look to continue building on the success of the last two seasons. The team will make the jump up to 2A and also will be joining the tough Big East League. We will be deep with talent, having 10 seniors and four juniors all seeing significant playing time last season.” – CJ Marple
–Brendan Dzwierzynski
To read more Pigskin & Hoops previews, click here to return to the table of contents.