What could be expected of a private school fielding a first-year football team with a group of kids playing the game for the first time in their lives? Some serious excitement to do it all over again, that’s what.
After compiling a 6-4 record as an independent during Orlando Lutheran Academy’s inaugural season in East Orlando, players and coaches have been using spring practices as a way to continue building on what they’ve already established.
“Coming in here, no one expected us to do anything,” said quarterback and defensive end Adam Czaplewski, a junior this fall. “And feeling like every time we walked out on the field that we were making history made us play harder.” There’s reason to believe that the feeling won’t subside anytime soon.
Head coach Mike Viera and his staff have been continuing to build team-confidence while focusing on discipline and fundamentals this month as they head into a spring scrimmage this weekend. On Saturday, OLA travels to Ocala to take on Landmark Christian and Ocala Christian in a jamboree as they look to carry some positives into the summer.
“There’s excitement and intensity all around,” Czaplewski said of looking ahead to August. “We want to go 10-0.” That’s the sentiment from many of the players in grades 7-12. “We’re pretty excited based on our first year and we’re going to be working hard in the offseason to get ready to go,” said incoming junior running back and linebacker Anthony Bruder.
“It was an interesting experience and it was a lot of fun being a firstyear program, and it definitely surprised me because we came out and put it to a lot of [teams].” Bruder has been playing football since taking up the sport in first grade, but said what he experienced in the fall was different than in years past.
“Just the way we came together as a team, the way we fought against other schools, it was something unlike I’ve ever been [a part of] before because we showed a lot of passion out on the field.” That passion spread in a way that only a group of kids looking for a little acceptance could identify with among the already established private- school programs. It’s also what made memorable moments so unforgettable in the minds of these players.
What stands out as a highlight from a season ago to Czaplewski was one particular play that brought the team together in celebration of one of their own. It happened late in a game against Cedar Creek Jacksonville. That’s when Stephen Duda, a then quiet and seldomly used player whose father was on the original OLA teams some 30 years ago, caught a pass and crossed the goal line for a score.
That prompted the team to rush the field in congratulatory fashion for the soon-to-be senior. It was a moment where the offensive captain and former Lake Howell Pop Warner football player realized just how unique his new team was and how special the season was shaping up to be even while teammates learned the game on the fly.
“It was different because back in PopWarner everybody knew what to do and this was brand new,” said Czaplewski. “It was actually better because we could mold the others into what we wanted them to be. And we came together as a team and did some good stuff.” Dane Hurt, an incoming senior this fall at running back and linebacker, was one of those kids new to the sport. But even so, he was a team captain in the fall along with Faysal Shaffat and John Parisi.
“Coming into the sport I was boggled by ‘what’s this and what’s that,’ but I saw how good the coaches were and they broke it down easily for us. They made it simple,” said Hunt. “It was great. We’ve got some leaders on the team who helped me and taught me through it.” Among the experienced players on the defensive side of the ball is incoming senior Erik McRae, the team’s defensive captain at linebacker in 2007 who also lined up at running back.
He’s been playing the game for more than 10 years now. “We had to step up and be leaders and teach them,” McRae said of helping teammates learn the nuances of the game. “It’s helped me to lead on and off the field and become a better person.” It was that inexperience as a team that he remembers most fondly about the school’s first season spent starting from scratch.
“It feels good,” said McRae of being a part of OLA history. “The whole school is rooting for us and coming out to support us at the games and we’ve got a good coaching staff and good teamwork out here. We’re ready to face all the challenges put in front of us this year.” And likely have a lot of fun doing it along the way.
