Senior Jacob Sweeten (52) has been a key part of the Fort Zumwalt North football team and looks to provide valuable contributions during the 2024 football season.
As Jacob Sweeten sees things, positive results haven’t come by happenstance for the Fort Zumwalt North football team.
Last year, the Panthers (8-5) advanced to the Class 5 state quarterfinals where the team fell to eventual state champion Cardinal Ritter.
Sweeten (5-foot-11, 210 pounds), now a senior offensive lineman/linebacker said the Panthers are back for another run.
“Success isn’t an accident for this team,” Sweeten said. “It’s been countless months of hard work, perseverance, and sacrificing the time to be there and do the hard things without anyone watching.”
Coupled with the hard work is the fact that North will welcome back seven starters on both sides of the ball as Sweeten, senior offensive lineman/defensive end JP Pohlman, senior running back/strong safety Chaun Robinson, and senior running back/linebacker Drew Riley will see time playing both ways.
Senior wideout Chase Ostmann, senior quarterback Lucas Newcomb, and sophomore running backs Cam Sherman and Jayden Burleson will return to the offense while junior defensive end Xavier Jackson, cornerback Jayden Noel, and linebacker Deacon Moran are back on defense.
“We have a significant number of holes to fill on both sides of the ball due to a strong senior class that just graduated,” North coach Joe Bacon said. “Our challenge will be to get all 11 players on the field working together as a unit. What we’ve seen so far this summer has been promising but there is a significant amount of work ahead of us if we’re going to be able to compete on opening night.”
Bacon added that the expectations are high for contributions from a bevy of talents who will be counted upon to step up.
That group should include senior linebacker/running back Aneas Smith, sophomore quarterback/linebacker Phillip Arpassi, junior linemen, Isiah Hayden, Isaac Lusa, and Isaiah Lusa, junior wideout Carson Vollmer, and sophomore safety/quarterback/running back Logan Bauer.
North opens its season Aug. 30 at home against Pattonville.
“We made some solid strides last year, battling through a smorgasbord of injuries and still (were) able to win both our conference and our district,” Bacon said. “None of those wins came easy, but that experience helped our boys understand how hard it is to win any given Friday night in high school football. The boys have been getting after it this summer and they are ready to build upon what they and their brothers accomplished last season.”
Just like the football team, the Fort Zumwalt North boys soccer team plans to maintain a lofty status this season.
Coach Matt Dwyer will welcome back five starters from a team that finished 16-7 one year ago. At the group’s core should be senior midfielder AJ Wickerham (six goals, five assists), senior goalkeeper Kaleb Wilson (13-6 record, .95 goals against), senior midfielder Axel Dominguez (9, 6), and senior forward Colby Thomas.
“We lost some players in key positions,” Dwyer said. “We lost three starters on defense, so it is an opportunity for the young guys coming in to prove themselves in defense at the varsity level. As always, we expect to have some growing pains, but we expect to be competitive throughout the season and come into districts in our best form. We typically play in a very tough district and history has shown anything can happen in districts when the level of competition is so high. We expect to be playing at our best by districts and compete.”
North will open play Sept. 3 against Troy.
“Our schedule is even tougher this year than last with the new GAC format and joining the St. Dominic tournament,” Dwyer said. “But we return over 10 seniors and have a large junior class as well.”
Veteran coach Alice Maloney said she fully expects the Fort Zumwalt North swim team to make another run at a conference title this season.
A stacked roster should feature the likes of senior all-state diver Luke Burgard, junior diver Jacob Ventimiglia, and a solid group of swimmers in seniors Alex Preiser, Will Hinkle, Brody Van Wave, Owen Denson, juniors Liam Boyle, Emerson Storm, and Hayden Orf, and sophomores Burke Mergenthaler, Brendan Schremmer, Noah Brinker, and Ben Marsek.
“Without having a team of year-round club swimmers and divers we have to have grit and determination against competition with many year-round athletes,” Maloney said. “The boys will work hard during the season. The boys have a goal of another successful season and will work hard towards that goal.”
