For the first time in the five-year existence of St. Michael the Archangel, the Guardians may get over the hump of the .500 mark.

SMA finished 5-5 in 2020, the first year the Guardians broke even with their record since starting football in 2017. In fact, St. Michael won five of its last seven contests, including its first playoff win (42-7 over Versailles).

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The Guardians should continue to ride that momentum with seven returning starters on offense, and six on defense.

“It will be the second year in our system for our players, and I believe we will see a big jump in comfortableness and knowledge,” stated head coach Andrew Pitts.

Leading the way on offense will be quarterback Dillon Zaun. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior threw for 1,683 yards and 18 touchdowns, to go along with 383 rushing yards.

“Dillon’s incredibly smart and he makes a lot of the play calls for our team,” touted Pitts. “He has complete freedom to audible at the line. He has a strong arm, good accuracy, and great pocket presence.”

Senior Ellis Edwards (5-foot-10, 170) rushed for 1,048 yards and 18 scores, while also hauling in 248 receiving yards.

Zaun’s main target outside will be senior Michael Haggerty (6-foot-4, 210), who snagged 31 passes for 529 yards and five touchdowns.

“Michael’s getting recruited by Division I and II teams in the area,” commented Pitts. “He is very good at going up and getting the ball. He is also a tenacious blocker on the edge.”

Up front, the Guardians return junior Zach Berry (6-foot-1, 230) at offensive tackle, who didn’t give up a sack in 2020.

“He’s very stable and reliable, and continues to get bigger and stronger – and should have an excellent year,” Pitts said.

Joining Berry on the line will be senior center Jackson Wimberly, senior guard Colby Hedrick (6-0, 270) and tight end Aamir Carter.

The Guardians lost their top six tacklers from 2020, but Berry will anchor the defensive front at tackle. Carter (24 tackles) also returns at defensive end. Junior Chandler Prosser (5-foot-10, 150) figures to help at linebacker.

Edwards will help solidify the secondary at safety, where he picked off five passes and notched 27 tackles in 2020. Junior Caleb Briggs (5-foot-10, 170) also returns after seeing time at defensive back in 2020.

Max Ellis will give the Guardians a weapon on special teams and punter and kicker, nailing 20 of 30 extra-point attempts and hitting 80% of his career field goal attempts. Per Pitts, Ellis is ranked #24 among kickers nationally by Kohl’s Kicking Camps.

“He has a very accurate and strong leg,” hyped Pitts. “A key will be to utilize Ellis to make a difference in field position.”

Overall, Pitts feels pretty good about SMA in 2021.

“We need to be balanced in the run and pass, but have the players to do that,” Ellis said. “We’ll need to be sound on defense with minimal mental errors. If we do that, we’ll do some good things this year.”

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