By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Construction crews working to improve the road that runs in front of St. Henry High School know what each of them needs to do to complete the project.
Meanwhile, players on the St. Henry football team are still learning their roles before the fledgling program’s first varsity game that’s only 12 days away. None of them have ever competed at that level before, according to coach Tim Odom.
“The nice thing about our situation is as long as we keep doing our job as coaches we’ll continue to get better,” Odom said. “Now whether or not it runs into a bunch of wins or not remains to be seen, but we’ll be able to quantitively figure out we are getting better in what we do — less missed tackles, less missed assignments and those kinds of things.”
The Crusaders played their first scrimmage game Saturday morning with five seniors on the sideline who are recovering from injuries.
One of them is Caden Kunstek, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound wide receiver and cornerback who was injured last season when the Crusaders played 15 games against junior varsity and freshman teams.
“I think it was good to start out with a high-caliber team like this,” Kunstek said after the scrimmage against a much more experienced Cincinnati College Prep Academy team. “We definitely could’ve played better, but overall I think everybody stepped up and wasn’t scared, and I think that was the main thing we were concerned about.”
Kunstek is one of four senior co-captains on the St. Henry roster along with Brennan Lemmond, Gunnar Ditrick and Gabe Larkins. Will Miller is another senior who coach Odom considers the team’s best defensive player at linebacker.
“Will is our enforcer — aggressive, instinctive and all-in on every play,” said Odom. “Football has been his proving ground and he’s flourished in it.”
The quarterback for St. Henry’s first-team offense in Saturday’s scrimmage was junior Ryne Ravenscraft and the primary ball carrier was sophomore Luca Pate. They’re operating behind a young offensive line that’s still a work in progress.
Ravenscraft had never played quarterback until last year when Odom put him in that position on the team that won five games against junior varsity and freshman opponents.
The newcomer knows he’ll be facing a higher level of competition this season after playing in 7-on-7 varsity passing drills earlier this summer.
“I am noticing that,” Ravenscraft said. “The reads are getting quicker, got to get the ball out faster, scramble out faster, all those things.”
After St. Henry plays a scrimmage game against Holmes this coming Friday, Odom will begin preparing the team for its varsity debut on Aug. 22 at home against Holy Cross. That will be an historic game for the 91-year-old co-ed Catholic school in Erlanger.
The season opener is one of four non-district opponents on the Crusaders’ schedule before they compete in five consecutive district seeding games that will determine whether they make the Class 2A playoffs in their inaugural varsity campaign.
“By the end of this season, we’ll be mentally tough,” coach Odom said. “People will know they’ve played us by the end of the year.”
ST. HENRY CRUSADERS
2024 SEASON: Did not play a varsity schedule.
DISTRICT: Class 2A, District 5 with Beechwood, Bracken County, Gallatin County, Owen County, Walton-Verona.
HEAD COACH: Tim Odom (18-35 record in five seasons at Simon Kenton before becoming head coach at Glen Este in Ohio).
2025 SCHEDULE
Aug. 22 – HOLY CROSS, 7 p.m.
Aug. 29 – at Boone County, 7 p.m.
Sept. 5 – BROSSART, 7 p.m.
Sept. 12 – at Bellevue, 7 p.m.
Sept. 26 – GALLATIN COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Oct. 2 – OWEN COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Oct. 10 – at Beechwood, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 17 – at Bracken County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 24 – WALTON-VERONA, 7 p.m.
Oct. 31 – LUDLOW, 7 p.m.