ERLANGER, Ky. — St. Henry District High School senior wide receiver/cornerback Caden Kunstek was drenched with sweat standing outside of the end zone during practice late last week.
And yet his smile said it all. The Crusaders can’t wait to start their inaugural varsity football season Friday night against visiting Holy Cross (7 p.m. kickoff). It's the first Friday night of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) football season.
“A successful season would definitely be coming out and I think just for me especially just kind of proving teams wrong,” Kunstek said. “Helping the community show that we can start this program and we actually we mean it. We want to come out here and play. We’re not just here for the school or just to be able to say we have a team.”
Friday night will be a culmination of plenty of time, effort and resources on the part of the program and school community. St. Henry, a Kentucky Class 2A team, won five games during the 2024 season which combined junior varsity and freshman competition.
“It’s been a tremendous challenge,” St. Henry coach Tim Odom said. “We’re teaching them everything.”
Kunstek is one of the co-captains for this year's team with a good deal of potential. Other key players include senior wide receiver/linebacker/cornerback Brennan Lemmond (co-captain), senior offensive lineman/defensive lineman Gabe Larkins (co-captain), senior tight end/outside linebacker Gunnar Ditrick (co-captain) and senior wide receiver/linebacker Will Miller.
Odom, a former Ohio State University and Moeller High School football player, has also coached at Moeller, Simon Kenton, Glen Este and Lakota West. He played center at Ohio State from 1982-86. He graduated from Moeller in 1982.
Odom said coaching football at St. Henry has always been his dream. He wants the Crusaders to succeed on the field and beyond.
“We’ve always just loved the community,” Odom said. "Our kids are smart. They're fast learners. They work hard and they want to strive to be the best."
While the spotlight of the first varsity season is obvious, Odom also wants to teach the team about life lessons throughout this fall.
“We’d love to have an undefeated season and make the playoffs,” Odom said. “That would be a goal whether we were first year or 10th year. But, I think the way we’re going to measure this year when we get through it do our kids feel like they’ve learned something? Do they feel like they got better as a human being — as a man? And is it something that they want to continue to do?”
