By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Lafayette football team is under new leadership this year, but their new leader is certainly a familiar face.
Lafayette alum and former Irish assistant Ryan Shroyer is back home to be the head coach after spending the last two years as an assistant coach at nearby Polo.
Safe to say, he's happy to be back.
"Being able to come back and give back to these kids and come back to St. Joe where I have a lot of friends is a great experience," Shroyer said. "We've got some real good kids here, have a great senior class with great leadership. We have an awesome coaching staff who are really for the players and really want to take care of these guys on and off the field."
Shroyer brings with him new assistants in Jason Guthrey, Tyler Meinert, Clint Spencer and Austin Shanks. Shroyer was hired this past summer after Eric McDowell stepped down to take a new job at Platte County.
Shroyer and company inherit a Lafayette team that went 4-6 in 2020, and returns a healthy core of seniors, including starting quarterback Jaron Saunders.
"The energy has been great," Saunders said. "The coaches love us up every day. They're all teaching us great things. Getting a new offense installed. Installing the defense as well. The energy is always great here. We love the game, and the coaches love the game, so everyone is always hyped to be out here at practice."
Other seniors coming back include receiver/linebacker Jackson Compton, running back Xavier Cary, linebacker/running back Hayden McCrary, linemen Quintin Garrett and Jacob Inscho, along with receivers/corners Kingston Oliver and Carlos Cortez.
Cortez had a record-breaking track season as a sprinter this past spring, placing 11th at the state meet in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.12 seconds.
He looks forward to carrying that momentum into his senior year.
"It was a big confidence booster for me," Cortez said of his state track appearance. "Going to state and then coming here and getting a new (football) coach, it's a really refreshing senior year for me."
Saunders, entering his second year as the Irish starting quarterback, is hopeful that all of the seniors can lead Lafayette to new heights this fall.
"We've all played together since third or fourth grade," Saunders said of his classmates. "We've been together for years. The biggest thing we're trying to do is have a better season than last year. With a 4-6 record last year, we weren't pleased with that. So, this year we're trying to have a better record and move further into districts."
The Irish beat Savannah 21-20 in district quarterfinals last year, but fell to Smithville 42-0 in the next round.
The Irish had a slight schedule change to open this season. Instead of traveling to Carnahan in St. Louis, Carnahan will now come to St. Joseph to play the Irish on Saturday, August 28 at 1 p.m.
Lafayette will also host Savannah, Cameron and St. Pius X. They'll travel to Atchison, KS, Benton, St. Joseph Central, Chillicothe and Maryville.
"Expectations wise, I won't tell these guys any number of wins or losses," Shroyer said. "I just tell them that we're going to play hard, and if you try as hard as you can, that's all you can do and we'll see how the result turns out."
Lafayette will also take part in the city jamboree on August 20 against Benton and Central.
"It's basically your dress rehearsal before week one," Shroyer said. "We play both of those teams in the regular season. So, we're not going to empty out the kitchen sink or anything like that, but we're looking forward to it."
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