When James Langham took over the St. Francis Catholic Academy football program three years ago, he began working on making the Wolves a competitive program.

Prior to his arrival in 2022, St. Francis had back-to-back winless seasons and a 25-game losing streak.

However, the Wolves took a small step by going 1-8 in Langham’s first year and followed that up with a 2-8 season last year.

In 2024, the school enters its augural season in the Sunshine State Athletic Association (SSAA).

“We’ve gotten better and made little steps over time but now its year three, it’s go time,” Langham said. “For us it was an opportunity to say let’s ditch the independent nature of this. Let’s make a full fledge jump into a league and an association that I think benefits our school and our program the most and when I weighed the options between the two it was the SSAA, and I think the kids now know that every game matters and at the end of the day, the end of the tunnel, there’s an opportunity to play for a championship that was not there before.”

Last year was a “roller coaster” for St. Francis, which had a maximum of 23 players.

They lost some players as the year wore on, including their quarterback who left for another school after the first three games of the season.

“Our expectations were very high,” Langham said. “We started off really competitive, but we also still didn’t have the numbers. We were still lacking certain pieces.”

Injuries took their toll, and it showed up late in games with a lack of depth.

Still, there was some progress as St. Francis won back-to-back games for the first time since 2018 and won its homecoming game.

“We were competitive in probably three or four other games until about the fourth quarter, and we were experienced and young too,” Langham said. “And yet we went out there and showed what we can do, and that’s something that I can say looking forward to this year trends very much upwards.”

The biggest player on the field for St. Francis this year is senior Dylan Koroly (6’5, 280).

“I’ve always been a big kid, the biggest in the classroom,” he said. “I think my four years of experience will help, especially since there were two different coaches and two different eras of the football team…I’ve grown and my football IQ and football knowledge have gotten better in general.”

Koroly is a four-year varsity starter who will play left tackle and defensive end.

“This kid is a behemoth,” said Langham, who noted Koroly is starting to receive interest from colleges and recently had a USF recruiter reach out to him. “You can turn on the film and you’re like, ‘who is that?’ He is a kid who works his butt off to get where he is at, in the weight room, on the field, in the classroom. He continues to strive to get better and for me I can’t ask for anything less than that. He’s a kid who has a bright future.”

Headlining the defense will be cornerback Gabe Long, who was an honorable mention All Area defensive selection last year as a freshman.

“He has a dog mentality in him,” Langham said. “He’s a kid who is going to grind it out and says, ‘you can beat me this time but I’m going to make the correction and you’re not going to beat me the next time.’ That’s him. He really does have that competitive mindset to say, ‘this is my spot, I’ve established this, you’re not taking it from me, and anybody that lines up against me, you’re out of the game,’ so that’s what we need.”

Long appeared in seven games in 2023 and recorded a pair of interceptions, which was second on the team.

“I definitely expect to step up and be a leader on the team,” said Long, who will also play wide receiver. “I have high expectations because we have a lot more kids and we can accomplish a lot more. I love corner. It’s really hands on and I like dominating at that position. Some people don’t like being on that island, but I definitely use it as a chance to stand out.”

His cousin, sophomore quarterback Jake Long (6’2, 175), who will also play outside linebacker, started about half of the Wolves’ games under center last year as a freshman.

“Jake’s coming back bigger, understands the game better, and fits our air raid more now,” Langham said. “I think he’s going to have a hell of a year.”

In six games, he completed 10-of-22 passes for 201 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

“I think our offense and defense has gotten a lot better since last year,” said Long, who likes throwing the ball deep. “Most of our starters last year were freshmen and they, including myself, we weren’t experienced so we struggled, but now that we have more experienced players, I think we can do way better than we did last year.”

Fellow sophomore Colin Kuruppacherry is the team’s X receiver, who at 6’3 will be threat in the passing game.

“A lot of DBs are going to be smaller than me,” he said. “There just aren’t that many DBs that are 6-foot-plus, even as you get to the higher levels, so yeah just throw it up and I’ll be ready.”

That height is something that the Wolves definitely want to exploit.

“He’s going to go up and get the ball,” Langham said. “I dare other DBs to stop him. He’s worked hard to get where he’s at.

Some of the key games this season include a trip to North Bay Haven Academy (Panama City) on Sept. 27, Homecoming vs. Saints Academy (Orlando) on Oct. 4, and a Senior Night rivalry game vs. P.K. Yonge on Oct. 11.

Langham said that in order for this to be a good season for St. Francis, the reality is very simple.

“Kids have to continue to show up, kids have to continue to put in the work, and continue to believe,” he said. “I think that is a really big thing for us, believe in each other, believe in the team, stay together, be all in, but at the end of the day, grow up and develop fast and work together. If you work together as a team, on the same page, anything is possible.”