Former Wolves Lineman Discusses St. Joe’s Football

BOALSBURG — At the beginning of July, Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy announced it will be unable to field a football team for this upcoming season.

The obstacle of finding enough players was too insurmountable for such a small school with just over 150 kids enrolled. Just 13 players were on the Wolves roster as the calendar flipped to July.

The administration decided 13 players are not enough to play football at the high school level.

The team had just two seniors, both attending Grace Prep High School, a school that joins St. Joe’s each fall to form a football program.

One of the seniors, Nate Gray, who has a goal of playing football at the collegiate level, has been with the team since the 2015 season.

A lineman who knows what it is like to battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball, Gray “knew for a while,” that it would be hard to have enough players for a team this upcoming fall.

“You need commitment for a football team,” Gray said. “There were arrows pointing towards not having a team.”

The program has had three different head coaches in its five years of existence.

Just one graduate of the school and football program, Charles Ross, who played from 2013-2015, has gone on to play football at the collegiate level.

The team has won 11 games in its five years of action, posting a team-high four wins in its inaugural season in 2013.

The Wolves were unable to find a win in last year’s 0-8 season.

The Catholic school nestled in the streets of Boalsburg has plans to restore its football program, said a statement released by the school in early July.

Gray is confident that football will thrive again in Boalsburg.

“There’s something special with the program,” he said. “The small school and fellowship of everyone, we just need numbers to get it going again.”