St. Thomas More Cougars
2022 Record: 13-1
District: 4-4A
Head Coach: Jim Hightower
Note: Cougars won the Select Div. II State Championship
December 9th, 2022 was the cherry on top to a relentless season for St. Thomas More.
The Cougars would hoist the Select Division II championship trophy, their 3rd title in four seasons.
But how do you raise the bar going into 2023? Head coach Jim Hightower says keep on building.
"We just need to try and get better each day. We have a lot more experience coming back on defense this year than we did last year so that's a plus for us. We've got some solid players on the offense and we're looking for that guy that's going to step up and make the big play."
Speaking of the offense, the Cougars' return five starters, that will be led by senior quarterback Sam Altmann.
Last season, Altmann threw for over 3,200 yards and 33 touchdowns and he returns with a hungry running back in Hutch Swilley who also had his fair share in yardage, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 17 scores.
With this duo leading the Cougars in their senior year, all roads lead back to the dome.
"Sam is a big time worker. He works in the weight room, he works on the field. He studies the game and he knows it like any other quarterback I've seen. He's one of the best", says linebacker Hayden Hernandez. "Going against our offense is my least favorite thing to do, really."
"He is that leader and he can be that leader for this team. I think he's really started to embrace that and he's really taken control of the team as far as making sure guys get the reps in the weight room. Making sure he's that example that", says Swilley. "He's always doing extra, hes always overloading his workouts and I really think the younger guys look up to him in that aspect."
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