Scouting Carmel Catholic: Corsairs pull together in starting new tradition

Now that they've been locked in, the players on the Carmel football team are ready to lock down on the 2018 season.

It's a season of fresh starts and new traditions for the Corsairs, who welcome in new head coach Blake Annen, a former NFL tight end.

Annen wanted to try a team lock-in in the school gym on the night of the team's scrimmage last week. The players slept in the gym that night and had fun hanging out outside of football practice.

"It was big for team bonding with everything that is so new," Annen said. "The guys got to know their teammates better, and on a different level."

The Corsairs are ready to play at a different level this season, too. The team struggled last year to a 1-8 finish.

"We want to take one day at a time," Annen said. "We will be successful as long as we get better each day."

Annen, who replaces longtime Carmel coach Andy Bitto, has four senior captains to help him make sure the team stays on task. Wide receiver Nick Fisher, lineman Jalen Snell, and linebackers Jack Daus and Dan Norton were elected by their teammates to lead the team.

Snell, who started last year, will start on both the offensive and defensive line.

Fisher will play a prominent role in the passing game and Daus and Norton are at the heart of the defense.

"They are in the middle of it," Annen said of Daus and Norton. "They will get the entire defense set. They did a great job with their leadership in training camp."

Speaking of leadership, new quarterback Avery Bugaj stepped up this summer as well. He was the quarterback of the sophomore team last year and showed the ability to be vocal with his teammates.

"He's able to speak up," Annen said of Bugaj, who replaces Athan Kaliakmanis, who transferred to Antioch. "He's vocal and he has a good understanding of what we're doing. His mechanics have continued to improve over the summer, too. He's a 3-sport athlete (wrestling and lacrosse) so he is very athletic. He can do everything, run, pass, escape the pocket."

Annen stresses that the Carmel offense will be balanced and unpredictable, using Bugaj to run, pass or to mix in a nice group of running backs, led by 3-year varsity veteran Sean Lynch.

"It's nice the experience that Sean has on Friday nights," Annen said of Lynch. "He's going to be a main runner, but I think the strength of our offense is that we will be balanced. We will do a little bit of everything and mix it up. We don't want the defense to know what's coming."

Brandon Anderson and Joe Sacramento are two linemen who also return with varsity experience. But only six starters return overall.

"I like where we are at though," Annen said. "We installed a new offense and a new defense and our team did a great job of diving into the playbook. And we have no major injuries coming out of the preseason. We're going to keep getting better and better the more we play together."