Kevin Fleury Brings New Life to Olympic Heights as They Look Forward to 2012 Season
By: Pedro Heizer
Olympic Heights come into this season with a new head coach, new starting quarterback and a new attitude.
Head Coach Kevin Fleury, who was Cardinal Newman’s defensive coordinator for the past three seasons, ha
d a hard task ahead of him this spring when he took over a Lions’ squad that went 3-7 the previous season.
“Accountability is something we talked a lot about this summer,” Fleury said. “[We] made sure that these kids are accountable, whether it’s in the classroom or on the field.”
One of the main questions coming into the 2012 season was the quarterback position with the departure of senior quarterback Matt Kelly.
Nick Brooks and Richard Thompson both battled throughout the spring and both have shown strengths and weaknesses, “Richard has a bit more of an advantage as far as athleticism with Nick having more of an advantage as a thrower,” Fleury said. “We are pretty much looking at 1 and 1A right now.”
In the backfield, running back John Clerister will have other backs to help him carry the rushing load this season. “John will be one of our guys along with Wesley Innocent and Emilio Fernandez,” Fleury said. Sharing the ball with other backs is something Clerister is familiar with, 2011 Clerister spit carries with four other runners although he received the most carries with 99.
Olympic Heights kicked off their 2012 season with a 9-8 loss to rivals West Boca Raton in a pre-season game, “Even though we lost, I thought we played well and moved the ball really well,” said a positive coach Fleury. “However, I do think we had a couple of mental breakdowns that caused them to score. But those mistakes have been fixed.”
The Lions’ next challenge will be Lake Worth, a team that thanks to Tropical Storm Isaac does not have a half of football under their belt.
“We are at the advantage,” said coach Fleury. “Lake Worth has only played one quarter of football; we’ve played a full game
Fleury also talked about the two off days they had due to the cancelation of schools in Palm Beach County, “Having those two days off because of the storm actually played to our advantage since we had more time to get ready.”
“Lake Worth will have some problems though,” said Fleury of how the off-days might have caused problems for Lake Worth. “Our offense isn’t something that another team can get ready for in just two days.”
photos from Olympic Heights’ Wednesday practice can be seen here
