North Fort Myers’ Marcus Lewis secures the football as he runs a play during a recent spring practice drill. In year one of the Barry Goettemoeller era at North Fort Myers, the Red Knights built the foundation, which is hoped will lead to future success on the football field. Photo by Michael Pistella

Red Knights still a work in progress

They began this spring with more building – and digging.

The Red Knight seniors have laid down 12 pallets of sod and planted trees around the school campus. They spent all this past Saturday performing the work, which included digging the holes, setting the trees and laying the sod.

“I like to have the seniors do a project,” Goettemoeller said. “Last year we did some painting.”

The extra work hasn’t brushed away potential players. The Knights actually have seen a spike in participation as they began spring ball with 94 players.

They’re now working toward the May 29 spring game at Lehigh and hoping to improve on last season’s 5-5 record when fall comes.

Last season came with some highs and lows. The Knights started 2-0 and concluded with a dramatic 35-28 double-overtime win over Ida Baker.

In between, the Knights lost four games that they had a legit chance to win, including a 21-13 loss to Dunbar, a 13-6 loss to Cape Coral, 29-25 loss to Riverdale and 18-14 loss to Fort Myers.

A few positives were the players’ ability to adjust to Goettemoeller’s new shotgun system on offense, while keeping with the Knights’ tradition of aggressive, hard-hitting defense.

“They have totally adapted and accepted the changes,” Goettemoeller said. “They haven’t always enjoyed the discipline, but they ultimately know they need it.”

Among the key returning players for the Red Knights is senior-to-be Tre Boston. He led the team in receiving with 43 catches for 736 yards and five touchdowns and tallied a team-high four interceptions.

Given the 6-foot-1 Boston’s athletic ability, he’s getting a chance to compete for the quarterback position alongside Nate McIntosh, who enters the mix after playing junior varsity.

One area the Red Knights must reload at is running back, where they lost Wake Forest signee Tommy Bohanon, Robenson Merci and Mike Becker. Those three players combined to score 14 touchdowns last season.

Senior Marcus Lewis, who had a big junior season at cornerback, could see more action on offense.

Other key returning players include 6-5, 310-pound lineman Corbin Jackimowicz, seniors Kyle Schmidt and Mike Rosario and junior Arthur Green.

Though it appears the Red Knights could have more depth, they still have eight players returning on defense.

“We will emphasize playing fast and physical again,” Goettemoeller said.