ST. CLOUD -- Despite a difficult, winless 2015 campaign the Cathedral Crusaders are brimming with optimism heading into the 2016 season.

Cathedral coach Andy Auger stepped down from his role as head coach after 2015, but remains on the staff after swapping roles with coordinator Mark Chamernick.

“We are very optimistic, we didn’t have a very good season last season,” Chamernick said. “Practices have gone very well so far, we have been very pleasantly surprised and optimistic about the upcoming season.”

(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
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“I think we are on our way to a pretty successful season,” senior defensive lineman Zack Sellner said.

Senior quarterback Quentin Young (548 yards passing, five touchdowns and one interception in 2015) said that he feels differently heading into this season when compared to last year’s camp.

“There’s a really good atmosphere compared to last year,” Young said. “Obviously we went 0-9 last year, but we are trying to forget about that and come with a new mindset into this year.”

The Crusaders waited through a long summer to get a chance to snap the losing skid.

(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
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“We have been really hyped up for this year,” Young said. “We were hungry last year for a win, so if you can imaging waiting for nine months and then trying again…. We have built up a lot of hunger for it.”

“The boys have been very motivated during the summer,” Chamernick said. “We had a little minicap at the end of summer and they were very motivated to begin the year.”

“We have some guys who have put on some weight (in the weight room),” Chamernick said. “They’ve been in theweight room and working on that piece a little bit.”

The Crusaders return key players on offensive line and bring back Young at the quarterback position.

“I think our offensive line will be a lot better,” Sellner said. “Our quarterback has a lot of experience now, so, that’ll help us.”

“A lot of our line played last year,” Young said. “So that will be good.”

(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
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