2024 Prep Football Previews: New coach of young Holy Cross team expects to get better every week

By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

The majority of players on the Holy Cross football team’s roster this season will be sophomores and freshmen, but that didn’t stop Curt Spencer from accepting the head coaching job last February.

Spencer spent the last two years coaching those young players in the Indians’ middle school program. He knows the talent and potential they bring to the varsity team that hasn’t posted a winning record since 2016.

“This is such a young team that it’s going to take a while to get to the point they need to be,” Spencer said. “Every week they’re going to get better. They’re just such a great group of kids to be around, it really is a joy.”

Last season, the Indians won five of their first eight games under former head coach Bruce Kozerski. But they lost their last two regular season games and fell in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs to finish with a 5-6 record.

One of the senior two-way starters on that team was Donovan Ambrocio, who passed for 1,188 yards at quarterback and made a team-high 84 tackles at linebacker. The team’s leading rusher was freshman Ulysses Porter, but he did not return for this season.

Their replacements will be junior quarterback Tommy Maddox, a varsity newcomer at that position, and junior fullback Trevin Figgs, a 240-pound power runner who rushed for 358 yards and five touchdowns last season.

Maddox was a defensive safety on last year’s team, but he saw little action as a back-up quarterback. He’s a sprinter on the track team, so his speed is one reason he’s moving into the starting position.

“We’re going to a little bit different of a system for him,” coach Spencer said. “He’s adjusting to the growing pains there, but he is extremely athletic at quarterback.”

An injured hamstring muscle has kept Figgs out of action during practice. That’s given some younger running backs a chance to carry the ball. One of them is freshman Jacob Rieselman.

“We’re rotating a little bit to see who can do what,” the coach said. “Rieselman will be one of the running backs right now. He played middle school last year. He’s a hard-nosed kid and he’ll probably play outside linebacker, too.”

The Indians will have some good size on both the offensive and defensive lines. Spencer said three players up front tip the scales at 300 pounds or more, including returning starters sophomore Litello Johnson and senior Cooper Ward.

They will also have 6-foot-6, 200-pound sophomore Max Hunt at tight end. His two older sisters play college volleyball and he is drawing interest from football recruiters. In fact, the University of Kentucky has already made a scholarship offer.

“He’s a great kid and he’s really starting to develop well,” Spencer said of Hunt. “He’s got a lot of ability, but, once again, he’s young. His body hasn’t completely developed yet, but you can see that growth from last year to this year. He’s way better.”

Hunt will also play defensive end for the Indians. Other returning starters on that side of the ball are Figgs at linebacker, Braylon Thornberry at cornerback and Maddox at safety.

Figgs was the team’s second leading tackler last season with 63. He needed surgery to repair detached retina in both eyes after the season ended and received the Chris Vier Courage Award from the Northern Kentucky Football Coaches Association.

HOLY CROSS INDIANS
2023 SEASON: 5-6 record, lost in first round of Class 1A playoffs.
STARTERS RETURNING: 5 offense, 5 defense
DISTRICT: Class 1A, District 3 with Brossart, Ludlow, Trimble County.
HEAD COACH: Curt Spencer (first year as head coach).

2024 SCHEDULE
(All home games at Thomas More College)
Aug. 23 – at Lexington Sayre, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 30 – at Dohn Community (Ohio), 7 p.m.
Sept. 6 – GRANT COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Sept. 20 – at Middlesboro, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 27 – CINCINNATI COLLEGE PREP (Ohio), 7 p.m.
OCT. 4 – at Morgan County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 11 – BROSSART, 7 p.m.
Oct. 18 – at Trimble County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 25 – LUDLOW, 7 p.m.
Nov. 1 – at Newport, 7 p.m.

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