Coach Toussaint Praises Compete Level In This Year’s Football Team 

Win some, lose some, show up for ’em all. 

Thayer’s varsity football team won some close games this fall, and they lost some close games, but what matters most to head coach Jeff Toussaint ’82 is that his team competed in each and every one of them. 

“I think it’s been a great season,” said Toussaint, whose Tigers stand at 4-3 as they await their final game tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 8) against perennial power St. Sebastian’s. 

First and foremost, Toussaint attributed the success to the makeup of his team in general and his seniors in particular. 

“They’re just really tough, and they compete,” Toussaint said of his squad. “They don’t care about statistics or who gets the credit.” 

But Toussaint also called the new scheduling format, whereby schedules are created based on class within all of New England as opposed to simply the ISL, a success. 

“Every game was competitive,” said Toussaint. 

As one example, the head coach pointed to Thayer’s big 16-14 road win against Governor’s Academy where Thayer needed a key first down to seal the victory with time running out. That’s when, on third-and-10, quarterback Dray Evriviades ’29 connected with wide receiver Joey Fisher ’27 for an 11-yard completion. 

Another example, one which didn’t go Thayer’s way, was the 10-6 loss to Noble & Greenough late in the season. Both teams, Toussaint said, were vying to stay eligible for a bowl bid, and the game came down to the very last play. 

“You want that,” said Toussaint. “You want that kind of battling between evenly matched teams.” 

As the season progressed, Toussaint said, the team gained more and more confidence both as individual players and as offensive and defensive units. 

“Our signature strength has been our defense,” he said.

Toussaint expressed confidence in tomorrow’s matchup against St. Sebastian’s, saying: “St. Sebastian’s is a very tough team, but I have confidence in our kids. If we can make some plays on offense and not give up the big plays, we’ll be in this game.” 

And, with young players in the skill positions, an offensive line filled with talented underclassmen, and a strong JV squad, Toussaint feels confident about next year as well. 

This year’s varsity squad has eight seniors: Will Bewley (Captain); Drew. St. Pierre (Captain); CJ Talabi-Oates (Captain); John Sullivan (Captain); Neil MacKinnon; Sawyer Garcia; Liam Rogers; and Max Black.