2025 Team Preview: The St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans, Part II

<p>There may not be a single high school football program in the state of New Jersey that has had as an eventful end to their season, and subsequent offseason, than St. Thomas Aquinas. The Edison-based non-public school won their first playoff game since the year 2001 - a 23 year drought - last fall. Despite this and a 27-6 record over three seasons, head coach Tarig Holman was relieved from his role. Replaced by Jonathan Germano, Germano was hired in late January and stepped down in early May before ever coaching a game. A day after his resignation the Trojans moved swiftly, naming Shamir Bearfield their newest head coach. With as much change as there has been within their coaching ranks, their roster has reflected similar turnover. To the best of my research, here are a handful of prospects that are returning to St. Thomas Aquinas and figure to be impact players.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">There is some additional value to offensive linemen who can play multiple spots along the line. This value is, amongst other things, what [player_tooltip player_id='1855175' first='Sebastian' last='Azofeifa'] brings to the trenches for the Trojans. Having appeared at both left tackle and right guard, we see that Azofeifa pulls well and keeps his feet through contact. This foot drive also allows him to get very good horizontal displacement on double teams. With those double teams, it seems as though Azofeifa focuses on sealing/getting an angle on his assignment before engaging. Perhaps this delay makes his impact more dramatic and stunning. This astute utilization of angles translates in pass protection too. I though that Azofeifa did not necessarily look the best in space in pass protection; however, his understanding of angles and knee-to-crotch relationship allowed him to never be too far out of position. This, combined with his ability to clamp, makes him a solid pass protector. Based on looks and play, it seems as though Azofeifa is strong up top and can wrangle defenders his way to create a lane. An area Azofeifa can continue to focus on is his bend. In his stance he looks extra wide, perhaps compensating for hip/groin flexibility. He then tends to pull a bit high. Lowering his pad level will make him all the more dangerous. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/AzofeifaSebas </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">[player_tooltip player_id='1855174' first='Dante' last='Jennings'] appeared to play last fall as a sophomore in more of a reserve role. Looking ahead to his junior year, however, Jennings is competing for an increased time share on the defense. A mike linebacker, Jennings does a great job of chasing to the edge to avoid opposing offenses springing big plays. He will use his shoulder flipper to take on blocks, dipping low and stacking oncoming linemen. As a tackler Jennings does a good job of wrapping. Jennings' film would be more sound if he included clips of him defending the pass in them. Also, as he prepares for his junior season I wish to see him play more down hill - doing so by trusting his reads.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Dan_jen8 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">Out of all the St. Thomas Aquinas returning film that I have watch, [player_tooltip player_id='1532328' first='Channon' last='Johnson']'s tape is the most impressive. Perhaps it is the defensive line coach in me, but I think it is simply his outstanding play. A nose, Johnson capitalizes being so close to the ball by having a very quick get off. From there, we see him clip and swim to get in the backfield and disrupt plays before the ever get started. His quickness allows him to beat the back block of centers, technically running around them, to make many tackles in the backfield. His get off and hand usage allows him to actively shed, <em>not split<strong>,</strong></em> double teams. In the process, Johnson keeps his gap-arm free to make tackles in his hole; on well-executed doubles, he is a total boulder who does not get moved at all. His knock-backability reestablishes the line of scrimmage and makes bubbles within the offensive backfield. At his best, Jennings knocks back offensive linemen into backside pullers, creating piles in the backfield and allowing play side defenders to run free. Johnson might be quicker than he is fast. On offense when at tackle, I noticed him having to push his guard out of the way on counter because they are moving too slow. I love Johnson's game. The only area I could realistically offer feedback would be to work in pass rush clips on his tape and clips of him spilling.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/johnson_channon </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">Slots receivers like [player_tooltip player_id='1703731' first='Anthony' last='Perez'] may not be the alpha receiver in the offense, may not get all the glory, but are reliable targets who make sound, clutch plays that do not show up in the box score. Perez runs his vertical routes very hard, eventually getting behind the secondary. A subtle thing that he does - and perhaps the product of good coaching - is that he gains depth when running his bubbles. This allows him to burn aggressive defenders should they bite and also give himself space in front of him to operate. Despite his smaller stature, Perez has no fears running over the middle on digs and crossers. Many times, we see him very astutely take his crossing route out of bounds to preserve the clock. Because he is often in front of the quarterback's line of sight, he does not have to necessarily adjust to ball placement, but he has shown to go low to grab it occasionally. He receivres the ball with his hands too. As a return man he carries the ball high and has solid vision to weave in and out of danger. I wish to see Perez snap his hips more on sharp-breaking routes to create more separation for himself this season, his senior.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/antdabest16 </div></figure>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2025 Team Previews</h2>   <p><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-bayonne-bees-part-i/">Bayonne Bees, Part I</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-bayonne-bees-part-ii/">Bayonne Bees, Part II</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-linden-tigers/">Linden Tigers</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-st-joseph-metuchen-falcons-part-i">St. Joseph Metuchen Falcons, Part I</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-st-joseph-metuchen-falcons-part-ii">St. Joseph Metuchen Falcons, Part II</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-st-thomas-aquinas-trojans-part-i">St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans, Part I</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-st-thomas-aquinas-trojans-part-ii">St. Thomas Aquinas Trojans, Part II</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2025-team-preview-the-westfield-blue-devils">Westfield Blue Devils</a></p>

There may not be a single high school football program in the state of New Jersey that has had as an eventful end to their season, and subsequent offseason, than St. Thomas Aquinas. The Edison-based non-public school won their first playoff game since the year 2001 - a 23 year drought - last fall. Despite this and a 27-6 record over three seasons, head coach Tarig Holman was relieved from his role. Replaced by Jonathan Germano, Germano was hired in late January and stepped down in early May before ever coaching a game. A day after his resignation the Trojans moved swiftly, naming Shamir Bearfield their newest head coach. With as much change as there has been within their coaching ranks, their roster has reflected similar turnover. To the best of my research, here are a handful of prospects that are returning to St. Thomas Aquinas and figure to be impact players.