Swindasz, Kloutis lead tight-knit senior class for Steinert
LAWRENCE » Asked Tuesday night what ties them together as senior standouts on Steinert High’s varsity football team, Jake Swindasz and Nick Kloutis gushed about being a family.
Not just between the two of them, but the camaraderie which binds about 20 seniors that are driven to learn from the sting of narrow defeats last season and guide the program back to the state playoffs in 2017.
“Just the whole senior class together, we’re so close,” Swindasz said. “We’ve been with each other since freshman year, we love each other and besides football we always hang out. I don’t think any other senior class is really as close as we are.”
The passion for one another is translating onto the field. Swindasz and Kloutis were both honored by the 12th Man TD Club at Leonardo’s II restaurant as local Players of the Week for the first two weeks of the season.
Kloutis earned Offensive Lineman of the Week after helping the Spartans rush for 205 yards and three touchdowns in their season opener at Middle Township.
Kloutis is in his second year of playing varsity and starts at left tackle, but is capable of playing all five offensive line positions. He also plays some defensive tackle.
“I think my game has grown the most in technique, and just perfecting and repetition has been the key to making Steinert football a success,” he said. “This year in particular we have a lefty quarterback (Colin Smith), which is the first time in a while. It’s basically my job to make sure that no one comes across his front side, and then we have another amazing tackle on the other side by the name of Jarrod Conti.”
Despite a 32-31 loss in a difficult road trip to begin the season, Steinert showed the resolve to come back with a vengeance at home this past Saturday at Northern Burlington. Kloutis The 12th Man TD Club winners for Week 1 are(l-r) Davon Hemingway, Lawrence; Jake Swindasz, Steinert; Obiefuna Ezeigbo, Ewing; C.J. Williams, Hun and Domanic Cooper, Hamilton West.
and his unit again paved the way for an offensive field day in a 34-0 victory.
“Our o-line has been really solid this year, completing assignments and just getting after people,” Kloutis said. “Our offensive line coach is known to be the one to bring the charisma on the team. He always makes line practices fun and basically encourages us to pick each other up and become a family.”
Swindasz, the Defensive Back of the Week from this past weekend’s games, also played a significant role in the home opener.
Swindasz compiled 13 total tackles — three for a loss — and one interception to lead the defense. A team captain and three-year varsity player, Swindasz starts at strong-side linebacker in the Spartans’ 4-3 defense.
“I was locked in. We had a great week of practice, energetic. We were all energized and really ready to go for the game,” he said. “When it comes to run responsibilities I have to protect
the outside and contain, and passing usually I have the curl flat. Sometimes I’ll just have the flat and every once in a while we’ll do man coverage, but we don’t run that too much.”
With continuity on Dan Caruso’s coaching staff these past few years, Swindasz said the playbooks have become instinctual, and the core group of players are having fun and playing physical.
With the right mentality and work ethic, Steinert hopes it results in a run at the Central Jersey Group III title game later this fall.
“I definitely believe that this is a special group,” Kloutis said. “We’ve had a very strong class, obviously our class, and the class coming up has been strong throughout the years. Our JV team has went pretty much 8-1 for the past two years, and we have a strong core coming up. We just hope to keep working hard and come out on top if we go to Rutgers at the end of the season.”