Saint James football: Saints primed for a sixth straight winning season in 2025

Longtime Saint James assistant Colin Ponder is now the head coach for a squad coming off a 6-4 season with a strong crop of returning stars.

With the 2025 Maryland high school football season set to kick off soon, we're taking a quick glance at each Washington County team.

Saint James Saints

Coach: Colin Ponder, first year

Last season: 6-4

Top returners: Jayden Yates, Sr., QB/DB; Liam Hall, Sr., RB/LB; Xavier Colbert, Sr., TE/DB; Max Vivier, Sr., OL/DL; Will Taffe, Jr., WR/DB; Calvin Moss, Jr., WR/DB; Aiden Carter, Jr., OL/DL; Josh Davies, Jr., RB/LB; Khari Yates, So., WR/LB; Keenen Braylock, Jr., WR/DB; Marcello Anderson, Jr., WR/DB.

Key losses: Sam Stonebraker, RB/LB; Alex Fletcher, OL/DL; Jorge Diaz Nicolas, K.

Saints James' Jayden Yates passed for three touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the Saints to a 37-33 win over Allegany.

Notes: Ponder took over for John Root, who went 61-45 in his 12 years as Saint James' coach. … Ponder spent the previous nine seasons as an assistant under Root, including the last eight as the defensive coordinator. … The Saints are aiming for their sixth straight winning season. … They have four returning All-County first-teamers — Jayden Yates (QB), Hall (LB), Colbert (TE) and Vivier (OL). … Colbert and Vivier both have committed to Division I programs — Colbert to Towson and Vivier to Connecticut. … The Saints lost only four players to graduation from last year's team.

Biggest challenge: "Our schedule is going to be a big challenge," Ponder said. "We are playing a bit of a tougher schedule than we did last year. Rising to meet that challenge is going to be tough."

Reason to be optimistic: "The vast core of the team is back from last year," Ponder said. "We've had five winning seasons in a row, and we're very much primed to continue that streak. That's the main goal. We have a lot of talent, a lot of receiving depth, and a great senior four-year starter at quarterback."

Saint James football schedule

  • Aug. 30 vs. Archbishop Curley, 1 p.m.
  • Sept. 5 at Paul VI, 7 p.m.
  • Sept. 13 at Kiski, 1 p.m.
  • Sept. 19 at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes, 7:30 p.m.
  • Sep. 27 vs. Wyoming Seminary, 2 p.m.
  • Oct. 2 vs. Brunswick, 4 p.m.
  • Oct. 11 vs. Maret, 1 p.m.
  • Oct. 25 vs. Potomac School, 1 p.m.
  • Nov. 1 at Flint Hill, 1 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: 2025 Saint James high school football season preview

Category: General Sports