It’s pretty noisy this time of year around Saint Louis University High School (SLUH).
The school sits at the corner of Oakland Avenue and Kingshighway, and across the street is Highway 40. But I’m not talking about traffic.
“A lot of outside noise is going to be about what we lost (from 2025),” SLUH head coach Adam Cruz said.
The noise stems from the annual ritual SLUH, and many historical programs like them, go through every fall. Part-time fortune tellers come out of the woodwork to let you and anyone who will listen know: the Jr. Bills won’t be good.
Guys like Keenan Harris, Kendall McNutt and Jordan Taylor all donned the white tuxedos and walked right into summer camp with their respective college teams, leaving SLUH with some major roles to fill and plenty of reasons for naysayers to points and say, “See?””
But that’s the problem with foresight: it usually leaves you pretty blind to the big picture.
For every void, there’s an answer, and since SLUH’s program runs deep with talent, there are plenty of them.
Like the quarterback position, for example.
For the first time since 2014, the Jr. Bills will start a sophomore at quarterback: Patrick Ramella.
Ramella is the little brother of John Ramella (more on him later) and will start under center as more of a pocket passer, although Cruz said he is getting more comfortable as a runner.
“He’s got a lot of moxie,” Cruz said of his new quarterback. “He’s very confident.”
Ramella transitioned from wide receiver, so he understands the nuances of that position and its relationship with the quarterback. But this will be his first year as a starter on the varsity team, which introduces plenty of speed and nuance to the game.
Thankfully, he’ll have a big offensive line in front of him, which is anchored by senior offensive lineman Kaiden Eleby, a consistent, strong, and downright nasty centerpiece of the unit.
“He is one of the best offensive linemen I’ve ever coached,” Cruz said.
Eleby’s presence is well-known throughout the program and the Metro Catholic Conference. He earned 2nd team All-Conference last season, and this season, if SLUH makes it past the first round of the playoffs, he will have earned the most starts in program history.
On the other side of the ball, SLUH returns seven players and arguably returns the most experience and playmaking talent. This unit includes major playmakers like:
- Safety Ben Yust, 2025 1st team All-Conference
- Linebacker Tim Kelly, a 2-time team captain
- Safety John Ramella, 2025 2nd team All-Conference and No. 27 on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Super 30
- Pass-rusher Ty Lige, 2025 1st team All-Conference and sack-leader in 2025 (9)
- Cornerback Quincy Jones, 2025 1st team All-Conference
- And linebacker Anthony Busby Jr., another 2025 1st team All-Conference player who led the team in tackles (87), TFLs (15) and was second on the team in sacks (4)
Eleby, Jones, Busby Jr., Lige, Kelly, Yust, and the elder Ramella are all team captains this year, and are expected not only to fill but to thrive in the roles left behind by those who came before them. Busby Jr. especially, as he now dons the No. 8 uniform, awarded to the best player on the team, voted on by their peers.
“Every group is different,” he said. “But I will say this is probably the most fun I’ve had this summer. It’s a really coachable group of kids and a great group to be around.”
And now, these guys enter a new tradition: the fall gauntlet.
SLUH will have a difficult schedule, filled with Metro Catholic Conference juggernauts like CBC and De Smet, followed by another road game to Kansas City to face Rockhurst in the season finale.
The noise won’t stop. In fact, it will get louder as the season goes on. Folks opining back and forth about what SLUH is or isn’t; what they will or will not do.
But it doesn’t matter. Especially to SLUH.
Because they have everything they need.
Each other.
SLUH hosts Hazelwood Central on August 28th at 6pm. This piece is part of Tim’s 2026 Watch List, a project previewing St. Louis High School Football. Read the full preview here.
