Zapher Lea figured his football career was over. Then came a Twitter message from , the new head sprint football coach at .
A four-sport athlete in high school, Lea plans to play baseball at Fontbonne, but thanks to Bortle, he’ll be playing football, too. The 5-foot-11, 160-pound freshman from Sweet Springs, Missouri, is competing to be the starting quarterback in Fontbonne’s inaugural season of sprint football.
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“I’m learning the spread offense, focusing on the little things to improve my passing and my footwork,†Lea said. “But like everybody else, I couldn’t be more excited about the future. We’re ready to make some history.â€
Fontbonne, which held its first sprint football practice this week, is one of six schools in the Midwest competing this fall in sprint football — formerly called lightweight football. Sprint football requires players weigh 178 pounds or less.
“It’s a bit of an adjustment, but football is football,†said Bortle, a St. Charles High product who went on to play and coach at Lindenwood University. He also coached at Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Missouri. “Overall, I think the style of play will be a little faster than in the traditional game, but unless you really focus on the size of the guys on the offensive and defensive lines, it’s the same game these guys have been playing for years.â€
Sprint football has been around since 1934, when the Eastern 150-pound Football League was founded with seven schools — Cornell, Lafayette, Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, Villanova and Yale — and eventually became the Eastern Lightweight Football League. The word “lightweight†was replaced by “sprint†during the 1998 season.
Heading into this season, there are nine schools competing in the Collegiate Sprint Football League (Alderson Broaddus, Army, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill, Cornell, Mansfield, Navy, Penn and St. Thomas Aquinas) and six schools in the first-year Midwest Sprint Football League (Quincy in Illinois, Bellarmine and Midway in Kentucky, Calumet College of St. Joseph and St. Mary-of-the-Woods in Indiana and Fontbonne).
Fontbonne’s president, Dr. Nancy Blattner, previously served as president of Caldwell University in New Jersey. That school started playing sprint football in 2017. And she missed it.
“My husband told me that we should start a league in the Midwest,†Blattner said. “At first, I didn’t think much of it, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. I mentioned it to (Fontbonne Vice President for Operations and Athletics) Maria Buckel, and I guess one thing led to another.â€
Those initial talks came early in 2021, and by June 2022, the MSFL was established. Blattner will serve as founding chair of the board of governors while Buckel was named as the league’s first commissioner.
“I think this will help create engagement within the ºüÀêÊÓƵ community,†Blattner said. “I think we’re all excited about being part of something new, and it’s definitely created some added energy on campus.â€
The newcomers on the Fontbonne campus are excited to keep playing the game they love. And to make the adjustments needed to play sprint football.
“The game is definitely faster,†said Ky’Ron Washington, a freshman receiver from Clarksville, Tennessee. “And I think that’ll make it more exciting for us and for the fans.â€
Dominic Punjami, a running back from De Soto, Missouri, ran track last year at Mineral Area College. He never expected to miss football as much as he did.
“I was pretty banged up after my last season of football in high school,†he said. “But when football season rolled around last fall, it felt strange. I can’t wait for that first game.â€
A freshman linebacker out of St. Dominic High, Clayton Arrowood sees sprint football as a new challenge.
“Football is football, but things in practice seem a little quicker — it’s more of a speed game and everything’s geared to getting to the outside,†Arrowood said. “With all the great athletes on the field, I think you can expect some really exciting football.â€
Bortle, who hasn’t coached in a game since April 2021, is beyond excited about the upcoming season.
“ºüÀêÊÓƵ football is kind of its own community and getting an opportunity to coach in my hometown. That’s special,†he said. “Getting a chance to build something from scratch, it’s a challenge, and it’s a great opportunity.â€
This will not be the first football played at Fontbonne.
“Back when this was an all-female school, we had a powder puff team on campus, so we have to be careful how we phrase things when it comes to Fontbonne football,†Buckel said. “But I think we’re excited about bringing a new and unique brand of football to our school.â€
The Griffins are scheduled to kick off their inaugural six-game schedule at noon on Saturday, Sept. 17, against Quincy University at ºüÀêÊÓƵ University High.