- August 12, 2026
After spring football practice, a long offseason and two weeks of preseason camp, the vibe was different at the Seabreeze practice field on Monday, Aug. 10. Finally, it was game week.
It doesn’t matter that the game, a kickoff classic at Matanzas at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14, won’t count. For the first time in months, the Sandcrabs were preparing to play an acutal opponent.
“We're practicing for a game that’s just a few days away,” Seabreeze coach Mike Kleinn said Monday. “The season is finally upon us, so we are definitely excited. I'm excited. The boys are excited. That offseason is great, and the work is great, but it's nice to finally be getting ready to line it up for real.”
The Sandcrabs, who were 5-5 last year in Klein’s second season, have a lot to be excited about. They finally have a quarterback in sophomore Noah Bogdanowicz, who is a threat with his arm as well as his feet. And they have much more depth than they’ve had in Klein’s first two years.
“We've got a lot of guys. We’ve got a lot of good seniors. We've got a lot of good juniors. And we've got a few sophomores that are stepping up into roles,” Klein said. “And so we've got enough depth now to where we can have some rotations at positions. We can put multiple different guys on some special teams. We don't have to necessarily play a few guys every play of the game. We can rotate guys in and out. We can get into different sets, personnel groupings. If we want to have four or five receivers out there, we can do that. If we want to have two or three tight ends in there, we can do that. So, it just gives us a lot of options.”
Bogdanowicz gives the Sandcrabs lots of options. He can run the option or pass out of the pocket. If the protection breaks down, Klein said, he can buy time and find a receiver or he can take off running.
He's a young guy, and that can be scary for some coaches. But I've got a lot of confidence in him as a football player and as a leader. And the guys have really rallied behind him. He definitely gives us a lot of options on the offense.
— MIKE KLEIN on QB Noah Bodanowicz
Bogdanowicz was the JV quarterback last year. He split reps in spring practice with Michael McDonough, who has transferred to Matanzas, and Bogdanowicz has been the starter since.
“He's a young guy, and that can be scary for some coaches,” Klein said. “But I've got a lot of confidence in him as a football player and as a leader. And the guys have really rallied behind him. He definitely gives us a lot of options on the offense. He's young, so he's only going to continue to grow and get better.”
Seabreeze passed for just 418 yards last season and 425 yards in 2024. This year, the Sandcrabs will be much more balanced, Klein said.
“We're not going to throw the ball every down,” he said. “It's just not quite our MO. But we are definitely going to be more balanced than we've ever been before.”
Senior Jeremias George, who rushed for 500 yards in eight games last season, returns, as does leading receiver Danny Spada.
The Sandcrabs have a couple of Spruce Creek transfers in running back/linebacker Cameron DiBernardo and defensive end/tight end Jacob Dougherty. Matt Wells, who had 40 tackles, including seven for loss, last season, will also play both ways at defensive end and tight end.
“We've got a great tight end group,” Klein said. “A lot of those guys play both ways on the D-line. We've got about three guys that are all big, strong and athletic and can do a lot of things for us there. And our offensive line, I think, has improved across the board.”
Safety Ben Franklin returns after missing last season with a torn ACL. He will be joined in the secondary by AJ Brown, a Seabreeze basketball player who came out for the football team in the spring.
“We just got so many guys that that I feel like are going to have big years for us and are going to contribute in so many different ways,” Klein said. “It's just an exciting feeling.”
After this week’s kickoff classic, Seabreeze’s opens its season across LPGA Boulevard from its home stadium, at Father Lopez on Aug. 21. The Sandcrabs play their first home game the following week on Aug. 28 against Tocoi Creek.
