FAIRHOPE — The St. Michael Cardinals have landed home and broke in their new on-campus stadium Friday night with a 30-0 win in a preseason jamboree over the Class 7A Alma-Bryant Hurricanes.

It had been a long time coming as the school enters its ninth year of operation and seventh with a varsity football team.

“Since I stepped foot in Fairhope, I was looking forward to this day so hopefully we’ll get it started off right,” said head coach Philip Rivers before the contest as he enters his fourth year at the helm.

First varsity touchdowns at the new stadium

St. Michael did indeed get it started on the right foot when Kamarjay Lavoie scored the first touchdown at the new stadium, a 1-yard rush on the first play of the second quarter. Tucker Tomlinson added a receiving touchdown about two minutes later before junior-varsity players took over in during the second half.

In the transition from a hot summer where the Cardinals went 29-1 and won three of four 7-on-7 tournaments they played in, Rivers said the preseason was the time for some minor miscues.

“We’ve got some kinks to work out. We had some misses that we don’t normally miss but now’s the time to get them out of their system,” Rivers said after the game. “I think it will be a great teaching tape for our guys.”

First game, first win

With a win in the first opportunity at the new stadium, the St. Michael community got some celebration practice early during the season.

“I thought the crowd was nice, we got a ton of rain this afternoon but we’ll keep getting things better we have to work out a bunch of kinks for sure,” Rivers said. “I don’t even know half of it, I only know what’s going on between the lines but it’ll keep getting better. You have to have a first time sometime.”

Patience pays off

Co-athletic director and defensive coordinator Simon Cortopassi, entering his seventh year at the school, confirmed the patience shown by the Cardinal faithful.

“At one time, it felt like it was going to be quite a few years away, and we were lucky enough to secure the money to make this thing happen a lot faster,” Cortopassi said before the game. “Waiting a long time but we made it happen in a short period of time so it’s exciting.”

From the coaches’ perspective, it makes the whole game-day operation much smoother with a shorter commute to the field.

“It makes Friday mornings a little easier,” the defensive coordinator said. “Now you’re just getting on a golf cart to load stuff up instead of a trailer and stuff, and technically playing 10 road games a year having to go to Volanta so it makes our lives a lot easier.”

Regular season on deck

With the preseason wrapped up, the next game will count on the schedule as St. Michael will make a trip to a former region foe in Bayside Academy. Rivers said the Cardinals know their work is cut out for them having never beaten the Admirals yet.

“I think it’s good for our guys to get some confidence,” Rivers said. “It’ll be a heck of one next week, we’ve never beat those guys. They beat us at the buzzer the last two years.”

Money quotes

“It’s been a heck of a 14 months getting this going, a lot of help and support from our community,” Cortopassi said. “The kids are excited, bands excited, the cheerleaders are excited and our parents and community is excited about it so it’ll be a good night, a good start to a lot of football being played here at St. Michael.”

“It was pouring rain about two and a half hours ago and I said, ‘You gotta be kidding me, it hasn’t rained one day at practice and it’s going to rain today of all days,’” Rivers said. “It’s awesome, I know it’s special for the kids, special for the school; everybody.”