This season has been full of unfortunate injuries for the Lehigh football team, as more than five contributing players have gone down with season-ending injuries. However, the season must continue, and the coaches are confident in the depth of the team.
This has been true for junior center Steven Camasta, who was thrown into action when sophomore starting center Brandon Short went down with a knee injury in last week’s game against Yale University. This week, Short got the news that his injury would require surgery, and Camasta knew it was his time to step up and become the team’s starting center.
His first start as a college football player was this past Saturday, when the Hawks took on Monmouth University. Monmouth is known for their tough run defense, so the team prepared by having a physical week of practice and by working on fundamentals. For Camasta, it also meant watching extra film with his coaches, studying the other team’s defense and getting in extra work on the field.
As any college athlete knows, the transition from high school to college athletics is a big one. So, when asked if he was nervous for his first career start, Camasta laughed and said, “Of course I was nervous for the game, but I was confident that I would be fine. I just knew I had to go out there, have fun and play football.” He also noted that playing in the Yale game helped him alleviate his nerves.
The team’s offense strategy on Saturday was to get the run game going early in order to open up the defense for their receivers downfield. The game did not result in a win for the Hawks, but Camasta said he thinks the team made some improvements from last week.
“There were certain times we shot ourselves in the foot, but we were in the game the entire time,” he said. “We just need to find a way to win those close ones.”
Although Camasta was excited about his first career start, it did not have the desired outcome.
“For myself to improve, I have to take what happened out there on Saturday, watch the film and learn from my mistakes to improve for the next game,” he said. “We just need to come together and play a complete four quarters in all three phases of the game and do whatever it takes to win.”
Camasta is a determined, competitive and hardworking student-athlete who will do whatever it takes to help his team. Although the team has a bye week coming up, Camasta and his teammates will be back in action in a home game on Oct. 11 at 12:30 p.m.
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