As we continue our series with coach Q&As with state champions, we got a chance to talk with Xaverian’s Al Fornaro.

The Hawks went 9-4 with a D1 state title this fall, the program’s second in as many years.

We wanted to get Fornaro’s take on his team, and why the Hawks were so successful in the postseason.

Here is an edited version of that conversation.

Adam Kurkjian: Last year and this year were sort of similar in that you took some losses in the regular season. But you found it and turned it around. What was sort of the common thread in those two seasons?

AF: Whenever we had, every team has them, injuries. We lose Vincent (Busa), that’s two positions. This is for a lot of schools. Not every school is fortunate to do two platoon. The next-man-up philosophy, having confidence in the next guy, it’s easy for me to say, ‘Next man up!’ because I’m not on the field. These guys, they’re the member of the heartbeat club, a heartbeat away from playing. If a boy gets hurt, you’re the next guy. So I think confidence, every high school athlete should have confidence, they think that they should be starters, and now is your opportunity. Don’t let yourself down. Don’t let your teammates down. If we didn’t feel you could do it, we’d put someone else in. I know that sounds fairly simplistic, but some of our second-team guys are pretty good, to at least fill the gap for us.

AK: It felt like this group really wanted to play in the big games. They came through in big moments. The 81-yard touchdown pass to Dave Chiavegato in the game at Gillette, these kids were not afraid of the moment.

AF: No, and I probably talked to you about this before, but they got on themselves for BC High because they didn’t that night. They didn’t get off the bus. That’s no excuse, because (BC High coach) Paul (Zukauskas) said, ‘You were undermanned.’ I said, ‘No, we had 11 guys on the field. They’re supposed to go out on the field and play, and play as hard as they can. You beat us. No excuses.’ They know that they didn’t play their best foot forward, as the term goes. We were fortunate to have a do-over. It’s never revenge, but it’s an opportunity to say, we get them again. Are you going to perform? Are you going to lay down or are you going to show yourself and people what caliber team you are? It’s not good to say they’re gamers, because what does that mean? They don’t practice hard? No. But in bigger games, sometimes you have to reach down that little bit more. They were able to do that.

AK: Some of these guys didn’t start last year, some did. Then, with everyone I talked to who played you, they commented on defensive ends Micah Amedee and Dominic Funke. I know Dominic wasn’t here last year. It feels like, by the end of the season, he had gotten so much better. What was the development like of those two defensive ends.

AF: With Dom, having to play every week against a really good opponent, and getting up to speed. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn where our schedule was probably the toughest in the state, regardless of league. He really had to play, not that he didn’t at St. Sebastian’s, he had to play his best game every single weekend. And he did. Take a look at his highlight film. Oh, my God. With Micah, he started off slow again, and we had to get on him for certain things. How he is as an athlete, he can do the job. We expected more. I want to see more effort from you. And he’s making plays on the opposite side, running down the line. And he got better. Having two people like that, it forces people to do things that they definitely don’t want to do. Pick your poison.