Mark Ross
Lafayette wide receiver Mark Ross (10) said Saturday's game against Lehigh was the most important contest of his life.
(Express-Times Photo | MATT SMITH)
's class of senior football players aren't merely game-changers.
They're program-changers as well. With 60 minutes of at-times awe-inspiring effort on the grass at Goodman Stadium Saturday, the Leopards ended five years of misery of losing to their
, ended a seven-year Patriot League championship drought, a 19-year stretch without an outright league title and at least one more week of football in the FCS playoffs.
That's a whole lot of positive change for a program mired in a 1-5 miasma in October, heading for another lost year. The Leopards have changed their spots from coulda-beens to champs.
"I couldn't be prouder of a group of young men than I am of this group," said Lafayette head coach Frank Tavani with deep emotion in his voice Saturday. "I credit our senior leadership with helping our team come through some tough times together."
The Leopard seniors have changed their program in deeper ways than just on-field success. Sure, many of them, such as Lafayette's all-time leading receiver
, superb, physical linebackers Ben Aloi and Mike Boles and senior defensive lineman Jake McTighe, star on the field.
But that's not where the Lafayette seniors made the biggest change in the program. They inherited a team with a lot of off-field negativity, a team divided against itself, a team with little to show on the field and a lack of commitment off it.
They turned that mess into a championship team that everyone associated with Lafayette can take intense pride in.
"This group has always been so positive," Tavani said. "They saw some struggles as freshmen (when Lafayette went 2-9), and the last two years (2011 and 2012) the leadership wasn't there, they weren't all-in for football. These seniors saw that and wanted to change the culture here. They care about football, not those other things, kids like (fullback) Pat Creahan, (running back) Greg Kessel, (guard) Brad Bormann, they changed things around here."
The foundation the seniors built in the spring, in the summer, in the preseason, proved strong enough to withstand that miserable 1-5 start. While there were on-field struggles, there was no repeat of the off-field negative nonsense of 2012.
"They have a resolve about them, this group, they never lost confidence, we stuck together," Tavani said. "I knew the talent was there, and I credit (the turnaround) to our seniors."
The turnaround got started with wins over Holy Cross and Georgetown and, after a strong second half in a 28-24 loss to Colgate, gathered new momentum with an upset of then-unbeaten Fordham.
But the seniors knew none of it would mean much without a win over Lehigh.
"One of the reasons I came to Lafayette was to play in this game," Ross said. "Three years of losing to them hurt. Today was the biggest game of my life, and we got a championship. It feels good to beat our rivals."
Lehigh coach Andy Coen knows how good that feels, with a record of 5-3 versus the Leopards, and he saw the Leopards' hunger as a key factor Saturday.
"I think the biggest motivator is that (the Leopard seniors) did not want to be the third class to never beat
," he said. "I think, for them, winning against us is more important than going to the playoffs."
Coen's right, because Saturday's win changed the Leopard program from a struggling one into a championship one. And it's fair to say these teams measure overall accomplishment by their success against each other. Lafayette's seniors knew their program change wouldn't be complete until they beat Lehigh.
Now they have, and their legacy on College Hill is secure, and lasting.
"Our freshmen are seeing this, being part of a championship team, getting a huge ring," Tavani said. "The seniors set our tone and that will filter down to every one of our classes. This senior group was deserving of success. And in football, you're only as good as your seniors."
Which, at Lafayette now, is very good indeed. Good enough to beat Lehigh, win a championship and keep playing another week.