'Either way, love every minute of it': Plenty in Patriot League is riding on HC football's Senior Day game
The Holy Cross football team’s 2023 campaign comes down to Saturday and its regular-season finale against Georgetown on Senior Day at Fitton Field.
Kicking off at the same time — noon — in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Lehigh hosts Lafayette in another Patriot League clash that could have critical implications for HC.
If the Crusaders (6-4, 4-1) defeat Georgetown and Lehigh beats Lafayette (8-2, 4-1), HC would claim its record fifth consecutive PL title outright and get the postseason automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
If Holy Cross and Lafayette both win, the Crusaders would share a fifth straight PL title, but the Leopards would earn the league’s auto bid based on the head-to-head tiebreaker. No. 22/24 Lafayette beat HC, 38-35, in October.
No. 25 HC would then have to hold out hope for an at-large berth.
The NCAA announces the 24-team FCS championship field at 12:30 Sunday.
“I want our players to understand,” Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said, “that come Saturday, you get to the end of this thing, and you win this game and find out the other team you needed to lose loses, how will that feel walking into that Selection Show on Sunday? Don’t wait for that moment to believe. Let’s start believing that’s going to happen now and practice as hard as we can and play as hard as we can and cherish these final moments, whether that be this week or a few more weeks. Either way, love every minute of it.”
There are 10 automatic qualifiers for the FCS playoffs and 14 at-large selections. HC, which is 7-2 against FCS opponents and had three-point losses to FBS foes Boston College and Army, is seeking its fifth straight postseason appearance.
“I don’t know,” Chesney said earlier this week when asked what he thought of HC’s at-large chances. “I’m hoping we get a consideration. We’re just going to make the most of each opportunity, but damn, if you knocked off a Boston College or an Army, and you had real opportunities to do both, you’d be in a really good spot. Do they look at those and say it was only by three points each? I don’t know. I’m not sure how that plays out for us. We just have to focus on getting this game. We’re not done playing football yet. None of us want to be done. None of us are ready to be done.”
Crusaders' defense shined at West Point
At Army, Holy Cross held the Black Knights to 269 total yards and 11 first downs in the 17-14 loss.
It was a gratifying performance for an HC defense besieged by injuries and overcoming inexperience most of the season.
“Our motto of the year is ‘next man up,’ ” senior linebacker Dante Bolden said after Tuesday’s practice. “We knew our hands were full going into the Army game, but we knew as long as we played together, played hard, trusted each other, trusted the scheme and trusted our talent, we would be in a good spot. We came up short, but I’m proud of the young guys who stepped up, and of the older guys.”
In the second quarter, HC senior cornerback Terrence Spence raced across the field to save a touchdown, knocking Army’s Casey Reynolds out of bounds at the 1 after a 69-yard reception.
“I saw him running across the field, I looked up and saw the ball in the air, and I saw him wide open,” Spence said. “I was like, ‘OK, I have to run.’ I put my head down, sprinted for 10 or 15 yards, put my head up, and I was almost there. That’s a play you have to make for your team. You can’t let them score. You have to do everything you can to prevent it.”
A holding penalty pushed Army to the 11, but the Black Knights got back the 10 yards on a pair of runs. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, junior linebacker Frankie Monte and Bolden crushed quarterback Bryson Daily short of the end zone.
“That was a huge play for our entire team,” Spence said. “We felt like we were in that game after that. That was the biggest stand we’ve had the entire season.”
During the key sequence, freshmen William Robinson and Carlo Crocetti combined for a tackle for no gain on second down.
HC went to the locker room trailing, 14-0.
“All the credit to Terrence Spence,” Bolden said. “Without his play, they go up, 21-0. When Frankie and I made that stop, I think it gave our whole sideline a lot of life.”
In in the absence of All-America linebacker Jacob Dobbs, who has missed the last two games due to injury, Monte made a career-high 13 tackles.
“They take a lot of pride in the physical, tough brand of football they played,” Chesney said. “A lot of guys stepped up, and they are going to have to continue to do that because this is an extremely high-powered offense walking in here on Saturday.”
Behind graduate quarterback Tyler Knoop, Georgetown (5-5, 3-2) averages 27.3 points and has the PL’s second-ranked passing offense. The Hoyas are coming off a 50-47 win at Bucknell.
“This week will be very different,” Chesney said. “It’s going to be more of the spread out skill sets that have to show up and not as much of a load-up-the-box and see who’s tougher. The pride they took in the Army game will certainly carry over, but it will look a little different.”
Georgetown has the top-ranked total defense in the PL and is tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions.
“Their defense is exotic, and they keep people off schedule,” Chesney said, “which gets them the ball back in their hands.”
Sluka back in lineup
Senior quarterback Matthew Sluka returned to the starting lineup at Army after playing just three snaps, and gaining 15 yards on three carries, the previous two games due to an injury.
Against the Black Knights, Sluka carried a season-high 37 times for 171 yards and passed for 156 yards and two touchdowns, including senior Jalen Coker’s single-season program record 14th receiving TD of the year in the fourth quarter. Army sacked Sluka five times, and he threw an interception.
“He came out of it well physically,” Chesney said. “Two weeks off is going to slow you down a little bit, and there were certainly opportunities he would like to have back. There were a couple of open moments when a big play could have been sprung. I thought he did a nice job of managing it. They blitzed a lot, and he extended some plays. He ran it (37) times. I know a lot of those were pass plays that he pulled down, but I thought he did a really good job to be out for two weeks and face a downhill, physical defense like he did.”
Sluka, who surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second straight season (1,086), moved ahead of junior Jordan Fuller (1,046) for the team rushing yards lead, and into eighth on the FCS list. Fuller suffered an injury in the third quarter of last week’s game.
Last year marked the first time in program history HC had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season (Sluka, Peter Oliver).
Senior Day at Fitton Field
Some of HC’s seniors will conclude their football careers after this season, some will return for a fifth year, others may finish their eligibility elsewhere or seize professional opportunities.
After Saturday’s game against Georgetown, Holy Cross will celebrate all of its seniors, fourth-years and fifth-years, in a postgame Senior Day ceremony on Fitton Field.
“It will definitely be emotional,” Bolden said. “It’s crazy how fast time has gone by. I remember my first game like it was a couple months ago. We just have to go out there and try to leave Fitton with a win.”
Fifth-year seniors like Dobbs, Devin Haskins and C.J. Hanson were freshmen when Holy Cross beat Georgetown in the final game of the 2019 to capture its first Patriot League title in 10 years.
Four-year seniors such as Sluka, Coker, Bolden and Spence came in as freshmen during COVID season and helped build the program from there.
“You go through the list,” Chesney said, “and it is a special group that will leave a mark on this program forever. They took a leap of faith, and I am proud of all they have accomplished, and how much they committed and sacrificed for the program.”
Around the grid
Bentley graduate corner Tajon Vassar of Worcester and Doherty High opened the Northeast-10 Championship game against New Haven with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It was Vassar’s second kickoff return TD of the season. He set a school record with a 98-yard kickoff return for a score in Week 2, also against New Haven. … Anna Maria junior quarterback Ryan Russell was 15 of 25 for 262 yards and four touchdowns to lead the AmCats past Vermont State Castleton in their regular-season finale. He set a program single-season record for TD passes with 27. … AMC senior kicker Ryan Kent made all seven of his PATs and led the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference in extra points made with 39.
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Holy Cross football's Senior Day has major Patriot League implications
