'Our goal is to be the best': Defending PL football champ Holy Cross focuses on little things
It is no surprise that the Holy Cross football team, which is coming off a momentous 2022 campaign, is the 2023 preseason Patriot League favorite.
“Certainly, until someone knocks them off,” Fordham coach Joe Conlin said during Tuesday afternoon’s Patriot League Virtual Media Day, “they are the team to beat in our league.”
As the Crusaders, who set a program record with 12 victories last year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, pursue their fifth straight Patriot League title, they are managing expectations like they always have under coach Bob Chesney.
“For us,” Chesney said, “it’s about what got us to this moment, and what got us to this moment is us focusing on the little things, focusing on the day to day and us understanding we can only control what we can control. This is a team that is ready to work and compete every day. We understand the leading cause of failure is mismanaged success, so we’re going to be sure we manage success properly because we’ve had some, but ultimately, it’s about what we’re about to do, not what we just did.”
HC’s first training camp practice is Aug. 3. The Crusaders open the 2023 season Sept. 2 against Merrimack at Fitton Field.
“It’s been a great summer so far,” senior quarterback Matthew Sluka said. “We’re ready to roll into camp.”
Sluka, who passed for 2,489 yards last season, rushed for a team-high 1,234 and accounted for 37 touchdowns, is the PL preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
Fifth-year linebacker Jacob Dobbs, an All-American in 2021 who missed most of last season due to an elbow injury, is the PL preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
“I’m not sure there’s a word in the English language to describe how I excited I am to play football again,” said Dobbs, who in 2021 ranked in the top 10 nationally in solo tackles and total tackles.
Sluka and Dobbs head the list of HC’s 11 preseason all-league picks.
“The season is just around the corner, and we’re excited to get this started,” Chesney said. “It’s a new team and a new year, and there is very little we’ll look back on. We understand that ultimately we just have to continue to grow and continue to get better in every aspect of our program.”
In 2022, Holy Cross, bolstered by its 14-member fifth-year senior class, became the first HC team to finish a regular season 11-0 since 1991 and the first 12-win team in program history. The Crusaders continued their emergence on the national stage, rising as high as No. 5 in the FCS rankings and earning a No. 8 seed in the FCS playoffs.
HC got a first-round playoff bye, beat New Hampshire in the second round and battled top-seeded South Dakota State in the quarterfinals. The Crusaders led the Jackrabbits in the second quarter and entered to the fourth quarter tied before SDSU pulled away for a 42-21 win to hand HC its only loss of the season.
South Dakota State went on to win the national title.
“It does give you confidence to go against a team like that,” Chesney said, “but any loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and that was our last feeling on the football field. It has certainly driven us through this offseason.
“Our goal is to be the best,” Chesney said. “Period. Whatever that means at the end of the year, we can’t really control. What we can control is what we do every single day. There’s not one play at practice we’re going to look past. There’s not on opponent we’re going to look past. We’re not going to get to becoming what might be the actual best if we don’t handle our business each and every day.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Defending Patriot League football champ Holy Cross focuses on little things
