The Holy Cross Crusaders football team overcame their opponents and the elements to extend their undefeated season and advance in the FCS playoffs, with a 35-19 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats.
There’s an old saying in football that teams that lean heavily on physical runs to move the ball are playing a “three yards and a cloud of dust” brand of the game.
But on Saturday, when the Holy Cross hosted New Hampshire on a rainy afternoon in Worcester for a second round playoff game, it looked more like three yards and a puddle of water.
The two high-powered offenses got stuck in the mud in a low-scoring first half, going into the locker room with the Crusaders leading 7-5.
Crusaders running back Peter Oliver, who finished the game with 175 yards and two touchdowns, noticed how the conditions would impact play early.
“It was definitely wet,” he said with a laugh. “You definitely had to keep your feet underneath you. I noticed in warmups like if your feet weren’t underneath in your center of gravity, then you were kind of sliding. So I was I was paying attention to that. Wasn’t wearing gloves today, I had to take the visor off.”
But despite the less-than-ideal conditions, which led to a string of fumbled snaps, slip-ups, missed field goals and other miscues from both sides, Holy Cross came out of the locker room after the break and took control of the second half early. Thanks to a couple of early turnovers from the Wildcats, Holy Cross converted two short drives into touchdowns and never looked back, finishing the game with a 35-19 win.
The Wildcats came into the second half with a bit of momentum, but fumbled the ball on their first drive and then threw an interception on the next.
Holy Cross Safety Walter Reynolds said that those plays were big for the team.
“(Head Coach Bob Chesney) talked about taking it to ‘em first and opportunities are gonna present themselves, right?” he said. “So, being able to make the most of those and being able to put points on the board was something we knew we had to do and being able to get those was crucial for us.”
Holy Cross ended the day with three interceptions, two of which were picked by Reynolds, two fumble recoveries — one of which came on a muffed punt — and a blocked punt.
Offensively, the Crusaders found their groove in the second half, finishing with the day with 366 total yards, 303 of which came on the ground.
Now, the team will move on to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs to play the top-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
Chesney knows that at this point in the team’s magical season, tomorrow still isn’t guaranteed.
“I think that we’ve been preparing this for a while, this was our goal and there’s more to this goal,” he said. “So I think it’s just us continuing on this journey and understanding that our time is limited, the sand is falling out of that hourglass and let’s just make the most out of what’s left.”
