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| Jimmie Warren and the Utica Pioneers are still here. Utica athletics file photo |
By Brian Lester
D3sports.com
Utica went into the NCAA playoffs as a team many didn’t think should be in the field of 32.
Yet, here are the Pioneers, still standing during the week of Thanksgiving, still playing football and feeling as if it has proven it did deserve this opportunity.
The Pioneers grinded out a 17-10 win in the opening round over Susquehanna last week, and as head coach Blaise Faggiano points out, it’s a big deal.
This, after all, was Utica’s first ever trip to the playoffs.
“It’s hard getting in, but once you do, it’s anyone’s game,” Faggiano said. “It means everything to us, and at the end of the day, we got an opportunity to be here. It’s just a new name not everyone is used to, and it happened to be Utica. We’re proud to represent the Empire 8, which we think is one heck of a conference.”
Faggiano is on the national committee and while he wasn’t on a lot of the call because Utica was the topic of discussion, he has no doubt his team earned this shot.
“We always felt we were deserving,” Faggiano said. “It was an incredible game Saturday. Games like this come down to turnovers, field position and red zone opportunities, and we happened to win a few more of the battles against a great opponent.”
Indeed Utica did win those battles. It forced six turnovers, including five off interceptions – Jamel Smith had three – and the Pioneers went 3-for-3 in the red zone.
It all added up to a chance for the players, especially the seniors, to experience playoff success for the first time.
That includes Jimmie Warren, a senior defensive end who made nine tackles in Saturday’s playoff win and leads the team in tackles on the season with 87.
“Being a senior, it means a lot. It means the world to me,” Warren said. “We’ve put so many hours in and have made so many sacrifices. We wanted to take this home for us as seniors and for the program. We’ve set a new standard and we have to continue to grow and get better.”
Fellow senior Nate Palmer, the Pioneers’ top receiving threat with 66 catches for 1,248 yards and 18 touchdowns, also pointed out how special the playoff win was for he and his teammates.
“Since it’s my last year, it’s special. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Palmer said. “Would I have loved to experience it more? Obviously. But the fact that I was able to do it this year and do it for the players who came before me, it means a lot. This was the next step for our program.”
And while there were doubts on the outside about the Pioneers going into the playoffs, those never bothered the players. They remained focused on the task at hand.
“It’s really what we’ve been saying all year. We want to go 1-0 every week,” Palmer said. “It doesn’t matter what anyone says, or what we say. As long as we go 1-0 every week, we’ll get to where we want to be.”
Warren agrees and also noted that belief played a big part in the Pioneers’ run to the postseason.
“We believe in ourselves and we know what we have to do to be successful. We just have to go out there and get it done. If we do that, everything else will go the way we want it to go.”
Utica won its first six games of the year before losing to then-No. 13 Cortland on Oct. 22 by a 48-21 score. It was the most points the Pioneers had given up in a game all season and the 21 points scored by Utica tied for the fewest scored until Saturday’s playoff win.
Faggiano said in the Cortland loss his team perhaps let the game become too big.
“We built it up too much and we didn’t play our best,” Faggiano said. “We play our best when we are having fun and we are loose. Our guys were doing that Saturday. We played loose and we had fun. We also matched their physicality.”
Being able to play physical comes from being battle-tested in the conference.
“The Empire 8 prepared us for postseason play. It’s a legit conference and we have a good football team,” Faggiano said.
It’s a team that has a lot of trust in itself. The players never question if they can count on each other on game day.
“Throughout the season, we have had great chemistry and we trust in one another. That shows up in the game,” Palmer said.
And everyone does their job.
“We have a great bond and a love for the game and we play for each other. We know everyone is going to go do their one-eleventh. We strive for that every week,” Warren said.
The next test for the Pioneers, who are 10-1, will be even bigger. Second-ranked Mount Union is the opponent this Saturday. The Purple Raiders are unbeaten at 11-0 after rolling over Salisbury 51-0 in their playoff opener.
“They are a great opponent, but our guys are going to go out and prepare hard this week and be ready to play our best football,” Faggiano said. “We’re excited about the opportunity and the chance to represent our school and our conference.”
Palmer is ready for the challenge.
“It all goes back to the blood, sweat and tears we’ve put into this season. We know it comes down to us doing our jobs,” Palmer said. “Whatever happens, happens. We just have to put it all out there and give it our best shot.”
It’s also important that the Pioneers don’t make the game bigger than it needs to be. They are hanging on to that lesson learned from the battle with Cortland in the regular season.
Certainly a lot is riding on the game, but at the end of the day, it’s just football.
“We can’t make the game too big,” Warren said. “It’s just another game. They play football just like we do. If we do what we are supposed to do, we’ll give ourselves a chance, and hopefully, we can come out on top.”