Three of this year's semifinalists were playing at this time last
year.
Three of them started the season ranked in the top 10, and
finished the regular season ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the
nation.
At this time last year, St. John Fisher's season had been
over for weeks. The Cardinals started this regular season outside
the D3football.com Top 25, moved in by Week 3 and had ascended to
No. 16 by the end of the year.
So who are these guys crashing the final four
party?
Their success this year was partially built on the relative
failures of the two previous seasons and beyond.
Unlike the long and extensive histories of many Division III
football programs, St. John Fisher established itself as a club
team in 1971 and joined Division III in 1991, their first season
under Paul Vosburgh, who remains the head coach today.
Vosburgh built a winning program by 1993, and peaked at 7-3
by 1995 before the Cardinals went from '96 to '01 without winning
more than three games.
The tide again turned, and in 2004, the Cardinals made a
habit of winning games in the final minutes, and joined the NCAA
postseason for the first time. After a 31-3 opening-round victory
against Muhlenberg, the Cardinals visited Doylestown, Pa., for a
game against Delaware Valley, also a longtime doormat in the
playoffs for the first time after winning several close games
during the season.
Mark Robinson scored on a 12-yard run with 3:02 left to give
St. John Fisher a 20-12 lead. It looked like another late-minutes
win was in the works for the Cardinals.
Delaware Valley drove 65 yards in 10 plays and got the
two-point conversion to tie with 1:02 left. On an ensuing third
down, St. John Fisher was intercepted, the Aggies scored with nine
seconds remaining and history was made -- for the other
guys.
It didn't slow the program down, though. In 2005, the
Cardinals were cruising, at 8-1 with just an overtime loss to
Ithaca on their ledger, heading into the final weekend at home
against Alfred. The Saxons scored 10 fourth-quarter points to steal
a 13-7 victory and keep the Cardinals out of the playoffs. Then, in
an ECAC bowl game at home against RPI, the Cardinals lost
26-22.
And still they wouldn't slow down.
"I think we've learned a lot from those situations," said
Vosburgh by phone on Thursday. "Some of these kids were on that
team in '04. Last year, we were coming along pretty well and we
lost the last two."
But instead of feeling like a program that could never get
over the hump, Vosburgh's players went back to the drawing board
preparing for the next opportunity at a hump.
"They stayed really focused," the 16th-year coach said.
"They work very well together as a team. They rely on each other to
do their best."
And even after a 55-38 setback this season against
Springfield, in which the Cardinals allowed Pride QB Chris Sharpe
to rush for seven touchdowns, St. John Fisher never wavered. In the
second round of the playoffs, they got another shot at the Pride,
in Springfield. They held Sharpe to 69 yards rushing and a pair of
TDs in a 27-21 victory.
It was sweet redemption, especially since the Springfield
loss had the potential to ruin a successful season.
"It's just like after a win," Vosburgh said. "You can't
dwell on a win either. You've got to get focused on the next one.
It's the same thing with a loss. If you dwell on it, it can happen
again."
The Cardinals haven't lost since.
"You just keep working at it," said Vosburgh of his team's
response to both success and setbacks. "You never get satisfied
with where you're at. We're always telling the team 'you either get
better or you get worse.' "
Even though St. John Fisher has gone farther than it every
has before, the hump that lies just ahead is the biggest of them
all. Saturday, they play eight-time champion and nine-time finalist
Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio.
"There's definitely a mystique about going to play Mount
Union," Vosburgh said. "You'd have to be on some other planet to
not know what they've done in football. Our kids have a lot of
respect for them. They've talked about it, (saying) 'this is the
type of program we want to become.' "
This St. John Fisher's chance to measure itself against the
best.
"When we started developing our program, we measured
ourselves against the best in New York, the Ithacas and the
Cortlands," Vosburgh said. "Then we started measuring ourselves
against the best in the East, and we got a chance to beat the
so-called Beasts of the East in Rowan last week."
Now this?
"Well this is the biggest measuring device of them all," he
said.
From afar, the Cardinals appear to be all star running back
Mark Robinson, who accounted for 2,426 total yards and 25 TDs in
'04. Injuries in '05 opened the door for James Reile to become an
all-Empire 8 back (1,235 yards to Robinson's 659), although
Vosburgh said Reile's talent was evident and he was already in line
to spell Robinson from time to time before the injury.
This year, Robinson has rushed for 1,460 yards at a 6.0
yards per carry clip, and Reile 803 at 5.5. Robinson has 23 of the
pair's 32 rushing TDs.
Robinson has had at least 20 carries and 98 yards rushing in
all three playoff wins this season, but QB Rob Kramer, a first-year
starter, has helped diversify the offense. In the 31-0 quarterfinal
victory against Rowan, his first eight completions went to seven
different receivers. On the season, Kramer's hit 14 different
receivers, including nine for TDs.
But his most impressive stats might be his 65.6% completion
percentage and his 21-1 TD-to-interception ratio.
"Rob's done a great job for us," Vosburgh said. "He manages
the offense, and that's what we ask him to do."
That offense has scored 39.6 points per game. It's rushed
for 235.2 per game and gained 424.1 overall.
Against Mount Union, however, leading receiver Sean Nowicki
(44 catches, 746 yards) will be out after breaking his leg on a
kickoff return against the Pride.
Special teams has been a factor as well, evidenced by last
week's Jimmy Smith punt return TD against Rowan, which energized
the Cardinals early. But Vosburgh says the kicking game is solid,
and the coverage units are as good as they've ever been. And any
team this deep into the season is adept at doing little-noticed
things well.
The defense is what's really come along for
Fisher.
All-American linebacker Gene Lang is a tackling machine (126
this year) and cornerback Steve Step nick (4 INTs) is the
Cardinals' top cover man.
But the area that's had the biggest improvement this season,
says Vosburgh, is the defensive line.
"They've come along really well for us," he said. "They're
young, and not that big. But they made a big difference in the
second Springfield game and against Rowan."
Defensive tackle Greg Pyszczynski (6-0, 265) has made a big
difference for the group in two games since returning from
appendectomy surgery.
Vosburgh leans on a familiar coaching cliché when
describing what St. John Fisher has done this season, although you
really can stretch it out to his entire tenure at the
school.
"Character is measured by how you handle adversity," he
said. "We've regrouped. We've responded."
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What the eyes can
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Attention
SIDs
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you.
Fisher enjoying uncharted waters
Dec 08, 2006