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| Randolph-Macon celebrated in Baltimore before bringing the energy back home to campus. Photo by Mike Atherton, d3photography.com |
By Greg Thomas
D3football.com
In the moments following Kyle Ihle’s game-winning 34-yard field goal, the Randolph-Macon football squad celebrated, as a team that made program history should. The Yellow Jackets prevailed in a hard-fought game against Johns Hopkins, winning the team’s 13th game of the season which set new records for both Randolph-Macon football and all ODAC teams.
Perspective on those achievements will come, but the bigger cause for celebration was earning the opportunity to spend one more week together with their teammates.
“We've never had a chance just to spend this much time with each other,” senior captain Drake Schaeffer said of the Yellow Jackets’ run through the tournament. “I know that every week we go out there, coach (Pedro) Arruza talks about it, just fighting for one more week with the guys and to be a team.”
Randolph-Macon has earned four of those extra weeks with their teammates for the first time in program history.
Fellow captain JoJo Marinella echoed Schaeffer’s sentiments, but is also keen to the opportunity afforded to his younger teammates with the extra practice opportunities. “It's great for the program from a recruiting standpoint and from a development standpoint. Each week we get to extend our season is another three days guys are working on their craft, working on their fundamentals to get better. So it's really pushing the program forward in a positive direction,” he said.
Playing in the national semifinals is a rare experience. In the past 10 years, just 14 teams have played in a semifinal. Of those, St. Thomas is no longer in Division III and Wesley is no longer open. When choosing to come to Randolph-Macon, Schaeffer wasn’t exactly thinking of the final four, but rather on the work needed to push the Yellow Jackets to new heights.
“We came in 2019, I mean, they had just come off a playoff win. Coach always says leave the program better than you found it,” Schaeffer said. “So we came in knowing that winning playoff games was possible, and that we just have to work and keep fighting. Then maybe one day we'll be in the position that we are now- playing for multiple playoff games and just trying to leave it better than you found it.”
Schaeffer, Marinella and all of Randolph-Macon’s seniors are definitely leaving the program better than they found it. The senior class has not only won a second playoff game for the first time in program history but also a third. They’ve also set a new program high with thirteen wins in a season. And they’ve brought the national semifinals home to Day Field for the very first time.
While the first two rounds of the tournament are traditionally sandwiched around the Thanksgiving holiday which has an effect on attendance and perhaps even the attention paid to the early rounds by campus communities, enthusiasm builds immensely when people return to campus after the break and their team is still playing.
“I think the students and everybody here are really excited. Playing at Day Field is pretty special. The second round we had a really good turnout and the energy, you could just feel it,” Schaeffer said. “When we went to Johns Hopkins it was kind of the same thing. Each week kind of seems like it's just growing and growing and that more people are showing up and more people are getting more excited and I think it's a really good thing.”
Despite two such games in last week’s quarterfinals, games that are decided by scores in the final minute are rare. For Randolph-Macon in 2023, close games are scarce. Christopher Newport fell to the Yellow Jackets by eight points while every other game has had a margin of at least 23 points. Refocusing after last week’s dramatic finish does not appear to be an issue for Randolph-Macon.
“At Randolph-Macon this is how we kind of do it. We have a big win, you know, where we're happy, we enjoy it the night of, then the next day, we obviously know that no matter how good the win was or how well we played, there's always a lot of things we can correct the next day in Sunday film,” said Marinella. “Obviously we enjoyed the win, it was awesome, it was a great team win, and then on Sunday we came in and watched the video. There's a lot of things we could have done better in that game so that's kind of how we move on. We know each week it's another challenge. It was a great week that you put behind you and you have to go and do It again.”
Playing in the semifinals is a well-earned privilege and hosting a semifinal is a rare experience. Both Schaeffer and Marinella are grateful for one more opportunity to play in front of their home crowd. “It means a lot because Day Field is special. Just to get one more game, especially as a fifth year senior, to get one more home game and you know that it's going to be your last home game regardless of what happens.
“I'm really excited for it. I know that our guys are really excited for it and just to be in one of the two games that are played on Saturday is an extreme privilege and one that I don't think we're taking for granted.”
Marinella echoed his teammate’s sentiment. “Being in the final four is awesome. I mean, the fact that we have one more game, like Drake said, we're fifth year seniors and no matter what happens this week win, lose or draw this is our last game at Day Field. So we have to give it everything we have and we can't take this for granted. I don't think anyone around here is taking it for granted. We're all so happy that we're at home because we love playing here. We love playing in front of this crowd.”
While Schaeffer, Marinella, and the rest of the Yellow Jackets student-athletes prepare on the field for a national semifinal, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Phil Stanton is busy getting Day Field ready not just for a large expected turnout on site, but a national viewing audience. The logistics of housing a national broadcast team and instant replay officials are not standard for gameday operations at most Division III schools.
“We are fortunate that we have a new athletics building that is on the west side of of Day Field and press boxes up on the third floor there,” Stanton said. “But there was no thought at all of TV ever coming in and broadcasting from here. We've got coaches booths and we have radio booths but just had never thought of TV. So just in terms of working out the logistics, having space for the broadcasters, having space for replay just things that, that have added to our preparation. But you know, it's all fun. That's part of what comes with being able to advance to the semis.”
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| Randolph-Macon's Day Field is surrounded on all sides, giving it a nice, cozy and often loud feel on game day. Randolph-Macon athletics photo |
As if hosting a semifinal football game isn’t a big enough event, Randolph-Macon men’s basketball is also hosting archrival Hampden-Sydney, ranked No. 7 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, on Friday night setting up an epic weekend of Yellow Jacket sports. “Athletically, it was already a big week. Men's basketball hosted Mary Washington last night. And our biggest rival is Hampden-Sydney, and we have them Friday night,” Stanton said. “So, our alumni, and students too, have been really excited about just the whole week with basketball yesterday and then for the weekend having Hampden-Sydney basketball, which will be a sellout on Friday night, and then having the football game on Saturday.”
Randolph-Macon men’s basketball has recently hosted regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament. For Stanton, that experience is beneficial even if the experiences are a bit different.
“There's more moving parts with football than there is with basketball. With basketball, from our standpoint, you're a little more condensed where we have the scorers table on one side. And then we have media and stats over on the other side. With football, things are more spread out, especially when you're prepping prior to the game. But once things get started, when you have everybody in place then everything is handled within the press box. So it's a little more challenging with football. I will be very happy once that whistle blows and the initial kickoff goes.”
Despite the extra effort athletics communications professionals such as Stanton put in to support events like NCAA championships, Stanton remains enthusiastic in his support for Randolph-Macon’s community. “It's fun, I mean, you're tired by the time you get to the end of the day, but postseason is just so much fun. You feel the energy from the players and when you talk to other students, and what's really been fun is just how excited our football alums are.”
Stanton also knows how special these experiences are for student-athletes. “You know, I think they're just really enjoying the run. It's been special. It's going to be something that they'll look back on and they'll remember this for the rest of their lives.”