VARSITY ATHLETICS

November 27, 2007

The Spartan Days...

By Tommy Zagorski – Senior left guard – Cleveland, OH

In July of 2003, I stepped foot on Finnigan Field for the first time as a freshman. I attended a summer seven-on-seven session that was ran by then All-American quarterback Eli Grant and holder of majority of Case’s rushing records, Brandon McDowell. I met a wide variety of people on that Sunday evening. Arguably the two most heralded players in Spartan history, cornerback Santo Maimone and then fellow freshman Tom Brew.

As a center at the time all I did was snap to Eli and he would go over the no huddle system that was a far cry from the ground attack I was familiar with at my alma-mater, Benedictine High School. Cities and numbers represented the different plays that were as simple as a hitch, but seemed like a foreign language to me. We were expecting a large number of players that fall and we needed to clean out the weight room in the original dungeon in Spartan lore, to make room for the extra guys. The “shed” was blue on the inside with guys sharing lockers roughly the size of the ones we have now. There was blue carpet stained, by mud and sweat (which was great for a nap with some of Hugh Marshall’s fresh towels as pillows) and our old CWRU gear hanging in our locker that was marked by an athletic tape sign with your last name and number in permanent marker. It was my new home.

We were excited about the start of the season. The offense in 2002 was in the top five nationally and the team was losing a fullback and two offensive linemen. As a freshman I came in and started about day three of camp and never looked back. I was one of the guys. They had accepted me as a teammate and I was excited to be part of what I thought we all anticipated as something special.

We rolled through our first three opponents and we were sitting undefeated looking at the Scots of Wooster in a week four showdown of unbeaten teams. I recall the week in practice and how the seniors and upperclassmen that were traditionally lighthearted, were different. This game had “playoff” implications according to the papers and this was the kind of game I wanted to play in. The team would line up in two lines as Otto would announce the starting offense or defense, depending on the game. I recall the first time my name was called as I jogged through the two lines of fellow Spartans. This is where I belonged on Saturdays.

The game started the way we had hoped, a couple quick scores gave us some breathing room and we thought we had them. Little did we know, we had another thing coming. We lost that day and it changed the way, guys had thought about the program. Fast-forward to this season, I sat in the locker room for my final battle for the Baird Brother’s stringer against the College of Wooster. I looked around and there was no doubt in my heart that we were going to take care of business. We had been 3-0 before riding into this game, but something was different this year. It was a passion for the game that wasn’t shared as a whole as they did in the past. Every guy in that locker room knew what was at stake. I discussed before the game with my teammates in my pre game speech, it is our time. It was a great game, we didn’t play our best football that day but we won and began to change history. The greatest part of this win was guys were not content with the Wooster win, they wanted more. They wanted to punish the next team and the team after that. We worked harder and pushed ourselves the extra yard to begin to take control of our destiny.

The season’s next stop was a trip to Washington D.C. to play the Bison of Galludet University. The leading school for deaf people in the United States and was experience unlike any other I have ever had in a football season. It was the quietest game I have ever played in and was different because of the lack of extras that you don’t pay attention to during a game, but are there and you become used to. We came out of there with a win and were set for UAA action.

We traveled to Pittsburgh to play our rival, the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon. Talk about setting the tone.

We got the ball and marched right down the field on them for the opening drive for a score 7-0. It seemed to be another explosive game for us, but little did we know we would have to fight tooth and nail to gain every yard and stop every yard of their Wing-T offense. We fell behind in the third, but didn’t give up, this team had determination. We knew we were not going to let this season slip out of our hands. We fought back and the effort put forth by my fellow Spartans were enough to get by a very good football team. If it was Greg Meyer getting in the end zone, Mike Tuertscher laying a big hit, Sam Coffey literally kicking a ball through the hands of a Mellon defender to seal the win in overtime or Tom Brew having a monster day, we would not be denied.

We came home to be greeted by Saint Vincent, the first Benedictine college in the country and in their first year of football. We came out strong and took care of business defeating them 42-0 and allowing the defense to earn their first shutout since 1999, when we were all in grade school.

The next week we hit the road for the last time as we traveled to the Windy City to take on the Maroons of Chicago. It was a trip that none of us had ever come back on a winner, until this season. I talked about in my pre game speech how this was a season of ending streaks and this was one we were going to take care of by playing our brand of football. Amos Alonzo Stagg Field is traditionally a tough place to play at and the first two possessions were no different. We struggled to get going offensively and the defense gave up a long drive that culminated in a field goal. We trailed 3-0, but took over and never looked back. We scored 35 unanswered points led to our second road victory in the conference and a piece of the UAA crown. We had been informed that Mellon beat Washington U and we were now in the driver seat.

I told the team after the game, that we have a piece of the pie, now lets get the whole thing. The practice week flew by, every night I dreamt about Wash U. I thought about how they didn’t know who we were yet. They were confident, they are the powerhouse of the UAA and we had to beat them to earn our stripes. I remember telling the guys before the game there are many guys in this locker room who have played in championship games and some have won and some have lost. I told the guys that words don’t do justice to the feelings that are conjured up when you lose a title game. You are four quarters away from the greatest title you can ever earn and if it slips away, not a day will go by that you don’t regret it.

We played with heart, we played like champions that day. We beat the Bears and we were UAA Champions. We broke down every Spring Ball Practice with the cadence UAA Champs on three and finally at the 50 we could look up and see 35-27 and rightfully chant to the sky UAA CHAMPS! We now were tied for the most wins in program history. I looked up to my Dad on the roof and gave him the point, we were number one. We entered the final week of the regular season ranked 16th in the AFCA poll and excited about the possibility of the perfect season. We worked too hard and too long to let anyone take this away from us. I talked all week that it wasn’t our time to go home yet, with a playoff birth in the balance, a win we are in a loss well we will never know.

We defeated a tough Ohio Wesleyan team that came in with the mindset to play spoiler on this dream season. We started a little slow, but we were able to get on pace and make history.

We were 10-0 and waiting to see who we drew in the NCAA Playoffs.

We laughed and cried. Perfection tasted sweet, smelled sweet, everything was just sweeter. We anxiously waited at Wackadoos and watched ESPNU reveal our opponent. We drew a two seed and got Widener, a team none of us had ever heard of but we knew we would be ready to play. I advocated all week that this was the first step in a five week journey. Widener was a good opponent a team that won a lot of close games which is indicative of a team with a relentless attitude. Little did they know we had played relentless football all season, whistle-to-whistle, non-stop.

The game was a slugfest back and forth. They went up 14-3 late in the third, but as we had done all year we played with the heart and passion that now embodies Spartan football. We came back, with 1:26 left in the fourth we converted on three fourth down conversions to score with a little over two seconds left in regulation. On every fourth down snap, I thought to myself many things: 1.) Don’t let this be your last play of your career, 2.) Move your feet, snap your head back and keep your hands inside. As Danny Whalen connected with Jeff Mayer to propel us into the Sweet Sixteen, I knew it wasn’t our time to go home yet. We won and I remember hugging my Mom, like I have done after every game of my career and the tears of joy ran down both of our faces as we knew we lived to see another week. Wabash week came and we were excited.

We were hosting a quality opponent at home on Thanksgiving weekend. A little snow coming down that week and football in the midst of it, I couldn’t ask for anything more. We had a great week of practice and were ready for the Little Giants. They came in and went up 21-0, but as we had done all year we fought back. We showed character as we scored to make it 21-7 at intermission. The second half began and we didn’t stop, we couldn’t stop, we didn’t know any other brand of football. I remember looking up to that scoreboard and seeing it was over. As the tears welled, so did the embracement of my fellow teammates. We had been through so much and I told them, don’t let this end today. Carry on the spirit of Spartan Football and remember we have been and we are now.

I hugged my family one last time and looked to that field, empty physically but all my emotions stayed. I walked into the locker room and placed that 73 jersey into the hamper for the last time. It was over, but the legacy will live on. We let our opponents know they were in a game they couldn’t win, right from the get go, whistle-to-whistle, non-stop, we played our hearts out. We are the Spartans, a family whose pride will never die and we will never be forgotten.

Posted by: Creg Jantz November 27, 2007 01:48 PM | Category: Football

Posted by: cnj4 (Creg Jantz) November 27, 2007 01:48 PM | Comments (1) | Trackback