Saint Francis may have stayed No. 12 in this week’s NAIA football poll, but there’s a change occurring within the Cougars, nevertheless.
A four-man defensive line alignment that went on sabbatical a few years ago made its triumphant return last Saturday in a 47-10 win over Malone that put the “grrr” back in Saint Francis’ swagger.
“I think our defense always had a chip on our shoulder,” junior linebacker Derek VandenBosch said. “We want to be the ones to win the game, and we’re cool with the game being in our hands. With the four-man front, we pounded them a little bit more, and that’s more of our defensive mentality – to pound and to fly to the ball.”
Saint Francis scored two defensive touchdowns and tied a school record with seven sacks to end a two-game home losing streak that came against the nation’s No. 1 (Saint Xavier) and No. 2 (Marian) teams.
Now it’s on the road for two consecutive weeks, beginning Saturday when the Cougars (5-2) visit Quincy (3-3) at 2 p.m. Then it’s at Taylor the following week before the Cougars return for their final home game Nov. 13 against Central State.
Saint Francis coach Kevin Donley said the four-man front will be the team’s base defense for the remainder of the season.
“I think it got our toughest, strongest football players on the field,” Donley said. “We’re very strong on the defensive line. You look at (Marcus) Neal and (Matt) Smith and (Matt) Carden and (Tony) Moore and (Rex) Drabenstot and (Jake) Allen. Those folks can play. It made our defense tougher by going to that.”
Defensive coordinator Warren Maloney adds Leo product Lance Carey into the mix. At 6-feet-4, 259 pounds, Carey can play inside or outside.
Regardless where Carey lines up, the four-man front was something that had to happen, Maloney said.
Before the Malone game, Saint Francis had given up 40 or more points three successive weeks.
“We kind of got back to the stuff we’ve been playing for years around here. We had to,” Maloney said.
VandenBosch said the 37-point win – the team’s largest home margin of the season – was also necessary.
“We definitely needed it, especially after losing two games at home,” VandenBosch said. “We needed that big win.
“No one ever wants to lose, and every loss takes a little bit of toll on you, so we kind of had a little bit of anger there.”
Offensively, Donley said junior wide receiver Austin Coleman could see more playing time this week.
Coleman, arguably the team’s fastest player, had been out of the lineup with a shoulder injury. He was in for one play last week and made the best of it when he scored on a 56-yard pass.
“Just having him suited up is a big boost psychologically,” Donley said.
“We thought we could get him in there and run by somebody, and we called the right play, got him on top, and that six worked out pretty good.”
