The first three games of the season left a sour taste in the mouths of St. Andrews University’s football players.
They didn’t like the feeling of losing three winnable games, including a two-point loss to nationally-ranked Cumberland University. That loss came after another two-point loss to Ave Maria University, and it was followed by a 41-34 loss at Georgetown College.
Sure, the close scores stung. But the bigger picture perhaps hurt even worse; The Knights’ football program, in its third year of existence, still wasn’t finding ways to win after earning a combined four victories in its first two seasons.
So the Knights had several meetings that led to increases in team chemistry. And before Mid-South Conference play started on Oct. 5, the Knights came to the realization that they could be better — and they wanted to be better.
Three weeks later, the team proudly hoisted a brand-new trophy after defeating Kentucky Christian in the inaugural Knights Classic. The Knights of St. Andrews remained undefeated in conference play at 3-0, and their overall record went back to where it started at .500 (3-3).
“If you know where we came from and you know where we’re headed, you’d understand the feeling that some of the boys got,” junior receiver Jermaine Trotman Jr. said after the win. “It’s surreal. Coming from 2-7 (in 2018) and 2-8 (in 2017), to being 3-0 in the conference and possibly competing for a conference championship, that’s what keeps me and the guys motivated every single day.”
The win on Saturday against Kentucky Christian was difficult — it took a last-minute touchdown pass and 2-point conversion to seal the deal. And both teams had to deal with some light rain that increased in intensity sporadically throughout the afternoon.
The Knights didn’t let Mother Nature impede their progress.
“We practice everything, every type of situation. We practice for these moments,” Trotman said. “The weather, that doesn’t make any difference. We just come out and we play ball. That’s what we did.”
The Knights move into a tie with No. 20 Reinhardt for first place in the Appalachian Division of the Mid-South Conference. And while it’s a small feat given the young age of the program, St. Andrews set a team record for wins in a season.
The hope is they also built a foundation for a rivalry with Kentucky Christian. A suspenseful 49-42 win was certainly a good way of starting that rivalry.
“I thought it was a good situation to get a rivalry going, some bad blood,” St. Andrews coach David Harper said.
“Coach told us about this earlier in the week, and I saw everybody focus in more,” Trotman said. “We locked it in more. Everybody came to play.
“Winning that trophy is good,” he added, “and I hope we can keep winning it every time we play them”
That’s a matchup to look forward to in the future. But for now the Knights are turning their attention to nationally-ranked Reinhardt. The Knights have enough talent to battle the Eagles, and they’ll need to put all of it to use this week.
“We’ll have to play a perfect game,” Harper said. “We’ve got to tackle well. It’s just got to be perfect.”
