For The Pioneers, The Season Starts Now

Something strange happened this past Saturday. Maybe it was a 9 hour bus ride that never happened. Maybe it was a jersey that wasn't white. Maybe it was seeing familiar faces in the stands. Or maybe it was the turning point for what has been a very frustrating, tumultuous start for the C.W. Post Pioneers football team.

The Pioneers were staring at 0-3 with 27 points to their name. The previous two games, the defensive secondary was torched by standout receivers in Cal's Thomas Mayo and Mercyhurt's Trevor Kennedy. The running game which was considered the strongest point of the offense heading into the season, looked like the worst. However, on Saturday at Hicox Field, the Pioneers resembled a football team that looked like they were 3-0 and not 0-3.

When a team is going through a period of soul-searching or trying to find their identity, it's usually one or a couple of players, depending on the sport, that will step up and motivate their teammates. The Pioneers hadn't found that person up until Saturday.

Sophomore running back, Jeff Mack, exploded for a breakout game carring the ball 17 times for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Remember a few lines ago when I mentioned how dreadful the running game had been for Post? Well, Mack had carried the ball only one time during their two game road trip after he hurt his ankle in the opener against AIC. People who followed Post for the past couple of years, envisioned Junior back Thomas Beverley to be the featured back at the start of the season but it's clear that Mack brings a burst and level of explosiveness that can mask the Pioneers offensive line's deficiences by scurrying away from the tightest of situations. That isn't to say Thomas Beverley still cannot be asset moving forward. He excels at pass blocking and is a solid enough goal line back (with two touchdowns inside the 5 yard line to show this season).

If Mack was Michael Jordan on Saturday, then Quarterback Steven Laurino was Scottie Pippen. Laurino threw for 185 yards but also rushed for 117 more. If you look at the box score, you'll notice Laurino had zero touchdowns on the day. That doesn't take away from how effective he really was, considering how quickly he was able to rebound from one week ago in Mercyhurst where I campagined for backup Tyler Heuer to get some reps. (Steven, if you are reading this, I apologize. Keep up the good work!) The beautiful thing about Laurino and the gameplan that is made up for him is that the coaches are not asking for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns every game. If he plays well enough to move the chains, sustain drives, and keep defenses honest so they do not stack the box to contain the run, Laurino will succeed.

Quickly, a note on the defense. I've been saying for most of the season that the defense has not played as bad as the final scores would indicate. I think we saw the true potential of this offense when they held a Shippensburg offense who was averaging over 40 points per game to just 22 on Saturday. Kadeem Huggins did man things after returning from a two week absence thanks to a concussion. Rob Bright made some huge plays and recorded 3 sacks in the game and the secondary is steadily maturing.

For the Pioneers, the West Chester Golden Rams come into Hicox Field on Saturday sporting a 2-2 record. Both wins have come at home so they are eagerly trying to prove they can win on the road. There will be no easy tests for the Pioneers as this is a team in transition but they finally were able to establish a blueprint of what it is going to take to win football games in the PSAC. Maybe last week was just the start to something special...

You can listen to all of the game's coverage against West Chester starting with Pioneers Kickoff at 12:30 PM on 88.1 FM and WCWPSports . Patrick Creighton and Joe Szadok will have your call at 1 PM.

-Matt Soldano

You can follow Matt on Twitter @msoldano531 or listen to him on the Sportswire on Mondays and Wednesday-Friday from 6-7 PM on 88.1 FM and wcwp.org