St. John receive bonus of Mount

The Cardinals will play at Mount Union on Saturday.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Two years ago, St. John Fisher football coach Paul Vosburgh started thinking about his team’s non-conference schedule for the next few years.

The Cardinals had just finished 10-2 and made the NCAA Division III playoffs, and Vosburgh was looking for some good competition that would help take the program to the next level.

So, he called Mount Union coach Larry Kehres. The result of the phone call was a two-year contract that includes a home-and-away series to open the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Little did he know the Cardinals would end up playing the nine-time national champions even sooner than that.

After winning their first two postseason contests, Mount Union and St. John Fisher will meet in the national quarterfinals on Saturday at noon in a rematch of last year’s national semifinal game, which the Purple Raiders won 26-14.

Many of the same faces return on both sides and Vosburgh is hopeful that last year’s experience will be something this year’s team can draw upon in preparation for Round Two between the programs.

“Playing Mount last year has helped a lot. Our kids know what it is like to play the best in the country. They got a taste of what it takes to move up to the next level as a team,” said Vosburgh, who enters the game 11-1 and winners of seven straight games.

“You can read about Mount Union and watch the Stagg Bowl, but until you step onto the field and play that level of competition, you truly don’t know what it’s all about, and doing that really helped our kids.

“When you have never played a team like Mount Union, there is a mystique and until you go in and play them, you just don’t know.

“Our kids know that this is the best team they are going to play this year. They haven’t played anyone nearly as good as them and we have played some good teams.

“Our kids know what they are getting into and that they need to play 60 minutes of their best football. They have much respect for Mount’s program.”

One of the reasons Vosburgh wanted to play Mount Union was because the program has gotten to where he wants to take Fisher. Once considered a Division III doormat, SJF has become a perennial power since 2001.

From 1996-2000, the Cardinals won a total of eight games. Since 2001, Fisher is 58-22 with five playoff appearances.

That turnaround, a strong showing against Mount Union last year and Vosburgh’s willingness to schedule the Purple Raiders in the regular season, has impressed Kehres.

“They [SJF] made a great impression last year with an outstanding fundamental approach to the game: Good blocking, a balanced scheme on offense, blitzing, with the ability to play a solid cover two zone,” Kehres said.

“Our men know how strong they are, how they wrap and tackle well, and how well they finish blocks. The men know more than just from looking at tape, our players know from playing them in 2006.

“I see they are similar in style to the team we played last year in terms of schemes they use. I see more similarities than differences from last season’s team.

“They still return the same quarterback, offensive linemen, and even though they don’t have the same running back, they have a couple of talented runners back there who are getting the job done this season.”