EWING – Outside of The College of New Jersey lies Green Lane, which wraps through the suburbs of Ewing. If you walk down the lane and its lush greenery, slowly eroding under the harsh winds of fall, the view will open up to a sea of grassy field. And on a crisp Thursday afternoon, they may see the TCNJ football team, the Lions, practicing for an upcoming game.
You may see players run the same route ten times in a row, working to outpace their pursuers by even a hair as they race for the ball. You may see kickers punt the ball, only to be back in formation inside of 20 seconds, minute adjustments to the play occurring at each interval. You may see the defensive line rush to meet their teammates in a crash of bodies, putting in all their effort to stop fractions of inches of traction.
What you most definitely will see was the Lions drilling their bodies for competition, ready to battle for a game that will decide their season’s fate.
The Lions have suffered four consecutive, crushing defeats on the season. On Saturday, October 6th they will face off against their long-time rival, the Montclair State Red Hawks, hoping to turn the tide of the season back in their favor.
“We need to play all three facets of the football game – offense, defense, and special teams – which I don’t think we’ve done yet.” said Lions head coach Casey Goff.
In the loss against Salisbury two weeks ago, the Lions had an early lead following a turnover on the first play. They capitalized, turning it into a touchdown on their first drive, leading 7-0. But, those were the only points the Lions managed to put on the board. They were unable to keep up the momentum, losing control of the game and were handed their fourth consecutive loss, 27-7.
“We’re still waiting for that collective effort, for four quarters.” said Goff. “We haven’t had that, we’ve played two good quarters of football, we’ve yet to put a complete game together.”
The story of defeat is a familiar one. In last year’s game against Montclair, the Red Hawks defeated the Lions 21-7, but the Lions haven’t forgotten the sting of defeat. Thomas Koenig, who leads the team in receiving yards and caught the lone touchdown against Salisbury, certainly hasn’t forgotten.
“It’s definitely gonna be a little extra to win this game.” says Koenig. “It was a game we should have won last year and we’re definitely gonna bring it on Saturday.”
Montclair and TCNJ have competed each year since 1929, the longest rivalry in the NJAC conference, outside of 1942-1945 as a result of the World War II. This will be their 85th meeting, blending the importance of this game with the history of their competition.
Rivalries breed a desire for redemption, driving the players to push that much harder. Koenig and his teammates still remember the game from last October, and want to get payback for the blowout loss. And while the Red Hawks won the last contest, they lost the last away game they played at TCNJ 23-20 in 2015. Proving they can bring it in Lions Stadium must certainly be attractive to the players who competed in that contest.
But while desire almost assuredly turns hot on both ends, the Red Hawks have, 2-2. Losing this game is bad, but it’s not the end of their season.The Lions, on the other hand, need this win if they want to have a winning season. If they lose the best they can hope for is a 5-5 record.
Back on the practice field, when a two-minute break was called to hydrate, the players were all chatting about the practice and eyeing their make-shift field, ready to end their reprieve and get back into the thick of it. A bye week may have given them time to rest their bodies, but resting your mind is another task altogether.
“We’re all just super excited to finally try to get this win.” says Koenig. “The offense got some more points on the board and I think we’ll get the job done this week.”
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