The ability for the 2024 Saint Francis football team to battle back from behind started several months before the regular season actually kicked off. The program had to rally from two big blows incurred in early February, when freshman Jayden Morris died the same weekend that coach Kevin Donley was admitted to the emergency room.
But the Cougars bounced back from that 1-2 punch, setting the tone for a resurgent season that saw USF finish 8-4 and earn a share of the MSFA°®¶¹app™s Midwest League championship. Saint Francis fell behind in four of its eight wins, including twice where the Cougars trailed by at least 20 points.
After notching its highest win total since going 10-3 in 2018 and winning its first MSFA title since claiming a second consecutive national championship in 2017, Saint Francis was heavily represented on the MSFA All-Midwest League team.
Led by Defensive Player of the Year Marquise Cross, a league-best 19 Cougars earned All-Midwest League honors, while Donley was named the Midwest League Coach of the Year after leading USF to an MSFA-best 14th conference title and offensive coordinator Adam Sherman was named the Midwest League Assistant Coach of the Year.
°®¶¹appœIt°®¶¹app™s something that 99% of the time goes to the conference champion,°®¶¹app Donley said of his award. °®¶¹appœIt obviously means a whole lot. You can never get enough of those, and I appreciate it. The players do it for you.°®¶¹app
And while just one offensive player °®¶¹app“ center Jared Almeida °®¶¹app“ landed on the first team, an offense that averaged 456.8 yards and 40.3 points per game helped propel Sherman to his award.
°®¶¹appœThe biggest turning point on both sides of the ball was we never did scout teams,°®¶¹app Sherman said. °®¶¹appœWe hit two times a week, and when we did, it was (our first-team) offense versus defense. I thought it made us tougher and made us more bought into the other side of the ball.
°®¶¹appœIf you look at pretty much every game we played, we didn°®¶¹app™t jump out to a big lead. We were behind, and even the ones we lost, we came back from pretty large deficits to have a chance to win. I thought (defensive coordinator Nate Jensen) should have won the award.°®¶¹app
From his defensive end position, Cross finished third in the Midwest League with 7.5 sacks, and of his 40 total tackles, 13.5 were tackles for loss.
°®¶¹appœHonestly, I°®¶¹app™m just blessed,°®¶¹app Cross said. °®¶¹appœWe just came together as a team. When we lost our teammate, and our head coach went to the hospital, we just stayed together. We just stayed connected and close.°®¶¹app
Cross was joined by linebackers Jaydin Evans and Emmanuel Davis on the defensive first team, while kicker Austin Deleon rounded out USF°®¶¹app™s first team recipients.
Honors, awards
°®¶¹app¢ Nine players from Purdue Fort Wayne°®¶¹app™s soccer teams were named Academic All-District. Shane Anderson, Aidan Antcliff and Adrian Renteria were all recognized for their performance in the classroom for the Mastodons men°®¶¹app™s team, while the sextet of Allison Adams, Morgan Gallagher, Lizzie Haub, Jordan Imes, Marisa Metzger and Bella Reitano were each selected from the PFW women°®¶¹app™s team.
°®¶¹app¢ PFW women°®¶¹app™s soccer defender Malia Velker was named to the All-North Region fourth team, United Soccer Coaches announced.
°®¶¹app¢ PFW was well represented on the All-Horizon League volleyball team. Panna Ratkai was selected as the Horizon League°®¶¹app™s Player and Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate Riley Rosneck was named the Freshman of the Year and Nicole Jones earned the Sportsmanship Award.
°®¶¹app¢ Grace°®¶¹app™s Ian Scott earned the Crossroads League°®¶¹app™s Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 25-Dec. 1. In the Lancers°®¶¹app™ 104-69 win over IU Columbus, Scott finished with 16 points as well as 16 rebounds, two blocks and a steal.°®¶¹app¢
°®¶¹app¢ Trine°®¶¹app™s Emmanuel Megnanglo was selected as the MIAA°®¶¹app™s Athlete of the Week for men°®¶¹app™s basketball for the week of Nov. 25-Dec. 1. In two Thunder wins, Megnanglo went 15 of 17 from the field for 31 points while adding 11 rebounds, four blocks, two steals and an assist. Megnanglo currently leads the MIAA with 21 blocked shots and ranks second with 49 rebounds.
°®¶¹app¢ Indiana Tech°®¶¹app™s Allison Greene was named the Warrior of the Month for November by the Indiana Tech athletic department. The junior led the Tech women°®¶¹app™s hockey team with five goals and 12 total points in November as the Warriors finished 6-2 overall and 5-1 in CCWHA play.
Coming events
°®¶¹app¢ The PFW men°®¶¹app™s basketball team opens its Horizon League home schedule at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Memorial Coliseum against Robert Morris. The Mastodons beat the Colonials twice in four days in March, winning 83-65 March 2 before opening the Horizon League tournament with a 78-63 victory March 5.
°®¶¹app¢ Saint Francis°®¶¹app™ men°®¶¹app™s basketball team visits Bethel at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Cougars and Pilots currently stand in a three-way tie atop the Crossroads League at 3-0 with Spring Arbor.
°®¶¹app¢ The Lancers°®¶¹app™ men°®¶¹app™s basketball team will visit Taylor for a 3 p.m. tip Saturday in Upland. Grace has won four straight in the series and holds a 40-38 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1957.
