The Spire

Aiden Konold ‘26

Chief Sports Editor

In the moments following their 28-22 win over the Richmond Spiders at Robins Stadium this past Saturday, the Holy Cross Crusader football team entered the visitor’s locker room and erupted into celebration. 

During the preseason, Senior defensive lineman Daniel “Boobie” Santiago was voted to lead a chant that’s been passed down from team to team by former teammate Damon Donalds, who graduated in May. 

On Saturday, Santiago propped himself up inside the visitor’s locker room wearing his white Holy Cross football jersey with its purple lettering and his purple pants. 

Above the purple number “98” etched across the front of his jersey and next to the “Holy Cross” lettering on the top is the Patriot League logo. It’s the league that Holy Cross has outright won or had a share in winning for the past six seasons. This season, the Crusaders are going for the seven-peat. 

But on Saturday, the idea of a seven-peat was far from the minds of the Crusader coaches and players. “7,” a number typically viewed as lucky, has been anything but for Holy Cross.  

The year of vying for the seven-peat brought nothing but setbacks for the Crusaders through the first six weeks of the season. 

Then, they had a crucial bye week ahead of the Richmond game. Second-year Holy Cross head coach Dan Curran used that week to scale back a little bit, and hammer down the fundamentals.        

Though the Crusaders entered Saturday 0-6, only one of those losses came in Patriot League play. Saturday’s win bumped them up to .500 in the conference, and leapfrogged Holy Cross into fourth place and into the upper half of Patriot League teams. There was plenty of reason for Santiago’s postgame celebration. 

“We’ve always been a program that’s built on culture and traditions… The chant’s something that’s been within the program for longer than I know about,” Santiago said. “When you catch a win and me being the guy who was chosen to do so by my teammates, there was nothing more important after we won the game than to get in there and do the chant.” 

In Saturday’s win, the Crusaders excelled in all three phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. The game against Richmond represented perhaps the first time all season that Holy Cross has found success in all three areas. 

“It certainly made the flight home a lot better coming off that really good team win where we got, you know, significantly impactful plays in all three phases,” said Curran. “And, you know, all year long, we talked about the importance of playing complementary football, and I think that was a great example of that on Saturday.” 

From his elevated spot in the locker room, Santiago starts the chant. 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na, na,” he begins. He wears white Adidas football gloves with three black stripes on each hand, and slams his right palm against the wall behind him each time he says “na.”

His teammates repeat the phrase. 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na,” Santiago shouts, pumping his right fist in the air. 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na,” his teammates say. 

“From east to west,” says Santiago, pointing his right index finger towards his teammates. 

“From east to west,” say his teammates with smiles etched onto their faces. 

“You know the ’Saders are the best,” pronounces Santiago. 

“You know the ’Saders are the best,” his teammates follow.

“I said from east to west,” Santiago exclaims. 

“I said from east to west,” his teammates exclaim as they sway back and forth. 

“You know the ’Saders are the best,” Santiago shouts once more, pointing down his right index finger and pumping his hand in the same direction. 

“You know the ’Saders are the best,” his teammates say in booming voices that signal they want everyone to hear this chant of theirs, this sign that they’ve arrived. 

The first phase, offense. Against Richmond, the Crusader offense totaled 155 yards on the ground, scored four rushing touchdowns, and converted on both of their fourth down tries en route to scoring a season-high 28 points. 

The offense moved down the field methodically, taking large chunks of time off the clock and moving with a tempo that displayed confidence. 

In response to a 56-yard Richmond touchdown less than two minutes into the game, Holy Cross took nine minutes off the clock in a 16-play drive under sophomore quarterback Braden Graham. They capped the drive off with a Dominic Campanile 4-yard rushing touchdown. 

Graham maintained his composure throughout this first collegiate start. His offensive line gave him the time he needed in the pocket to make the right reads and get the ball out on time, yielding just one sack on Saturday. Graham insists it should be zero, saying he should have gotten away. 

When asked what allowed him to be successful, Graham deflects responsibility away from himself. 

“You know, my running backs were just tearing it up. 150 plus yards rushing, those guys were making my day easy,” Graham said. “And then our receivers, when it was time to throw it, they did a great job, and they made some plays for me, and there’s a few more that I got to make. Obviously, great calls from the OC [offensive coordinator Andrew Dresner], so, I mean, there’s just so many pieces that allowed me to feel comfortable and really get out there and just

be myself.” 

The second phase begins. Santiago continues the chant. 

“Na, na, na, na,” he says, cupping his right hand around his mouth. 

“Na, na, na, na,” his teammates repeat as they pump their fists up and down. 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na,” Santiago says in perfect rhythm, again cupping his right hand around his mouth. 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na,” his teammates shout back. 

“Na, na na na na na na,” yells Santiago, again hitting the cement wall with his right hand for each “na.” 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na, na,” his teammates respond in unison. This team may be 1-6, but this win signals that the team is starting to come together. 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na,” Santiago cries out. 

“Na, na, na, na, na, na,” howl his teammates. 

“From coast to coast,” roars Santiago. For the first “coast,” he points at the teammates to his right. For the second “coast,” he points at the teammates to his left. 

Santiago’s teammates follow his command. 

“From coast to coast,” they say, mirroring Santiago’s pointing.  

“You know the ’Saders are the most,” declares Santiago. He bobs his head up and down, and gestures his right index finger towards the ground. He’s entirely sure of what he says. 

“You know the ’Saders are the most,” his teammates cry matter-of-factly. 

Though the Holy Cross defense yielded 373 yards of total offense to Richmond on Saturday, it only gave up one more touchdown after Richmond’s opening 56-yarder and held the Spiders to field goals on three drives. 

“[The] defense suddenly did a really nice job [after that first Richmond touchdown], and we obviously went into halftime with the lead,” said Curran. “And I think going back to the complimentary piece, the tackle and strip by Adam Due is another great example. [We] get a short field. You got to find a way, [and] on that very next play would get an explosive touch out of it.” 

Midway through the third quarter, the Crusaders clung onto a narrow 14-13 lead. That’s when the Spiders attempted a double pass trick play. 

Through their film sessions leading up to the game against Richmond, members of the Holy Cross defense learned that the newest Patriot League football school typically runs one or two trick plays per game. 

Richmond’s attempt to regain the momentum on their Homecoming backfired. Seconds before the double pass, the Holy Cross defensive coaches signaled to their defense that a trick play was coming. 

Before the snap, Richmond wide receiver Andreas Hill, who caught that first 56-yard touchdown, motioned over from his X-receiver position on the far left side of the field towards Senior quarterback Kyle Wickersham. By the time Wickersham took the snap, Hill stood directly behind him. 

Hill ran out towards the right side of the field, where he received a backward pass from Wickersham. He looked to pass down the field, but had nowhere to go with the football. 

Fifth-year senior Joseph Townsend flew in from his position on the defensive line, and swiped at Hill’s midsection. Hill shed that first tackle attempt, but couldn’t shed Junior linebacker Adam Due. 

Due drove Hill back a couple of yards, and ripped the ball away. At the Richmond 43-yard line, Crusader Sophomore Jordan Pritchard-Sewell recovered the loose football. 

“I can’t even lie, I blacked out, I was really hyped,” Due said. “It was a big play for me. It was probably the biggest play of my career so far, and I hope to make some more in the future.” 

Immediately following Pritchard-Sewell’s fumble recovery, Junior running back Jayden Clerveaux ripped off a 43-yard touchdown run. The ensuing PAT put the Crusaders up 21-13. 

“That’s just finding ways to take advantage of when the special teams is flipping the field, defense gives you short field, offense being lights out in the red zone, going 3-for-3, and then even the defense, holding them to some field goals,” Curran said. “Those are all things that lead into, usually, good results. And it was a good quality win against a very good program and a place that’s not easy to win.” 

With 1:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Crusader defense stopped Richmond short of the first down marker on fourth-and-16 to secure the win. 

For the first time all season, the Holy Cross offense lined up in victory formation on their final play of the game. 

Santiago begins the third and final phase of his chant. 

“I said from coast to coast,” Santiago reverberates. 

“I said from coast to coast,” echo his teammates. 

“You know the ’Saders are the most,” bellows Santiago in the chant’s penultimate verse. 

“You know the ’Saders are the most,” affirm his teammates. 

The Crusaders did not view themselves as 0-6 when they arrived at Robins Stadium on Saturday, especially with just one Patriot League game under their belts. 

Instead, they treated the game against Richmond as a mini-season. Each week offers a new opportunity, and on Saturday Holy Cross proved to themselves what they are capable of accomplishing. 

“Na, na, na, na,” Santiago says slowly. He moves his hands the same way a conductor leads an orchestra. 

“Na, na, na, na,” imitate Santiago’s teammates, just as musicians would their conductor. 

“Yeah,” Santiago wails. He raises his right fist in the air, and signals the end of the chant. 

His teammates and coaches hoot and holler, and jump up and down in the locker room following the song’s third and final phase. 

The third and final phase the Crusaders executed on Saturday was special teams. Alijah Cason had a 40-yard kickoff return.  

Sophomore punter Ethan Moss totaled 316 yards on 7 punts, including a 67-yarder, his career long. Moss earned Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his strong day. 

“He’s done a really, really good job. And it’s not just punting for distance, but him understanding what we’re doing schematically,” Curran said of Moss. “You know, we do some different things. Sometimes we’re doing rugby, sometimes we’re doing directional. His tempo has improved dramatically. His handling of the snaps, just his overall execution has continued to improve and get better. He was huge on Saturday.” 

And Senior placekicker Luis Palenzuela knocked all four of his PAT opportunities through the uprights. 

“We had a great week of preparation and then, obviously, when you put it all together in all three phases, it was a great feeling in the locker room,” Curran said. “Daniel [Santiago], he did a good job hitting it [the chant] on his first try, which is pretty good. So [there] was great energy in the locker room and honestly, it was that kind of energy all week long.” 

“If you didn’t know any better, you’d think we were 7-0 playing for the Super Bowl,” Curran continued. “I think that speaks volumes to the type of culture that we have in this program, and we’re going to need that kind of energy and that type of mentality and mindset moving forward this week, going against Colgate as well.” 

Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics