College football: Coming up huge on special teams has helped Holy Cross in 5-0 start

In each of Holy Cross’ last two victories, at Colgate and at Harvard, senior Devin Haskins made two of the most impactful plays, blocking punts to set up the Crusaders’ offense on short fields and leading to touchdowns.

“Plays like that change everything,” said HC senior John Smith, who also got his hand on a Harvard punt. “When you’re down and you make a play on special teams, it gives you a jolt forward to keep pushing. When you’re up and you make a play like that, it demoralizes the other team. That’s the atmosphere we want to create.”

At Harvard, Haskins took a great angle to knock down Sebastien Tasko’s punt at the Crimson 35-yard line. Sophomore Curtis Harris-Lopez recovered the ball and returned it to the 27. Junior quarterback Matthew Sluka took it in to the end zone for HC’s first points.

Holy Cross went on to win, 30-21, and improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1991.

In a postgame interview, Haskins declared, “I love special teams,” and later posted the same sentiment, in all caps, on Twitter.

“The whole team feels the same way,” said senior receiver Ayir Asante, the gunner on punts. “We embrace special teams.”

Haskins and Smith, who are HC’s starting cornerbacks, play on three of the Crusaders’ special teams units. Junior Jalen Coker, Asante and sophomore Justin Shorter, HC’s top three receivers, are also core special teamers.

Seven of the 11 players on the Crusaders’ punt, punt return and kickoff units are starters on offense or defense.

“It’s fun when they get a chance to go out and play their primary positions,” Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said, “but I think when you can take those other things seriously, you’ve got something right. We are very, very proud of that fact.”

For all the Crusaders achieved during their historic 2021 season, their punt/kickoff return and coverage units were not up to par. Elevating the units was a priority.

“We underachieved for our standards last year,” HC special teams coordinator Drew Canan said at the start of Wednesday’s practice as the Crusaders prepared for Saturday’s game against Bucknell at Polar Park. “We didn’t make enough plays. During the offseason, we put a huge emphasis on the things we weren’t good at. In our first meeting, we said, ‘In order to get where we want to get as a program, we won’t get there without special teams.’ We’ve done some good things. We still have things we can improve, but all the work those players have done starting back in March has really paid off.”

Haskins likely saved a touchdown when he tracked down Harvard’s Jack Bill and pushed him out of bounds after his 60-yard opening kickoff return.

“That return was a concern,” Chesney said, “but we did a really good job of buckling down.”

Bill averaged 15.3 yards on his other three kickoff returns.

At Colgate, Haskins’ blocked punt gave the Crusaders possession at the Raiders’ 20. HC scored just before halftime to take the lead and turn the game around.

“You have the field position battle,” Haskins said, “and that’s a big part of it. Whenever you block a punt, that’s saving your offense, 60, 70 yards that they would have to take the ball down field. It’s just a big momentum play.

“When a team blocks a punt in consecutive weeks,” Haskins said, “whenever that unit is back on the field, the sideline feels it, the stadium feels it, the other team feels it, and it puts a whole bunch of pressure on them not to slip up.”

This year, the Crusaders have four blocked punts, tied with Morehead State for the most in FCS.

In the 2022 opener at Merrimack, junior Terrence Spence blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety.

“There is an especially big emphasis (on special teams) this year because we have a lot of experienced guys on special teams,” Smith said. “It’s important to contribute to the game in other ways. Special teams has its name for a reason — it’s a way to create momentum plays.”

With 12 career interceptions, Smith ranks second among active FCS players.

“If I’m a young player in this program,” Canan said, “and I’m looking at how to do it, ‘How do I get on the field? Oh, wait a second, John Smith starts, and he’s on three special teams, and so is Devin Haskins, and Ayir and Jalen and Justin,’ and they say, ‘Wow. That’s what I want to do.’ I give (the players) all the credit. They deserve all the credit. They bought in. They understand how important (special teams) is.”

Crusaders now ranked 10th/9th

Holy Cross, which moved up one spot in the FCS coaches poll to No. 10 and one slot in the Stats Perform FCS poll to No. 9, will face Patriot League foe Bucknell in the second EBW Classic at 4 p.m. Saturday at Polar Park.

Last season, in the first football game played at the home of the Worcester Red Sox, the Crusaders trounced Colgate, 42-10, before a sold-out crowd on a memorable night.

The WooSox played their last home game of the season Sept. 25, and final finishes on the transformation of the field were underway Thursday.

Chesney planned to visit the park ahead of the team’s Friday walkthrough to check out, among other things, the late-afternoon sun angle. Last year’s game kicked off at 6 p.m.

Bucknell (0-4, 0-1) is seeking its first win. Bucknell is coming off a 10-point loss to Lafayette.

“They are aggressive on both sides of the ball,” Chesney said. “Their offense is RPO based, and they are really going to find any little thing you do and try to capitalize on it and make you pay for it. Defensively, they are very aggressive and stout up front. They are a tough and physical team. We get back into league play and try to get to 2-0. That’s the objective.”

Tickets are available for Saturday’s game by visiting woosox.com, or calling the WooSox ticket office at (508) 500-8888.

Highlights for fans include a Fall Beer Garden.

“It’s an exciting game for everybody involved,” Chesney said, “but when you get off that bus, you’re locked in. It’s so awesome for the community and the families, and it’s a fun and exciting atmosphere, but at the same time, when we walk off that bus, we have a job to do.”

Scoring record for kicker Derek Ng

With three made field goals and three extra points at Harvard, Holy Cross fifth-year senior kicker Derek Ng broke the HC record for career points, previously shared by Gordie Lockbaum and Joe Segreti.

“It’s obviously a huge feat,” Chesney said.

Lockbaum and Segreti each finished their outstanding careers with 264 points.

Ng has 271 career points.

Against the Crimson, Ng made a 49-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to tie his own mark for third-longest FG in program history. Ng owns the three longest field goals in Holy Cross history with makes of 51, 50 and 49 yards.

Stingy defense, but missing Dobbs

Despite being without All-America senior linebacker and leading tackler Jacob Dobbs, who is injured, the Crusaders held Harvard to 104 rushing yards and 3 for 11 on third down.

Dobbs suffered an arm injury in the first half of HC’s game at Colgate two weeks ago.

“Sitting next to him at halftime (of the Harvard game) and talking to him and seeing him with a hat on his head instead of a helmet, I said, ‘I don’t like this for one second,’ ” Chesney said. “Where isn’t he missed? He’s a generational player, there’s no question about it, and he is sorely missed. Hopefully, we get some good news in the near future, but he is going to continue to rehab at this moment and see what direction we have to go the next couple weeks.”

Weekend fun at Polar Park

Holy Cross and Bucknell will kick off a weekend of football at Polar Park.

At noon Sunday, Assumption plays Franklin Pierce in a Northeast-10 Conference matchup, followed by a high school game between Colonial Athletic League foes Worcester Tech and Assabet Valley at 4.

“It’s going to be a great experience for us,” Assumption coach Andy McKenzie said. “It’s an elite stadium, it’s a fun place, it’s a new environment and something for us to look forward to. There are challenges that come along with that. We’re looking forward to take those on.”

The Greyhounds are 3-1 (2-0 NE-10) and playing particularly well on defense. Assumption ranks in the top five nationally in Division 2 in several categories, including red-zone defense (second), first down defense (third), total defense (fifth) and pass defense (fifth).

“We’re playing great team defense,” McKenzie said. “They’re really all learned how to play together really well, and when they’re playing together and everybody understands where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to do and trust the guy next to them, they can play really physical and really fast and execute at a high level. It’s been really fun to watch them grow.”

General admission ticket information for Sunday’s game is available at https://www.polarpark.com/assumption.

“The stadium is awesome, and everyone is looking forward to getting there,” McKenzie said. “I think the atmosphere will be great. I’m expecting a large crowd, and so we’re looking to take the home-field advantage downtown and have some fun with it.”

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Special teams finesse has helped Holy Cross football in 5-0 start