FORT WAYNE – Not since 1998, in its first season of football competition, has a Saint Francis team arrived at Bishop D’Arcy Stadium to end a two-game home losing streak.
Thirteen years later, it’s about to happen again.
The Cougars (4-2) face Malone (3-4) at noon Saturday with the hope of ending the longest home losing streak since the inaugural season of ’98. Saint Francis lost all five home games then, and, until last week’s 40-13 setback to No. 2 Marian, had not lost back-to-back home games since.
“We all need a win,” Saint Francis coach Kevin Donley said. “The kids are more resilient than I am. They came back Tuesday, had a great practice, anxious to get back out there and meet another opponent.”
Saint Francis’ last home win came in the Sept. 17 season opener against McKendree, 33-7. But two weeks after that, the Cougars lost to No. 1 Saint Xavier 42-31, and two weeks after that was the loss to Marian.
Despite the two losses, Saint Francis was still ranked in the recent NAIA poll, falling from No. 6 to No. 12.
“The fact of the matter is we’ve played 24 quarters of football, and in the last 10, 70 percent of our offensive production has been sitting and watching because they’re hurt,” Donley said. “Two guys we’ve built the offense around – (running back Frank) Wolfe and (wide receiver Austin) Coleman – are out.
“So you’ve got to have guys step up, and you’ve got to do it against No. 1 and No. 2 in the country. It’s no easy task.”
Wolfe and Coleman left the Saint Xavier game in the second half with injuries. Wolfe had a knee injury, and Coleman injured his shoulder.
Donley said Wolfe will not play Saturday, and the availability of Coleman is uncertain.
Wolfe averaged nearly 80 yards per game rushing and had two touchdowns before his injury, and Coleman had two touchdowns receiving and one on a kickoff return.
To compound the problems, Saint Francis will be without offensive lineman Eli Alafogianis and linebacker Solomon Grimes. Both have been lost for the season with injuries.
“Our job is to fight through difficult times,” Donley said. “Anybody can stand out there and whoop and holler when they win. It’s a test of character, and you’ve got to get through it.”
And to get through it, junior defensive end Rex Drabenstot said, is to lean on the old cliché of one game at a time.
“Losing made a lot of people realize they had to re-establish their focus,” Drabenstot said. “We’ve been looking so far into the future we weren’t worried about the problem at hand. Big games like Marian, you’ve got to beat them to get to the national championship.
“I think they were focused on national championship, national championship, and not focused on one week at a time. That was a big problem with our team.”
