TCNJ plays with heavy heart in loss to Christopher Newport
EWING >> There were many moments this past week when football wasn’t the focus at The College of New Jersey.
As heavy hearts over the tragic loss of assistant coach Donny Klein dampened the Lions’ spirit, it would be understandable if they had trouble getting into a football mentality.
“This was a game we were playing for a lot more than usual,” said senior Jesse Streb, after TCNJ fell 38-13 to Christopher Newport in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game Saturday played at a sunny, yet windswept Lions Stadium.
“It has been a tough week for the whole team,” added Streb. “We honored the seniors and we honored Coach Klein and we are all here for his little boy (Dax). Today didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but there is a bigger picture.”
TCNJ honored Klein with a video tribute and the initiation of a scholarship fund for his son with the proceeds from Saturday’s game going to the fund. Many of Klein’s family and friends were in attendance.
While the Lions (2-7, 2-6 NJAC) dedicated the game to Klein and the seniors, Christopher Newport (6-2, 5-2 NJAC) and coach Art Link understood the tough situation TCNJ faced.
“It’s an unimaginable situation,” said Link. “We knew they’d come out and play extremely hard and tough. Our message to our kids was that the best way to honor their coach was to play just as hard and max out the intensity.”
The Lions did come out ready to play and took the opening kickoff and went 69 yards on seven plays and got a 24-yard field goal from Alex DeLeo for a 3-0 lead with 11:13 left in the initial period.
Unfortunately, that might have been the highlight for the Lions.
Just two plays from scrimmage later, Jack Anderson and his top receivers, Cole Blais and Joshua Davis, set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
Anderson threw for a career-best 478 yards and four touchdowns. The junior was 29-for-45 with one interception.
“We came out with an aggressive style of play calling,” said Anderson. “It was nice to come out and get the numbers up. We knew they were going to be aggressive and we wanted to hold up in the pass protection. We knew they were going to give us their all.”
It was also a little revenge for the Captains as TCNJ won last year, 21-19, in Newport News, Virginia.
Anderson’s touchdowns were 50-yards to Davis, 15-yards to Davis, 4-yards to Blais and 42-yards to Blais.
Blais had 10 catches for 212 yards and Davis had 10 catches for 172 yards.
“It was good for us to be out there with our guys,” said TCNJ coach Casey Goff. “It wasn’t an easy week, that’s for sure. The kids made things easy staying focused and we thought we were ready to go. That’s a pretty darn good Christopher Newport football team. They are doing a lot of good things and their offense really stepped up.”
The Lions added another DeLeo field goal of 26 yards to pull to 14-3 late in the first half, but then came the turning point of the game.
CNU took possession on their 18 with 1:36 left in the first half. After a first down, a TCNJ sack and a Newport penalty, the Lions had them in a 3rd-and-14 situation.
But an offside penalty against the Lions gave them life and CNU took advantage. Anderson hit Blais for 41-yards, then Davis for 26 and finally Blais from the four and the Lions were down 21-6 at the half.
“I was battling when it was third and 14 to take the timeout or are they comfortable letting the clock run out,” said Goff. “I decided we were going to go after it. Unfortunately, it bit us in the butt.”
TCNJ got a touchdown in the third when Andrew Donoghue found Vince Ratamess for a 10-yard scoring strike.
Donoghue, who relieved an injured Dave Jachera in the third, threw for 132 yard.
TCNJ closes out the season next week at Southern Virginia.