St. Francis (Pa.) learns from past shortcomings in pursuit of NEC football title

The past two seasons, the St. Francis (Pa.) football team had the Northeast Conference title within its reach.

Both times, it came up short.

In 2014, it was a late-season loss to bottom-feeding Central Connecticut State that did in the Red Flash. Last year, they faced Duquesne in a winner-take-all season finale. Again, St. Francis lost.

The Red Flash entered their 2016 bye week 4-0 in the NEC (6-3 overall), winners of five straight and in the driver's seat for the elusive conference title. They host CCSU (0-3, 1-7) next week and conclude the regular season Nov. 19 at Wagner (2-1, 4-4).

The Red Flash don't plan to let this title slip away.

“I'm one to believe that we've learned from our mistakes in the past,” said seventh-year coach Chris Villarrial, an IUP grad who played center and guard in the NFL for 11 seasons. “When you're playing in the big game, not to go in overconfident or go in too hyped up because in the big games, there's always going to be adversity.”

The team is taking a different approach, and the change is not lost on sophomore offensive lineman Mike Ames (Penn Hills). He said going into last year's game with Duquesne, the players were “anxious, nervous” and “cranked up.”

The attitude pervading the team now, he said, is more business-like.

“This year, huge win here against Bryant. Level-headed,” said Ames, who has started every game this season. “Big win against Duquesne, we're happy maybe for a couple days, then it's right back to level-headed. The big win over Sacred Heart, it's business as usual.

“No one is too low or too high. We still have a mission to do.”

Of course, it is more than attitude that has brought St. Francis to the cusp of a title. The Red Flash's hallmark has been defense. First-year coordinator Marco Pecora has the SFU defense leading the NEC in every major category, and it has given up 20 points or fewer the past seven games.

Mt. Lebanon graduate Ben Bruni is in the middle of Pecora's defense. Though just a sophomore, Bruni calls many of the signals from his linebacker spot, and he has contributed 42 tackles, a sack and an interception.

He also has a front-row seat to watch arguably the NEC's most dynamic player, safety Lorenzo Jerome. He has six interceptions, a fumble return for a touchdown, a kickoff return for a touchdown and a touchdown reception. He also has a 33-yard pass completion to his credit.

Not that the Red Flash's offense, averaging 27.4 points, needs much help.

Running back Marcus Bagley is second in the conference with 730 yards rushing. Quarterback Zack Drayer has passed for 1,821 yards and 15 touchdowns, and receiver Kamron Lewis leads the conference in receptions (57), yards (1,038) and touchdowns (eight).

Apart from their statistics, players such as Jerome, Bagley and Drayer — who have been through the past disappointments — have gone out of their way to make sure their legacy isn't one of “almost.”

“They hold each other accountable,” Villarrial said. “There's times when I go out to practice, and these guys are yelling at each other, fighting with each other because they're not trying hard enough in practice. When you start getting to that point, you know the guys are starting to respond.”

Added Ames: “Everyone's all-in, and we're all going the same direction. It has really formed a good team atmosphere.”

St. Francis started its season with four straight road games, including two against ranked teams: Montana (No. 13 at the time) and Albany (then No. 21). The Red Flash dropped both — by 10 to Montana and 11 to Albany — but took away enough positives to pour into the rest of their season.

“It showed us that we can hang with the best of them, that there's not anybody in the country we can't hang with,” Bruni said. “There's a lot of things you can learn from your mistakes, and I think that's helped us become a better team.”

The proof will be in the results.

St. Francis has two teams standing between itself and a conference title and a berth in the FCS playoffs. Past Red Flash teams were unable to handle the enormity of the moment, but this one is confident it can change the script.

“We're not taking any teams lightly, whether they're ranked or 0-6. It doesn't matter to us,” Bruni said. “We're approaching them the same as we approach every other game right now. The next one in order is the next one we have to win.”

Chuck Curti is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at ccurti@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CCurti_Trib.