As this season comes to a close for the Golden Eagles football team, it is important to note how committed this senior class has been to the program.

This core has learned a lot through the years, and it seems they learned how to correct their errors from previous seasons. As Jared Davis, a Linebacker for Clarion, mentioned earlier in the season, “In 2013, [the Eagles] started out 3-0 beating Mercyhurst, Lock Haven, and Kutztown,” before ending the season “4-7.” One of the questions fans had when they hit 3-0 this past year was whether there would be a repeat of those events. At that point, this class would have been sophomores. They were beginning to learn how the game was played in college, and they remembered how that felt. As the leaders of this team, they knew how to keep the team focused on the season. The seniors “Reminded the team of how hungry they were in the beginning of the season, and that just going 4-0, 5-0, 6-0, etc. isn't good enough. That our ultimate goal is a championship. Until then, we can't relax or lose sight of what we are aiming for.

Staying hungry is a key aspect to our success, but our job isn't done yet. We didn't let our brothers or anyone on the team take a play off during practice. We kept the competitiveness up during the week and challenged our brothers like the other team would do on Saturday.” All season, the team was kept anchored and focused by their veterans: Jared Davis, Kwame Bell, Mark Nicholas, Tyler Tucker, Chris Liberto, Connor Scott, Kwaku Asamoah, Cory McNamara, Eddie Kurtz, Cameron Cress, Eric White, Shane Cress, Jaron Moorer, Garrett Sigler, Michael Collier, Andrew Fragale, Nate Payne and Brandon Short, reminding everyone that Clarion is “33 strong!” Jared was, however, quick to point out that people believing in the team all year long helped push the team forward. It reminded him that not only does he, “90 guys and a staff of coaches believe in [the team], but [so do] the town, students and professors. It’s awesome!”

Each player overcame their own challenges as well. For example, Jared Davis's biggest adjustment was "getting adapted to the mental aspect of football. Remembering the plays and assignments. High school was sort of a free roam type of thing. Always, the balancing of school and football was definitely a challenge. It took some time to get used to. With all the football meetings, workouts, practice and school work to balance, it gets crazy sometimes.”

Then you have defensive lineman Kwame Bell, whose most challenging part of his career "up to this point has been transferring and adjusting to Clarion. The tempo of the game I picked at at my first school, Virginia Union University, as a freshman. Now that I am a senior at Clarion I have become versatile in many fields of life and will never forget these invaluable lessons learned here," for which he thanks the University. For Bell, "Having a winning record is important, along with bringing a championship to Clarion as well." He emphasized that to do that, the team has to "Continue to take what [they] want!"

With most of this team returning next year, the seniors’ biggest impact may still be yet to come. They've showed these underclassmen the proper work ethic they need to succeed. More importantly, they have shown the younger players, freshmen especially, how to balance school, football and life in general.

Regardless of how this season ends, it has been a memorable one. It certainly brought life to the University. I believe I speak for all of us when I say thank you, seniors. We wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors and we thank you for and incredible season. We also wish you luck as you finish off this regular season and battle for a playoff spot. If ending your careers with a winning record is sweet, I can only imagine how much sweeter it would be to end it on a playoff run.