Holy Cross Crusaders Football: A Legacy of Grit and Glory
The Holy Cross Crusaders football team represents the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a member of the Patriot League, an NCAA Division I conference participating in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), the team has a rich history dating back to the late 19th century.
Early Years and Fitton Field
Football at Holy Cross began in 1884, with intercollegiate games starting in 1891. Early home games were held at various off-campus locations in Worcester, including the Worcester College Grounds, Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds, and the Worcester Oval.
The first intercollegiate game played on campus was a 6-0 victory over Massachusetts Agricultural College on September 26, 1903, on the site of what is now Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field. In 1908, the football team moved to its own field adjacent to the baseball field, though both were known as "Fitton Field." The original Fitton Field was built with wooden and concrete stands, which were later replaced with steel stands in 1924 and aluminum seating in 1986.
The Boston College Rivalry
In 1896, Holy Cross and Boston College played their first football game, marking the beginning of the Boston College-Holy Cross football rivalry. For much of the early to mid-20th century, games between BC and The Cross attracted some of New England's largest sports crowds. To accommodate these larger crowds, the Holy Cross game was routinely held at a large venue in Boston, with the 1916 matchup taking place at the newly constructed Fenway Park. A record 54,000 attended the 1922 game at Braves Field, home of the Boston Braves baseball team.
One of the most memorable games in the rivalry occurred on November 28, 1942, when Holy Cross upset BC 55-12. This victory not only spoiled BC's undefeated season but also had a significant aftermath. The Eagles had booked their victory party that night at the popular Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston but canceled after the loss. Tragically, the Cocoanut Grove nightclub caught fire that night, claiming 492 lives.
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The series was suspended in 1986 after BC had won 17 games over a 20-year span. After an over three-decade hiatus, the series resumed in 2018 as Holy Cross traveled to Chestnut Hill to take on Boston College. Games against BC are intense.
The 1945 Season and the Orange Bowl
The 1945 season saw Holy Cross bring its best team in school history to the Orange Bowl. Led by first-year head coach John "Ox" DaGrosa, the Crusaders finished the regular season with a record of 8-1, ranked 16th in the AP Poll.
On January 1, 1946, Holy Cross faced the University of Miami in the Orange Bowl. With the score tied 6-6 and only seconds remaining in regulation, Holy Cross was intercepted by Miami's Al Hudson, who ran the ball 89 yards for a touchdown, resulting in a 6-13 loss for the Crusaders.
Challenges and Renaissance
In 1969, Holy Cross had to cancel the final eight games of the season due to an outbreak of hepatitis caused by a contaminated faucet on a practice field. In 1981, the NCAA dropped Holy Cross from the upper tier of football competition to Division I-AA.
The program experienced a renaissance in the 1980s under coaches Rick E. Carter and Mark Duffner. In 1983, the team, led by Gill Fenerty, was ranked No. 3 in the nation in I-AA under Carter. Under Duffner, Holy Cross became the nation's most successful I-AA program, with 11-0 seasons in both 1987 and 1991. Holy Cross won five Colonial League and Patriot League championships, four Lambert Cups, and four ECAC Team of the Year Awards. It also earned the No. 1 ranking in the final 1987 NCAA Division I-AA poll.
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Patriot League and Continued Success
In 1986, Holy Cross joined the Colonial League, a football-only conference that adopted the Ivy League model of need-based financial aid and grants rather than formal athletic scholarships. In 1990, the Colonial League became an all-sports conference and changed its name to the Patriot League. Over time, it began allowing scholarships in non-football sports (with the recipients ineligible to play football) but continued to prohibit football scholarships through the 2012 season.
In 2009, Holy Cross had one of its best teams since the founding of the Patriot League, led by star quarterback Dominic Randolph.
Bob Chesney took over as Holy Cross head coach in 2018. In the fall 2021 season, the Crusaders won their third Patriot League Championship in a row, going 6-0 in conference play and 10-3 overall. The season also marked the first FCS playoff victory for Holy Cross, a 13-10 win over Sacred Heart in the first round. The Crusaders saw their season end once again at the hands of Villanova, however. The 2022 season saw the team post an undefeated 11-0 regular season record, highlighted by a win at FBS opponent Buffalo and a sweep of Harvard and Yale. Their success saw them receive the #8 seed in the FCS playoffs, which carried with it a first-round bye and a home game in the round of 16.
The Fordham Rivalry: The Ram-Crusader Cup
The Fordham Rams and Holy Cross Crusaders first met on the gridiron in 1902. In 1927, Frank W. Cavanaugh, a World War I veteran and celebrated college football coach, took charge of the Rams. Known as “The Iron Major,” he had coached briefly at Holy Cross before the war.
Fordham restarted its program in 1946, but the Rams wouldn’t face Holy Cross again until 1951. It was then that William P. suggested an official title and a trophy-the Ram-Crusader Cup-would be a nice way to celebrate the rivalry. The cup went to Holy Cross four times in a row, from 1951 to 1954.
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In 1990, the football program moved up to Division 1-AA, now called the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and joined the Patriot League, where Holy Cross had been competing since the mid-1980s. The two teams resumed their rivalry-this time with an international flair. The Rams captured the cup for the first time in 1995, with a 17-10 victory in Hamilton, Bermuda. Since then, the series has been relatively evenly matched. Holy Cross has a slight edge in the cup battles, at 17-16, and has won the past two.
Coaching Changes and Future Outlook
Bob Chesney's departure to James Madison University led to Dan Curran being hired as the head coach of Holy Cross.
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