PITTSFORD, N.Y. – It’s 2:45 p.m. at the 20th annual Courage Bowl. The Cardinals have just taken the lead in overtime, and Brockport now has possession of the football. If the Golden Eagles score, it’s double overtime. If they don’t, the game is over. 

Until this moment, it had been 3,297 days since the St. John Fisher Cardinals had beaten the Brockport Golden Eagles. That’s over 200 million seconds that the Cardinal faithful have had to endure the lasting image of Brockport hoisting the Teddi Trophy in front of them. 

Coming into this game, Brockport had won seven consecutive installments of the Courage Bowl, with an average margin of victory of 27 points. Blowout after blowout, this was the biggest opportunity Fisher had to win this game since they last did in 2016. 

There has been no drive this decade where Fisher needed a defensive stop more than this one. Everyone at Growney Stadium knew it. Even if you were foreign to the sport of football, you could feel the tension. Every player, parent, photographer, coach, and cheerleader knew what was at stake. 

Although the Cardinals had been opportunistic throughout the afternoon (already recovering two fumbles), it was the defensive line that had not caused much havoc for Golden Eagles quarterback Ben Gocella. A gain of four here, and a gain of seven there, and Brockport is already 13 yards away from tying the game. 

The ball is snapped on first-and-ten, and after what seemed to be some sort of miscommunication between Gocella and his running back, the ball was loose and on the ground. Linebacker Tyler Marks, who was shot out of a cannon coming in as a free rusher, immediately dove to the ground and recovered the fumble to seal the win for Fisher.

Once the referee signaled that Fisher had obtained possession, you could hear the crowd from Nazareth. Growney Stadium erupted into cheering, and the entire Fisher sideline stormed the field into celebration. Over 120 players, all the coaches, and even the student managers were all piled up at midfield, going wild.

All except one: Brad Coleman, a spitting image of Andy Dufresne in the climax of The Shawshank Redemption, on his knees, hands in the air, as if he had been waiting for this moment his entire life.

The third-year defensive lineman, who is the vice chair of the Teddi Committee and one of the leaders of the Cardinal defense, was greeted by Assistant Athletic Trainer Hannah Olearnick with a big hug at the 19-yard line. 

I asked about that moment and what it meant to him. “It’s just… It’s just special,” Coleman said.

After a slight pause from Coleman, he continued, “This is a whole family, you know? We get up every single morning, we go to work with each other, we go to war with each other, but it’s not just the players. The coaches, the trainers, the equipment staff, all of them. This is a win that represents the future of Fisher Football and the whole university.”

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Teddi Trophy is back in the hands of the Cardinals – and with it, further proving the values of Teddi, Camp Good Days, and the entire foundation of the Courage Bowl: anything is possible.

FINAL (OT): St. John Fisher 31, SUNY Brockport 24  

UP NEXT: at Hartwick College – October 11, 3:30 p.m.