It had been 15 years since the Susquehanna football program accomplished what it did this past fall-that is, winning both of its rivalry games in one season. Not a bad way for first-year head coach Tom Perkovich to start his tenure.
Susquehanna’s two traditional football rivalries are against Lycoming College and Juniata College. In the battle between Susquehanna and the Warriors, the winner claims the Stagg Hat Trophy. In the match-up between the Crusaders and the Eagles, the victor takes home the Goal Post Trophy.
The Stagg Hat Trophy rivalry began in 1993 and continued every year until 2009, when Susquehanna left the Mid-Atlantic Conference to join the Liberty League and then the Centennial Conference. The rivalry was renewed in 2014 as each team’s lone regular season, non-conference game. Lycoming captured the 2014 game before Susquehanna defeated the Warriors 28-13 at Nicholas A. Lopardo Stadium in the 2015 season opener.
Meanwhile, the Goal Post Trophy game was first held in 1953, and the trophy is literally a piece of goal post taken from SU’s field by Juniata fans following the Eagles’ 12-7 upset of Susquehanna on Nov. 1, 1952. This fall, Susquehanna traveled to Huntingdon and brought home the Goal Post with its 24-17 victory in the season finale for both squads.
“Getting both trophies back to Susquehanna’s campus meant everything to me, my teammates and the program,” says team captain Jim Barry ’16. “Playing for the Stagg Hat and Goal Post Trophy meant we were playing for all the alumni who have fought to keep the trophies where they belong: at Susquehanna. Many alumni have helped me through my journey at school. The only way I could have truly thanked them was to get back what belonged to them. This will be the momentum that will send Susquehanna University’s football team to the top of the Centennial Conference.”