A special College Coffee on Nov. 24 doubled as a mini pep rally for the Elon Phoenix football squad as students, faculty and staff gathered on the Academic Village Plaza to hear Coach Pete Lembo praise his players as they readied for their first playoff appearance as a Division I team.
Student-athletes wearing maroon jerseys surrounded Lembo as he spoke to a crowd of well over 100 people, including Elon President Leo M. Lambert, who caught a short pass from the football coach when he tossed a football over the crowd to the president.
“You don’t get your football program to this point without a commitment from the top,” Lembo said of his gratitude for Lambert’s support before throwing the president a special memento from the previous weekend. “This is the game ball from Samford!”
Lembo also spoke of the work ethic exhibited by his team not just in the 2009 season, but in the seasons leading up to their first berth in the Football Championship Series postseason, where the Phoenix will face the defending national champion Richmond Spiders on Saturday.
“I’m really proud of this group of guys standing behind us,” Lembo said. “For some of them it’s been a four-year commitment to get here, working hard and battling through some tough times.”
Players also reflected on their season and the task before them. “It’s pretty exciting, getting a chance to do something we haven’t done around here in a while,” said Elon senior Dave McClain. “We get to play a team we’ve played before, and as I’ve said, if we want to be the best, we’ve got to beat the best.”
Teammate Corey O’Shea said the team hasn’t altered its preparation strategy simply because it has now entered postseason play. “It’s the biggest game of the year because it’s the next game of the year,” he said. “But there’s a certain level of comfort knowing that we’ve played this team.” The Phoenix opened its 2008 season against Richmond in a game it eventually lost.