It only happens once -- the first football game in a college's history. For Notre Dame College, that once-in-a-lifetime is today in South Euclid, when at 7 p.m. the Falcons will host Mercyhurst College at Brush High School's Korb Field.
Jeff Piorkowski / Sun NewsSOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — Notre Dame College will play the first football game in its history at 7 p.m. today when it hosts Mercyhurst College at Brush High School's Korb Field.
Skip Snow of the Notre Dame College sports information department said he is expecting a standing-room crowd in the 3,000-seat stadium, including fans of the visiting team from Erie, Pa.
Talk of fielding an NDC team began in 2007 and became serious in 2008. In January 2009, coach Adam Howard was hired.
Carter Welo is director of football operations and an assistant coach, in charge of the offensive backfield. Welo, 26, played football at St. Ignatius and at John Carroll University, where he first met Howard, who was coaching the Baldwin-Wallace College defense.
Quarterback Yan Cyr is from Montreal.
"He was playing junior college football in California when we saw him," Welo said.
Punter Cayle Chapman-Brown is from Australia and only arrived in town last week.
"He's never played in a football game and doesn't know the rules," Welo said. "We saw that he was averaging 50 yards per punt [on the videotape Chapman-Brown sent to the NDC coaches]. He's looking to move on to the next level, which is the NFL. So, [today] will be the first football game he's ever played in."
Last year, NDC went 7-0 as a club team, mostly against junior varsity squads. Now an NAIA team, the school must play three seasons before moving up to NCAA Division II.
"[Football] is a big step for us, being a college that doesn't have the infrastructure on campus," Snow said. "We're playing at a local high school field. We'll probably start raising funds soon for an on-campus facility."