It’s time for the Blue Hose to step up again. It’s time to consolidate the gains.

Steve Englehart has taken the best non-scholarship football program in the state – it’s not a large assemplage – a long way this fall. He and his staff have used the whistle, the teaching and the exhortation, and the players have lifted themselves up by their, uh, cleat laces. It’s been inspiring.

Presbyterian has won as many games as the previous two seasons combined. That’s still just three. The Blue Hose need another growth spurt. Most games provide some hope for victory.

They’ve lost two in a row and four out of five.

“It’s not a matter of physicality as it was a year ago,” Englehart stated. “We play physical. We need to tackle a little better.

On Thursday at the Laurens County Touchdown Club, Englehart said as much. Nothing as incredible as Presbyterian’s 23-20 upset of Wofford is going to happen in the county again this year. They are miracles. PC must rediscover the fundamentals in order to capitalize on its athletic improvement.

The University of San Diego visits Bailey Memorial Stadium on Saturday for a noon game.  That’s 9 a.m. in the Toreros’ native habitat. The Pioneer Football League is more vast than the plans of the Power Five. How can PC afford to play regularly from the redword forests to the Gulf Stream waters? It’s not easy to find a league of Division I colleges and universities that do not offer football scholarships but do offer scholarships in other sports, but lots of travel miles can be purchased with what it costs to buy scholarships.

“It’s hard to win in this league and the margins are slim,” Englehart stated. “If you make mistakes and you’re playing a good team, you’re not going to be very successful.

“As I look back on the last four weeks, it seems like the more we focus on something, the more it happens in regards to penalties and things like that. Right now we’re not doing the things we know we have to do to win football games.”

The tide will turn again. That’s the plan. Englehart, staff and players are making progress. The Blue Hose have three more shots to push the line.

In PFL year three, Presbyterian (3-5, 1-4 PFL), has San Diego on Saturday, a trip to Drake (Des Moines, Iowa) on Nov. 11, and Morehead (Ky.) State at home on Nov. 18. A winning record is still possible, not to mention break-even in the PFL.

For the first time, San Diego takes on Presbyterian without long-time head coach Dale Lindsay who defeated the Blue Hose three times, at the helm. In San Diego, the Toreros won 28-3 last year.

It’s Military Appreciation Day.

In the PFL’s 31-year history, the Toreros have won or shared the championship 10 years. Under first-year head coach Brandon Moore, San Diego (2-6, 2-3) has slumped. Davidson and Drake are both 5-0, tied for first place. Moore coached Colorado School of Mines to the Div. III national championship game in his only season with, yes, the Orediggers.

Jim Harbaugh spent three seasons (1994-96) as head coach at USD.

Last week the Torerors defeated Morehead State, 17-11, taking advantage of a late interception by Amir Wallace.

Davidson defeated PC, 45-28, in spite of a 387-yard offensive concentration by Blue Hose quarterback Tyler Wesley headed by 198 rushing yards. Wesley personally accounted for 92 percent of Presbyterian’s yards.

“We played hard,” stated Englehart,” but put ourselves behind the eight-ball early in the game. We have a bad snap, mishandle a punt, give them the ball inside the 10-yard line and it didn’t take them long to get on the board. We get a score, force a three-and-out, and then we muff a punt.

“The name of the game was really special teams. The defense did enough good stuff, or would have if we didn’t make so many blunders. Penalties hurt us. … When you’re playing a good, sound, solid football team that runs the ball and chews up the clock, it’s hard to overcome those, but I thought we fought back, but we didn’t have enough and made too many mistakes. The game should’ve been a lot closer, but that’s part of the game.”

Alex Herriott continues to anchor the PC defense with 32 tackles in the past two meetings, closing in on 100 stops as his junior season winds down.

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