As his team prepares to play Assumption (Mass.) tomorrow in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs, IUP head coach Paul Tortorella feels like his team has been in the playoffs for a few weeks now.
“We beat everybody in the league that we had to beat, except Slippery Rock,” he said. “At the end of the day, the three games we really had to win were Cal, Edinboro, and Clarion. You know, we slipped up at Slippery Rock, but from that point, we took care of business. So now we’re in the playoffs, and we deserve to be here. We beat some good teams, and our three losses were by 12 points. So, I think we belong.”
That’s a belief Tortorella shares with Assumption head coach Andy McKenzie.
“I recognized the strength of their schedule and the teams they’ve played,” he said. “They lost to Ashland and Slippery Rock. It wasn’t like they were playing bad competition. They beat some good teams.”
This will be the second-ever meeting between IUP and Assumption. The first one was in the 2017 playoffs, when Tortorella’s Crimson Hawk held on for a 27-22 win in the Super Region One final.
McKenzie wasn’t on the coaching staff at the time, and the head coach of the Greyhounds was Bob Chesney, who is now at James Madison and is rumored to be a finalist at Penn State. So, there’s nothing from that game that would apply now.
But what Tortorella does know of the 2025 Greyhounds impresses him.
Quarterback Jay Kastantin was the best in the Northeast-10 Conference this season, but he suffered what McKenzie called a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago in an upset loss to Bentley. Last week, Dom Santiago made his first career start and threw for 258 yards and three scores in a 42-24 non-conference win at West Chester.
“I don’t think it’s going to make a difference (who plays),” Tortorella said. “I gotta believe the quarterback’s going to run the ball no matter who it is. But the kid who played last week was pretty good.”
McKenzie said Santiago reminds him of IUP quarterback Matthew Rueve in terms of size and throwing ability, with one significant difference.
“He is to a ‘T’ just like IUP’s quarterback,” McKenzie said. “He’s a talented player. I wasn’t surprised one bit that he played so well last week. He’s a very good pocket passer, but he can run more than most quarterbacks.”
What impressed McKenzie even more than Santiago’s play was how the whole Assumption team bounced back from its loss to Bentley. The Greyhounds jumped on West Chester early and never let up. They led 42-10 in the fourth quarter before the Rams scored two late touchdowns to make the score seem closer than it really was.
“I was as proud of them as I have ever been,” he said. “That loss could beat you twice if you’re not mentally tough enough to overcome it.”
IUP and Assumption do have one common opponent: Kutztown. The Greyhounds got embarrassed in the season opener at Andre Reed Stadium, losing 51-14 in a game marred by lightning delays that didn’t end until after midnight.
Last week, the Crimson Hawks gave Kutztown a battle but ultimately lost, 28-23. IUP held the lead three times, at 7-0, 14-7, and 17-14, but couldn’t hold on.
McKenzie said playing Kutztown is a good barometer for any team. For Assumption, it was a humbling loss to the best team they’ve seen all season.
“I feel like part of my charge as head coach is to play the best football as we can,” McKenzie said, “and playing good football teams is a part of that. Continuing that series with Kutztown shows us who we are and what improvements we need to make. It was a good measuring stick. In respect to Kutztown, they were as advertised. They play mistake-free football. Our message from that is that we have a lot of football to work on. We took a lot of lessons out of it.”
Those are lessons the Greyhounds will be bringing with them to Indiana to take on the Crimson Hawks.
Although Assumption is in Massachusetts and the schools rarely play in any sport, McKenzie is well aware of IUP’s winning tradition. He grew up in Meadville and played at Allegheny College and knew a lot about the PSAC back in the 1990s.
He respects the tradition and knows his team will have to play well to win.
“First of all,” he said, “if you live in Pennsylvania, everyone knows about IUP football. Then I went to Allegheny College, which is right down the road from Edinboro and Gannon and Slippery Rock, so you know about IUP. Their reputation is well-earned.”
