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'YaGotta Be Perfector Better!'
Faust sounds offat halftime: "By golly, if you don't coverfrom the outside you're not gonna play!"
Religion is central to Moeller's drive for football perfection. The team chants prayers in the locker room, on the sidelines and in huddles. Before and after a game, the players and coaches kneel before a statue of the Virgin Mary. All year round, players lift . weights in front of a sign that reads, "With God. Anything Is Possible." Explains Dan Huesman, a defensive end, "I see other teams fighting and arguing on the sidelines all the time. yve never do that. We're just as close as a family." Their camaraderie helps permit the Fighting Crusaders to run 35 offensive plays from 12 different formations, while most of their opponents run a paltry 15. After every game they study films while the coaches analyze everything that was done wrong. Going over films of a recent game that Moeller won in a rout, an assistant coach screamed at one of his players, "Is that driving through the ribs of the damn tackle?" Players who learn their hard football lessons during their four years at Moeller are assured of college scholarships. In the last 17 years, 268 Moeller team members have WOI) their college expenses-25 of them last season. Says star running back Hiawatha Francisco, a sophomore. "My dream was always to play for USC or Notre Dame. I heard that playing for Moeller is the best way to getthere." -..
Grasping the chain ofan incense burner, a player kneels before the altar during CommunioTL
On the qftemoon before a game, players pray after taking Communion in the small chapel at Moeller High.
Photography: Michael o•Brien
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MoeJ,IerBigh Is Footbab's Toughest Team
The Holy Steamrollers
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As he strains against a teammate's grip, strengthening his neck muscles, Rusty Stoy's grimace reflects his total obsession: wtn the next game. For Rusty Stoy and 74 other members of Cincinnati's Moeller High School football team, winning games is almost as common as, say, kicking off. In the 18 years since coach Gerry Faust's Fighting Crusaders took the field, the. Moeller Steamroller has had eight undefeated seasons, 11 Greater Cincinnati League championships, four state titles and three national crowns ('76, '77 and '79)-placing the team head and shoulder pads above every other high school squad in the country. Moeller's last defeat, a: 13-12 squeaker against nearby Princeton High in 1978. snapped a 53-game regular season winning streak. The loss momentarily quieted fans who flock to every game and
clamor for a showdown with the local pros-"Bring on the Bengals!" The team's booster club has 500 enthusiastic parents and businessmen. At one game a few years ago, the Crusaders played before a paying crowd of 23.000, more fans than the Cincinnati Reds draw on many nights. At Moeller, a Catholic high school of 996 boys from 13 parishes, football-and faith-take precedence over everything else. Says the Reverend Lawrence Krusling, the principal, "Football has given us our pride. We strive to bring the other areas-religion and academics-up to the same level." And starting quarterback Mike Willgingsays, "When we win, I really believe God is behind us." f&+
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Even the Visitor on the Beach Helps Moeller WiD
Players get additional incentivefrom spt:cialguests like Tommy H_ergott, who suffersfrom a spine malformation.
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The Gospel According to Coach Faust
Faust's exuberance makes it clear: MoeUer wins again. Gerry Faust was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a coach. In 1963 he fielded Moeller's first varsity team At practice and at games Faust is in constant motion. His head is cockedforward as if he were.fighting a st!lf wind. This is the way he talks before, during and after a big game:
"I try to get all the players into the game. I'm a parent. I know what it's like not to see your kid play. But it's tough.to get everybody in, especially on defense. Our opponent only had the ball for about thirty plays. "I don't believe an athlete has to be an animal. These are great kids, class kids. I'll tell ya. a kid who has a commitment to God makes a better athlete. Football is such a great game because it's just like life. ¡ "You know, in 1975 we were a thirty-point underdog and we won our first state championship, fourteen to twelve. I prayed to Saint Jude of hopeless cases, and we came from behind. Late in the game they were almost in our end zone. I said, 'Dear Saint Jude. help us!'-and do you know, their quarterback fumbled the ball right then and there? Saint Jude has never let us down. "I've had some disappointments in my life. We lost the first two times we were iri the championships. That was unbearable. But it must have been God's plan. We were ahead in both games, and I tried to play it safe -I refused to put the ball in the air. I'll tell you one thing, God has taught me never to sit on the ball! . "When Moeller lost to Princeton High in 1978, it was the first defeat
since 1972. Those kids hadn't lost in 53 games. They dropped to their knees and started crying, but I told them to cut that out and shake hands. That night I told them, 'You'll always be remembered as the team that lost after 53 games, but you can also be remembered as the team that started an even longer winning streak.' "All right, men. You. know every year a team comes in from a different area to _challenge us. Every year! They think the best football is played in their area. Last year it was Penn Hills: the year before, Brother Rice; the year before, Dallas Jesuit; the year before, Farrell. They've had great teams. Now the only way that you can convince them that you're better is that you outthink 'em, out-hustle 'em, out-work 'em, outblock 'em. out-tackle 'em and out~execute 'em. Let's go tonight, this is a big game, this is national recognition, because we're playin' a team from Maryland. Let's show Maryland that Ohio football is the best-and Moeller's the best of all! ¡ "Defense. be alert for a play-action pass on the first play. If you make a mistake, make an aggressive one. Ninety-nine percent of the time an aggressive mistake turns out to be all right. Play good, clean, hard, tough football. Play Moeller football. If ya knock 'em on their butts. help 'em up. Then knock 'emdownagain.... "Dear Lady. thanks for the game we played, thanks for showing the way. We won, but I know our true score is marked in your heart forevermore."+
After the game. afan comes out on the.field to offer her congratulations.
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