Ten years ago, the Lafayette College football team defeated Lehigh University 27-7 in front of a crowd of over 48,000 fans. The historic 150th game highlighted student talents on the field, the sidelines and beyond, remaining a treasured milestone for the rivalry.
“There’s nothing that matches that day”
For tailback Ross Scheuerman ‘15, excitement for the 150th game loomed over his senior season. He led the Leopards to victory with three touchdowns and a school-record 304-yard run.
“When it was all said and done, it was really hard to explain all the emotions,” Scheuerman said.
As the home team for that year, the Leopards were given the Yankees’ locker room. A Yankee fan, Scheuerman found the experience to be “surreal.”
“There’s always things you could have done better or maybe I should have done this as opposed to that,” he said. “But honestly it was a perfect day for us. We played really well, we executed the game plan and got a big win.”
Scheuerman — who went on to sign with four NFL teams — called the game “probably the best day” of his sports career.
“There’s nothing that matches that day,” he said.
He has now been to more Lafayette-Lehigh games as an alum than he has played, sometimes watching from the sidelines. He described the experience as “bittersweet.”
“You feel like you can get back out there and you want to get back out there and play and everything, but it’s also fun to finally get the chance to experience the tailgating aspect to it,” Scheuerman said.
“But there’s nothing better than actually playing in it,” he added. “There’s no doubt about that.”
“You feed off each other’s energy”
Carly Trachtman ‘16 choreographed a routine to “Carnival,” an original student composition, for the occasion. The dance was part of a massive 13-minute-long halftime show featuring the dance teams, singers, cheerleaders and marching bands from both schools.
“I remember sitting there with my little choreography notebook just drawing X’s of various different formations of how I was going to get everybody to different spots at different times,” she said. “Logistically, even thinking about how to manage that many people was kind of crazy.”
The size of the venue was an important consideration when choreographing the event.
“Being on a field with people that are watching from potentially really high up, the type of choreography that might work well on a stage or even on a smaller football field at Lafayette might not translate as much in something like Yankee Stadium,” she said.
She spent most of the game on the sidelines, rallying the crowd with the dance team.
“It’s the type of thing where you feed off each other’s energy,” she said. “You’re doing something and getting excited, and then the fans are getting excited to hear you on.”
As a professional economist, she does not always get a chance to show off her dance talents.
“In my day-to-day, I’m doing something very different,” she said. “It’s fun to also say, ‘Hey, here’s the artistic side.’”
Trachtman even got her name on the jumbotron.
“It’s a good fun fact,” she said.
“Moment of sereneness in between a lot of the chaos”
Associate Director of Admissions Bri Braswell ‘16, co-captain of the dance team at the time, will never forget performing on the field.
“It was very loud, but also somewhat quiet being on the field,” she said of the performance. “I also felt this moment of sereneness in between a lot of the chaos.”
She also helped choreograph the halftime show, working with leaders from other dance clubs.
Moments of bonding with her team stick out in her memory.
“I remember all of us being incredibly cold,” she said, recalling how the team, wearing one-shouldered tops, huddled to stay warm.
In her role in admissions, Braswell highlights the experience to prospective students.
“People are always like, ‘wow,’ which is so crazy now that it’s been 10 years,” she said. “I think I’ve been saying the wrong number of years for a very long time.”
If she could go back, she would tell herself to take a deep breath.
“I do wish I just had a couple more moments of breath to fully metabolize and experience it,” she said.
“Everybody was trying to root for each other just trying to get through their own steps” she continued. “I really appreciated that everybody showed up and just said, ‘We’re going to do this,’ and we did.”
