1997 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

1997 Holy Cross Crusaders football
ConferencePatriot League
Record4–7 (2–4 Patriot)
Head coach
Defensive coordinatorTom Quinn (2nd season)
Captains
  • Dominic Blue
  • Jeff Laboranti
Home stadiumFitton Field
Seasons
← 1996
1998 →
1997 Patriot League football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Colgate $^   6 – 0     7 – 5  
No. 24 Bucknell   5 – 1     10 – 1  
Fordham   4 – 2     5 – 6  
Holy Cross   2 – 4     4 – 7  
Lehigh   2 – 4     4 – 7  
Lafayette   2 – 4     3 – 8  
Towson   0 – 6     2 – 8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1997 Holy Cross Crusaders football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Holy Cross during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Holy Cross tied for second-to-last in the Patriot League.

In their second year under head coach Dan Allen, the Crusaders compiled a 4–7 record. Dominic Blue and Jeff Laboranti were the team captains.[1]

The Crusaders were outscored 308 to 182. Holy Cross' 2–4 conference record placed it in a three-way tie for fourth in the seven-team Patriot League standings.[2]

The team's claimed 4–7 and 2–4 records count the season-opening Towson matchup as a Holy Cross win by forfeit, as Towson agreed in October 1997 that it had used an academically ineligible player in that game.[3]

Holy Cross played its home games at Fitton Field on the college campus in Worcester, Massachusetts.

  1. ^ "2019 Holy Cross Football Fact Book" (PDF). Worcester, Mass.: College of the Holy Cross. p. 126. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "Football All-Time Year-by-Year Results". Patriot League Football Record Book (PDF). Center Valley, Pa.: Patriot League. 2020. p. 6. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  3. ^ Free, Bill (October 3, 1997). "Forfeit Forces Towson to Look Again for First Patriot League Victory". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Md. p. 3D – via Newspapers.com.