The Thiel football team entered its Oct. 1 game against Bethany having lost 41 straight. That means none of the men on the Tomcats’ current roster had experienced a win at the college level.

Junior safety/linebacker Jared Curcio had been on the roster for about a third of those losses, and the Kiski Area grad was as eager as anyone to break that streak.

After Thiel squandered a 20-6 third-quarter lead by allowing the Bison to score 20 unanswered points, it looked as though the Tomcats would lug a 42-game losing streak into their bye week. But when Jorden Collier scored on an 11-yard run and Dreyvin Livingston booted the point-after, the Tomcats led again. They held on to give the program its first win since September 2017.

“It really was an incredible moment,” said Curcio, who had four tackles in the game. “Not only for just me but for the entire team, the coaching staff and the community of Greenville. They were behind us through all the losses, all the tough times, and they really believed in us.”

Under first-year coach Sam Bauman, the Tomcats are looking to put their losing ways behind them. Curcio figures to be a big part of that effort, and he was moved to a new position to help maximize his impact.

Curcio (5-foot-11, 210 pounds) had been used as an inside linebacker, but Bauman switched him to a hybrid linebacker/safety position. Always adept at stopping the run, Curcio now is more involved in pass defense.

“He’s a tough kid. He plays kind of that hard-nosed, physical football while still being a really good athlete,” Bauman said about Curcio. “He’s just one of those quiet leaders who leads by example and does everything the right way and just plays physically from whistle to whistle.”

Curcio had 25 total tackles through the Tomcats’ first five games. That included a half sack, and putting pressure on the quarterback is something Bauman said Curcio does well.

Bauman called blitzing the most improved part of Curcio’s game, attributing it to his improved ability to shed blocks. When it comes to tackling, Bauman said, Curcio has few peers.

“He’s a violent tackler when he gets hands on,” Bauman said.

Said Curcio: “I just try to fly around all the time and give 110% on every play. I think a lot of that (tackling) just comes from my wrestling background, too.”

Getting that one victory was nice, but Curcio said he is confident there will be others before the season is over. He attributed his team’s newfound confidence to Bauman and his coaching staff.

Bauman has preached to the players to keep their focus within and not pay attention to outside factors. The same is true for the individual players: Each is to focus on his job and nothing else.

“Coach Bauman preaches constantly: do your 1/11th,” Curcio said. “We all have our own job, and we all do that job, and I think we’re finally starting to hit on that, and that’s what makes us come together as a team.

“I just try to do the best I can, go out and make tackles when I can when my number is called. … Just do your assignment and, eventually, that play will come to you.”

The Tomcats got an extra week to savor their victory. Hard to blame them for that.

But Curcio said the team is being careful not to lose sight of the business at hand and realizes one victory was not the endgame.

Soon, the win, like all the losses, will be in the past, and Curcio and his teammates will focus on the future. They now have evidence of what their work can achieve, and they are eager to make that feeling of euphoria they had against Bethany a more regular experience.

“My personal goal was to get that win,” Curcio said. “And we got that, so now the next goal is to get another win. I try not to focus on my personal stats whatsoever. The team comes first. It’s not a matter of the amount of tackles on my personal stat sheet. It’s about the number of wins in that left column.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)