The feeling was one Saint Vincent senior receiver Keith Kalp isn’t likely to forget.

The Mt. Pleasant grad stood on the sideline at Grove City’s Thorn Field anticipating his first football game in more than 400 days. The covid-19 pandemic forced the Presidents’ Athletic Conference to cancel football season in fall 2020, and the plan was to try to play some semblance of a schedule in spring 2021.

Between the Bearcats’ 2019 season finale and that night in Grove City last month, Kalp felt disappointment, uncertainty, hope, anxiety, skepticism. And the moment the whistle blew to start the game between the Wolverines and the Bearcats, the weight — and the wait — was lifted.

“I’m super relieved to just to get back on the field and play football again,” Kalp said. “It was hard to deal with. I was trying to understand that (the final game of 2019) could have been my last game.”

This weekend, the conference wrapped up its four-game regular season. The PAC was divided into two four-team divisions, and next week, each team in the North Division will meet the corresponding South Division team, i.e., the first-place teams will meet, the second-place teams, etc.

Westminster and W&J, the division champions, will play for the conference title Friday.

Many of the games were played on Friday nights, with some Thursdays and Saturdays sprinkled in.

Conventional? Ideal? Certainly not. But no one was complaining.

“As soon as that opening kickoff happened, it truly felt no different,” Grove City coach Andrew DiDonato said. “It even felt like we weren’t away for that long. It felt good and normal to be in the middle of a football game again.”

Said Westminster junior quarterback Cole Konieczka (Moon): “It was a different feeling coming out in the spring, having a five-game season. … But it was amazing to finally get back out there and compete against another team.”

Ideal? Far from it.

But there were a few silver linings in this 2021 season, aspects that could have implications for the future of football in the PAC and beyond.

Though their 2020 season was shelved, teams still were able to hold meetings — albeit mostly virtual — lift weights, practice and learn the playbook. So they did, for eight months.

“It has been, in a strange way, a blessing,” Westminster coach Scott Benzel said. “In the fall, our players got to practice in a controlled environment, but we didn’t have to rush because we didn’t have to prepare for an opponent. So player development was emphasized.”

Saint Vincent coach Aaron Smetanka echoed Benzel’s sentiments.

“It has been really beneficial,” he said. “We’re seeing signs of progress on our end. We’re seeing development of our younger guys. Some of them are actually starting over our upperclassmen right now.”

With the freshmen having more time to get acclimated and extra work and film study for all the players, the quality of play likely will change for the better. Benzel said he anticipates the upcoming fall season — assuming it is played as normal — could be one of the PAC’s best ever.

The coaches also learned a few things. They have used video calls and other “homework” methods to help streamline the players’ off-the-field preparation. On the field, with the PAC playing many games Fridays, teams have had one fewer day of practice, so coaches stressed quality of work over quantity.

The other factor in reducing live practice time is the anticipated quick turnaround for fall season. In four months, teams will be kicking off again.

“We really have given the players more time to re-energize,” Benzel said. “As football coaches, sometimes we think more is better, but sometimes, less is more.”

Smetanka said the proliferation of video chats could help with recruiting. Smaller schools have limited recruiting budgets, so travel can be an issue. But with the capability to meet face-to-face with prospective players via video chat, Smetanka believes schools can recruit areas they normally couldn’t reach.

In the bigger picture, the coaches are hoping this abbreviated spring season could lead to a change across NCAA Division III. Unlike Division I, D-III has no spring football. No practices in pads. No “color vs. color” scrimmage.

But this “experimental” season could be a gateway to change.

“It’s been something that has been debated quite a bit,” DiDonato said. “But a lot of that debate took place with no proof of what it would look like. Just the fact that now there is proof of what that dynamic would look like, it will change the structure of those discussions when they happen.”

Those kinds of sweeping changes could be far down the road. In the here and now, the players are just glad to be back doing what they love. Even if it isn’t what they are used to.

“We were so pumped to get out there and play a game,” Konieczka said. “It’s definitely better than not playing in any games.”

Added Kalp: “The hardest part was keeping focused. We didn’t even know if we were going to have a season. … But it felt really good to get back out there and play football again.”

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