Two very different semifinals set up the NIRA DII/DIII championship match this coming weekend.
AIC scored over 100 points in defeating Frostburg State in their semifinal. Camryn Henderson scored 23 points with nine conversions and a try. SaTya Miller scored three tries. Nikki Ritter-Truxal scored two tries, as did Naomi Dodd, Morgan Schechter, and Luna Bussing, who added two conversions for 14 points.
It was a huge win, but AIC DOR Jameson Bonti has been focused on those kinds of outcomes.
“I am a skills-focused coach,” said Bonti. “My feeling is, it doesn’t matter if we run a 1-3-3-1 or a 1-3-2-2 or whatever. We need to be skills-centered and values-centered. We have to have a collective identity and we have to have a basis of skills. All of that builds over time. What I want is for a player to look back over five weeks or eight weeks and this ‘wow, I’ve really development my game.’ Frostburg is a good team; very, very physical and they don’t stop, ever. But I think you see a reflection of what we’ve been focusing on in that game.”
When things get tough, all you can fall back on are your skills and your team, Bonti added.
All of that is centered on the phrase “it’s time to fly.” Why fly? Because it implies confidence, and to fly you need good skills, but most importantly, you can’t spell family without fly.
“This is a family program,” said Bonti. “It’s one where the players case deeply about one another. We have players who lead and they take ownership in our family and our values. When we have a problem we just talk about it. I don’t tell them what to do, I ask them a question. ‘What’s your solution?’ It allows them to feel empowered.”
Rutter-Truxal, Venisa Sanft, Jendell Mmoe, and others all direct that culture.
“Our view is, if you’re not coming into the values, how do we constructively address that?” said Bonti. “The real joy for this team is teaching leaders how to lead.”
So he doesn’t talk about results, but we can. After losing their opener 55-7 to Harvard (who are in the DI final), they beat a Sacred Heart University lineup, West Chester, Davenport, New Haven, Bowdoin, and Frostburg by an average score of 71-6.
