Two games. Two wins. A good start to any season, especially in a football season with only ten games. And wins aren’t something that have come easily to the Hamline football program, winners of just 11 games in the last five years. Stability has not come easily either, as Hamline’s football program has had four different head coaches since 2010.

Despite the changeover from Chad Rogosheske, who left Hamline to accept a position with Division III Capital University in Columbus, Ohio during the offseason, there are still some old faces in the coaching staff. New head coach Chip Taylor was Hamline’s defensive coordinator from 2013-2015 under Rogosheske, Chris Hartman is in his twelfth season as Hamline’s strength and conditioning coach and Joe Troche enters his fourth year as special teams coordinator.

“When my predecessor left, I had a chance to go with him, but I felt me being on the staff the last three years would give the program stability,” said Taylor. “Our players had seen a lot of change so I wanted to make sure those guys were good.”

The football team lost more than just Rogosheske since last season. Hamline’s all-time leading rusher, Austin Duncan, graduated and his abilities will be sorely missed by the Pipers.

“[Duncan] was the one who was always hollering and yelling, so some guys are having to fill in as replacements for the energy he brought,” said senior running back Josiah Harris. “We also don’t have that one workhorse back anymore so it forces us to spread the ball around.”

And spread the ball they have. Three separate players have received at least ten rushing attempts, and eight different receivers have caught at least one pass. Sophomore quarterback Justice Spriggs has protected the ball well, throwing four touchdown passes to just one interception.

The defense has been just as impressive. Counting five sacks, eleven tackles for loss, four interceptions, five forced fumbles (three recovered) and surrendering just 16 points in two games, the defense has made life difficult for Crown and Macalester.

“We’ve gotten a fast start on the defensive side but we’ve also left a lot of points on the field on offense,” said Taylor.

With their 29-9 victory against Crown and 21-7 victory against Macalester, the Pipers enter the MIAC portion of their schedule as just one of four teams in the MIAC with a 2-0 record.

“Some people have been excited around the conference about us with our new coaching staff and returning players,” said Spriggs. “As a team we’ve been focusing on going week-to-week.”

The win against Macalester, a former MIAC rival, is special to the Pipers as the two teams play every year for The Paint Bucket, one of the most storied trophy games in Minnesota. Hamline has dominated the series with Macalester, the overall record now at 70-44-4 in favor of the Pipers after this year’s win. The Pipers have now retained The Paint Bucket for the third year in a row, and it’s becoming an emphasis, both on the team and from the administration, to win the trophy games.

“With the proximity of the two schools, anytime you’re playing for a piece of hardware that travels to the winner, that’s a big deal,” said Taylor. “President Miller told the team during fall practices that any hardware that’s out there, she wants it.”

The Pipers will be moving on to their MIAC schedule this upcoming Saturday, September 24, facing Gustavus Adolphus, who the Pipers haven’t beaten since 2005 when they defeated Gustavus 7-3.

“We were close a lot last year, and we almost beat Gustavus last year,” said Harris, referring to the Pipers’ 35-42 defeat at the hands of Gustavus in 2015. “We came out and punched some of these higher-caliber teams in the mouth, and now the next step is seeing if we can beat them.”

In the preseason poll, the Pipers were rated seventh out of the ten teams in the MIAC, and they are looking to show the state that they can outperform that ranking.

“We’re always training to be on edge, be ready and to fight through being tired and sore,” said sophomore defensive lineman Mitchell Maday. “It’s all about being mentally tough and being stronger, and I think the mental toughness and emotional strength will help push us to compete with those higher-caliber teams.”

The Pipers kick off against Gustavus at 1 p.m. this Saturday, September 24.