Staten Island, NY - At halftime of today's 1:00 pm Wagner-Monmouth game, a group of former players, now in their mid-40's, bonded by an unforgettable season, will make their way to midfield to be honored on the 25^th anniversary of their crowning achievement.
 
When they each made the familiar climb up atop Grymes Hill, the Seahawks' football facility, with the unmatched view of the majestic Verrazano Bridge, will be still be known as Wagner College Stadium. By the time these men, along with a host of their former coaches, take to the field an hour or so after kickoff, the field will bear the name of their former coach, forever being known as Hameline Field at Wagner College Stadium.
 
And so it's more than appropriate that in a pre-game ceremony, Walt Hameline be honored for his 32 years as athletic director and head football coach, on the same day, on the same field, as the greatest athletic team in Wagner College history. While Wagner fielded tremendous football teams before and since that championship season, the name Walt Hameline and the year 1987 will be linked in perpetuity.
 
It's a story that's been told many times. It's the story of a tiny college in New York City that defied the odds...and won it all. It's the story of the 1987 Wagner College Seahawks football team.
 
A group of tough, yet wide-eyed young men, guided by an energetic, enthusiastic, and driven 36-year old coach in his seventh, season who, in year number 32 and a quarter century later, still plies his same trade; nurturing, prodding, molding, disciplining and, above all, leading young men,
 
The greatest day in the long and illustrious gridiron history of Wagner College came on a sunny December 12,1987 in Phenix, Alabama when the Seahawks captured the 1987 NCAA Division III National Championship with 19-3 victory over the University of Dayton in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.
 
Winners of seven straight games and 12 of 13 heading into the championship, Wagner rose to the challenge, jumping out to a 19-0 first-half lead. The Green & White never looked back in cruising to the College's first and only national championship in any sport.
 
Quarterback Greg Kovar got Wagner on the board early, finding split end John Chaney in the end zone from 22 yards out with just under two minutes left in the opening quarter.  Fullback Tom Pugh put the Seahawks up 13-0, bulldozing in from one yard out.  Wide receiver Keith Johnson capped the Seahawk scoring 20 seconds before intermission, hauling in a 22-yard Kovar spiral for the 19-0 halftime lead.
 
With Kovar on his way to a 301-yard day, the defense took over from there, holding Dayton to just 234 yards of total offense and 2.9 yards per play.  Defensive end George Gaspar led the way with 16 tackles and a sack while linebackers Artie DiMella and Chris West made 13 stops each.
 
Following the season, their story grew ever more, with the news that six players were named All-American, including three first-teamers. The Staten Island Advance headed a long list of media outlets that enthusiastically churned out stories on so many of these Seahawks. Why, their story was even splashed across a two-page spread in Sports Illustrated, accompanied by a color team photo with the beaming lower Manhattan skyline serving as the backdrop.
 
Over these last 25 years, the Seahawks' achievement has been well-told.                                     
 
It will be told again and again

     1987 (13-1-0)
 NCAA DIVISION III
 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Coach:...................... Walt Hameline
9/5     William Paterson...............     14-0    W
9/12   at Montclair State.............       24-17  W
9/19   at St. John's.........................   30-14   W
9/26   Trenton State......................    41-13   W
10/3   at SUNY-Buffalo.................    20-0     W
10/10 at Hofstra..........................      28-35    L
10/24 at U.S.M.M.A.....................      16-14    W
11/7   at W. Conn. State...............    27-3     W
11/1   Pace.......................................  59-7     W
11/21  Rochester*.........................   38-14   W
11/28  Fordham*............................  21-0      W
12/5    at Emory & Henry*........        20-15   W
12/12  Dayton*................................  19-3      W

* NCAA Playoffs

All-Americans
Rich Negrin, OT Kodak (1st team)
Football News (1st team)
Pizza Hut (1st team)

Aaron Campbell, OG Pizza Hut (1st team)

Jerry O'Riordan, PK Pizza Hut (1st team)

Terry Underwood, RB Pizza Hut (2nd team)

Artie Dimella, LB Pizza Hut (2nd team)
GTE/CoSIDA Academic (2nd team)

Greg Kovar, QB Pizza Hut (3rd team)