Column: Winning is a tradition at WC Rustin
Graduation is the great equalizer in high school football as a team’s roster is turned over every season and it is very hard to sustain continued excellence. It takes a hard commitment to keep a program at or very near the top of a teams respective league and classification. It takes a firm and talented hand at the top of the program to keep a program purring year after year.
One successful program that fits that bill is West Chester Rustin. The Golden Knights are consistently either winning the Ches-Mont American Division and the District 1 5A playoffs point race or right up there in second place in the league and being a factor in the district playoffs come November.
They have a saying at West Chester Rustin that they proudly wear on jerseys and that is “Tradition Never Graduates”. The motto aptly describes the Golden knights program as head coach Mike St.Clair’s teams are perennial contenders year after year after year.
When someone asks me before a season starts as to what the Golden Knights will look like in the upcoming season, my answer is always the same. I tell them it is rustin and “Saint” will figure it out and they will be a handful again.
Last season the Golden Knights did not win the Ches-Mont American division title, placing second to Unionville. But the Golden Knights regrouped and advanced to the District 1 5A title game against Strath-Haven, bowing in overtime in a very controversial ending.
And West Chester Rustin graduated Dayshawn Jacobs, who ran for over 2,400 yards and most of their defense and offensive line. What happened? The Golden Knights won their 2022 opener 47-0, over crosstown rival, West Chester Henderson.
And the Golden Knights did it with their patented Wing-T offense, and a suffocating sideline to sideline defense. Once again this season the Golden Knights still do not like throwing the football as Rustin attempted just two passes in the lopsided win.
Rustin just pounds and pounds away at their opponents until they fall or give up due to fatigue. It is old time smash mouth football and it works for the Golden Knights year after year.
All this success on the field can be traced back to head coach St.Clair. He is the only head coach Rustin has ever had since its inception in 2006. He is detail oriented, passionate and driven and his teams display those qualities year after year.
Before birthing the Rustin program St.Clair was a long time defensive coordinator for head coach Joe Carroll at West Chester East where his defenses were known for hard hitting and a toughness that has carried over to his Golden Knights program.
This season the Golden Knights are expected to contend for the league title again and are one of the top three or four teams in the District 1 5A bracket. This after graduating many key components from the 2021 team. It is just the way things go at Rustin year after year.
This is the way St.Clair has set up his program. And do not forget that Rustin is doing this in the three high school school West Chester School District where the talent is spread throughout three high school programs. St.Clair does not bemoan the Golden Knights fate as one of the smaller 5A schools.
He and his teams just go out and compete, year after year, and at a very high level. The early reports on the 2022 season look like it is business as usual for the Golden knights in 2022.
Remember, when you see the Golden Knights play that tradition never graduates. Just win baby. That is how they do it at WC Rustin.
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