Sep 9, 2018 7 min read

An ankle injury during his senior football season at Bentworth High School changed everything for Chris Babirad.

Before the injury, he was “95 percent” certain to be heading to Penn State to play defensive back in the fall of 1989.

Enter Washington & Jefferson College and coach John Luckhardt.

“Honestly, almost all of my recruiting was centered on Penn State,” said Babirad. “I had attended camps there and did well. When I injured the ankle, it became an issue and was a factor in me not going there.

“It all fell apart at the end. They wanted me to still come but as a sophomore walk-on. Coach Luckhardt had stayed in touch with me throughout. He would call just to see how I was doing. He wasn’t pushing because he respected that I was going to go to Penn State. I just felt that him remaining interested and in touch was important.

“After the injury, he let me know he was there and how much W&J was interested in me and how strong they felt about me. I called and visited California University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. But I felt W&J’s interest in me and me wanting to play close to home was the difference. I loved Lucky and the coaching staff.”

Over the next four years, W&J football loved Babirad.

He finished with 5,714 career rushing yards, averaging 129.9 yards per game. Babirad scored 65 touchdowns and 446 points.

In 1992, when he led the Presidents to the NCAA Division III national championship game – the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl – he gained a school single-season record of 2,471 rushing yards and scored 32 TDs.

His 4,419 rushing yards during the regular season is among the highest in Division III history.

Babirad was a two-time, first-team All-Presidents Athletic honoree and in 1992 was a Kodak and Champion All-American. He was USA Today’s Player of the Year.

W&J was never hesitant to hand him the ball or ride his tremendous production, especially in his final two seasons, to victory.

“I loved it,” Babirad said of his heavy workload. “Honestly, the more touches I had the better I became. It allowed me to get more in sync with the game and help me get into a groove. The more I ran it, the better I could see the line and what it was doing. I just felt like the whole offense ran much more smoothly.”

Luckhardt said Babirad’s greatness came from a strong work ethic and desire to succeed, along with a supporting cast – particularly an outstanding offensive line.

“It didn’t take rocket science to figure out what a great player he was and what he would bring to our program,” Luckhardt said. “Had he not suffered the injury, he would have went to Penn State. It was not a secret as to what kind of player he was and how special he would be.”

The coach added that the two cornerstone players of W&J, A.J. Pagano (1984-87) and Babirad, were similar in that both were humble and quiet and immensely productive on the field.

“A.J. came into a struggling program and made plays from his freshman season that hadn’t been seen at W&J for a long time,” Luckhardt explained. “He led us to the playoffs and helped us establish a program. In Chris’ case, leading us to a national championship game, it gave us a pedigree we hadn’t had before. We could play with and be as good as any program in the country. We had never had that situation or circumstance before.”

For all his greatness and impact, it wasn’t until the 1992 playoffs, and the NCAA semifinals in particular, that Babirad sealed his legacy.

He set an NCAA record for a four-game, postseason series, gaining 882 rushing yards. He averaged 220.5 yards per game in the four postseason games. His 882 rushing playoff yards counted for 35.7 percent of his season total of 2,471 yards.

Babirad’s 218 rushing yards against undefeated Rowan in the semifinals, including a jaw-dropping, 81-yard jaunt for a TD with seven minutes left in the game, is a legendary performance. Babirad romped through the vaunted and rugged Rowan defense and defined his W&J career, lifting the Presidents to an 18-13 victory on a windy and cold day in Glassboro, N.J.

“(Rowan) had mocked him and his speed in the newspapers during the week,” Luckhardt said. “Chris embarrassed them, rushing for more than 200 yards and outrunning their entire defense on that touchdown.

“Chris was only a sprinter when he needed to be. If you look at all his runs, when he got in open space or in front of everyone, nobody ever caught him.”

The run against the Profs was sweet justice for Babirad. He heard and read the talk all week. That run was a punch to the gut of Rowan and it ruined the Profs’ season.

“I was never a sprinter,” Babirad laughed. “I was fast in a football uniform. I always seemed to be able to outrun the guys I had to outrun on the field. I might beat a fast guy by a step or beat a slower guy by a step in a race. But I was fast enough playing football.”

George Lammay, a Bentworth High School graduate, worked as a color analyst for WJPA Radio covering W&J football during the 1992 postseason. He said Babirad’s run against Rowan is as one of the greatest moments in W&J’s storied football tradition.

“In my opinion, he had great instincts and great eyesight,” said Lammay, who is assistant superintendent of Bentworth School District and W&J football’s public address announcer. “The counter play started one way and Chris shrugged off one kid and the kid falls off. In his incredibly competitive way and with his great vision, he moves another way and he just ran away from Rowan’s defense, which had made statements before the game.

“I stood up while the play was in progress and it was just one of those emotional moments you remember.”

Babirad said his and the team’s performance during that postseason was the culmination of so many variables.

“It was just a matter of me of being a senior and having a little more experience and focus,” Babirad said. “As a team, we were relaxed and confident. I think we enjoyed the season more as we went. We became pretty proficient.”

In addition to his football prowess, Babirad was a three-year letterman in baseball at W&J and played golf there his final season.

He is employed by the Pennsylvania State Police and resides in McDonald. He has three sons, Ryan, 24, Alex, 21, and Noah, who is a junior at Fort Cherry High School.

His lone regret from his college career is the Presidents’ 16-12 loss to Wisconsin-LaCrosse in the national championship game in Bradenton, Fla.

“It would be nice to have that back, a redo,” Babirad said.

“We were a little over-amped in the first half. But you only get one chance and we got almost all you could get out of that season.”

W&J got a lot out of Babirad.

“He made us all a lot better and smarter,” Luckhardt said. “He was a great football player, a great person. He was one of the best football players in the country, probably the best one in 1992. That’s a great tribute to him and that team.”

John Sacco writes a bi-weekly column about local sports history.