Rewarding journey

Salem County products Harris, Husser have traveled a long road to reach today’s Division II national semifinals

TODAY: Division II semifinals: Kutztown (12-2) at Colorado School of Mines (13-0), 3:30 p.m.

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

Justin Harris has waited a long time to play in a game like the one he’ll be in today. When the former Salem defensive back was recruited to Kutztown out of high school way back in 2018, he was told he would play in big games, in front of big crowds and play for championships.

All of that has happened, but none will have been as big as what these Golden Bears will experience two time zones from home today. 

Harris is part of a special group of Kutztown players who have come through the COVID era of college sports and accepted the extra years for the chance to play in the Division II national semifinals at top-seeded Colorado School of Mines.

“It’s just a great moment, a great feeling to be here,” Harris said. “We feel like we belong here.”

Harris has been through a lot in his career. He arrived in 2018 and spent the year getting accustomed to the speed of the college game and learning the playbook. He got on the field as the starting nickel in 2019 as a redshirt freshman and even though the Bears lost in the PSAC championship game they did make the playoffs. COVID turned the world upside down the next year and he was off the field again.

Things started getting back to normal in 2021 and the Golden Bears reached the D-II Elite 8, getting their hearts broken by Shepherd on a walk-off Hail Mary. Last season didn’t go the way any of them wanted, but they returned in 2023 more determined than ever and raised the bar for Kutztown teams in the future.

The Golden Bears (12-2) have won 12 in a row and beaten a ranked opponent each of the last four weeks. They’re in the national semifinals for the first time in school history.

“It‘s definitely been worth it,” Harris said. “Coming back for this last year, I felt like I left a lot on the table as a player (last season). I knew we had the talent to get back into that playoff spot and compete for championships again and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now.”

Any of the half-dozen players who came in together in 2018 and are still on the roster could have packed it at any point along the way, but it was important to them to finish it out together.

Tight end Tyreek Husser is another one of those “old heads.” The former Woodstown quarterback hasn’t been in the program as long as Harris, but he’s gone through all the post-COVID ups and downs.

His first year was actually the COVID year, but he couldn’t afford to let that slow him down. He was in the middle of a position change. He credited the players who were already in place with helping him on his journey.

“We all took that as a chance to get better, get bigger, learn the playbook,” he said. “Even the guys who were here before us they all used that as a way to refine themselves and become better. 

“We’re a little younger this year, but some people have been through that COVID year. We understand what the system is, how things should run, what we want to get out of certain plays. I think that’s what’s starting to come to fruition now, that understanding of what our system and our scheme is and how we operate in our scheme.”

He called this season “nothing short of amazing.”

The key to keeping it going is staying grounded, focused on the game they’re playing this week and not get ahead of themselves. The deeper you go in the playoffs, the harder that gets.

It’s not lost on anyone that the winner of today’s game will play either Harding or Lenoir-Rhyne for the national championship next Saturday in McKinney, Texas..

“It’s hard not to think about that,” Harris said. “Those are just conversations we have with our roommates when we’re just chilling. That’s also what makes the moment so much greater because these are actually conversations that we’ve had before and we’re living in it now. 

“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but we’re definitely confident in ourselves on Saturday that we can pull out this W and get back on another flight and go to Texas and take it on to whoever that opponent might be.”