Holy Cross WR Jalen Coker is out to create more postseason memories

WORCESTER — Holy Cross fans will never forget Jalen Coker’s winning touchdown catch against Sacred Heart in the first round of last year’s Football Championship Subdivision playoffs at Fitton Field.

Neither will Coker.

With 14 seconds left, quarterback Matthew Sluka unleashed to Coker, who went up over a defender at the goal line and came down with the ball in the front corner of the end zone to cap an 80-yard drive and lift the Crusaders to a thrilling, 13-10 victory.

“When I was down there at the goal line,” Coker recalled before Tuesday’s practice at Kuzniewski Field, “watching the ball come to me, just seeing the ball in the air, time was a little slower. I was really focused in that moment, not really thinking about the impact it was going to have, but that was the moment for me that brought everything together – football, the team. It was awesome.”

Coker, who had even more spectacular catches like that this season and is HC’s leading receiver, exited the Week 11 game against Bryant due to an injury and sat out the regular-season finale at Georgetown, but Coker said he is ready to go Saturday when the undefeated Crusaders host the University of New Hampshire in an FCS second-round game. Kickoff is at noon.

Coker, who hails from Sterling, Virginia, stayed in Worcester during the Crusaders’ mini-break over Thanksgiving. He and some teammates gathered for a watch party when UNH beat Fordham, 52-42, in the FCS first round last Saturday.

“It was back and forth,” Coker said. “‘Are we going to play New Hampshire? Are we going to play Fordham? Are we going to play New Hampshire?’ When New Hampshire pulled away, and we knew it was going to be them, we were pumped. We were excited.”

The 6-foot-3, 207-pound Coker, who leads Holy Cross with 42 catches, 838 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns, earned All-Patriot League first-team honors and All-New England accolades.

Early in the season, Coker caught Sluka’s Hail Mary to beat the University of Buffalo and give the Crusaders a victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision foe for the second straight year.

Coker threw a touchdown pass against Yale, and he had a career-high 164 receiving yards and a TD to help HC win at Harvard for the first time since 2000.

In Holy Cross’ dramatic, 53-52 overtime win against Fordham, Coker scored three touchdowns, two in the fourth quarter, including a 15-yard grab that tied the score, 48-48, with 1:24 left.

When HC has needed a big play, Coker has made some of the biggest.

“It comes from how I’ve been my whole life,” Coker said, “put your nose down and grind for a little bit. I wasn’t always the best player, but I wanted to be, so that work ethic instilled. Whenever those big plays come up, I want to be the guy to make those plays, and it’s not if it’s going to happen, but when it’s going to happen. So I think that mindset separates me a little bit.”

That mindset, that determination comes from his adoring family. At HC games, Coker has one of the larger cheering sections.

“Ever since I was younger,” Coker said, “they told me I was going to be special. That constant reassurance that I’m going to be something special in life, not just as a football player, helped me a lot.”

Making a difference off the field

Indeed, Coker’s impact extends well beyond the football field, as a leader, advocate and contributor.

“He’s a leader in really every sense of the word,” Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said. “He does such a good job in his receiver room, in particular, and within our program. When you’re a player that garners the attention that he does, it comes with a lot of responsibility, and he certainly understands that.”

Coker is a spokesperson and ardent supporter of the Love Like Adam Foundation, a nonprofit established in honor of Coker’s childhood friend and Pop Warner teammate, Adam Jeffrey Oakes, that spreads awareness and education about hazing.

Oakes died Feb. 26, 2021, of alcohol poisoning during a hazing incident while pledging the Delta Chi fraternity at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“When that happened,” Coker said, “it hit close to home, and it rallied our group of friends and our community. I think with the platform I have, I should be able to bring light to anything, especially something that’s so close to me. I feel like bullying and hazing, and things like that need to be talked about more. I felt it was a responsibility for me to say something, but I also wanted to help. I know he would do the same for me.”

Coker is also involved with Working for Worcester, the student-inspired and student-run 501(c)3 nonprofit that former Holy Cross student-athletes Jeff Reppucci and Derek Kump founded in 2012.

Each spring, Working for Worcester implements a city-wide “Build Day,” that brings together students from all area colleges for construction and improvement projects at Worcester schools, parks, community centers and sports fields.

“I’m more than happy to be part of that,” Coker said, “and to help the Worcester community spread the culture of Working for Worcester and be a bigger voice for Worcester.”

His parents predicted greatness for Coker, and he is making them proud.

“He has a great family that travels up here for every game, and that’s really a neat group that he’s associated with,” Chesney said. “They’ve done a great job raising him, and he’s done a great job of representing them in the community, on this campus, and on our team. He’s a special young man on the field. He understands the power that comes with that, and he certainly holds up his end of the bargain off the field.”

−Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Holy Cross receiver Jalen Coker hopes for more playoff highlights