Thaddeus Stevens College was founded in 1905, and on a beautiful Saturday afternoon 106 years later, the Bulldogs did something no Stevens Tech football team had ever done: They won a second consecutive Seaboard Conference Championship.

The Bulldogs (7-2) spanked the Valley Forge Military College Trojans, 43-7.

"The freshman class from last year knew what it takes to win," Bulldog coach Joe Wysock said. "They won it last year, and they knew what they had to do, and they did it."

They did it on both sides of the ball, racking up 393 yards of offense, while holding the Trojans (1-6) to just 137 yards.

Quarterback Frank Gaffney led the Bulldogs, throwing for 293 yards and four touchdowns.

On the ground, second-string quarterback and heir apparent to Gaffney, Patrick Rehm, rushed for 71 yards on nine carries in just a quarter and a half in relief of Gaffney.

Stevens scored early and often in the first half, while the defense held Valley Forge to just 2 net yards in the half.

The Bulldogs hit paydirt the first three times they had the ball, each time on passes from Gaffney. The first score came on a 44-yard strike to Carlos Smith with 11:40 left in the opening quarter; then the Blue Mountain graduate hooked up with Brandon Saner on a 6-yard pass; and Stevens finished the scoring in the first quarter with a 15-yard pass from Gaffney to Manny Mendez, a Hempfield grad, to jump out to a 21-0 lead.

"Frank (Gaffney) was amazing," Wysock said. "He came in here and never ran the veer before, and last year was voted the offensive player of the year, and this year will be up for the conference MVP."

The Trojans would finally put points on the board with just 38 seconds left in the first half, when Shawn Jones hit Vonzell Bandy with a 5-yard pass in the corner of the end zone to make it 21-7 at intermission.

The Bulldogs would add three more touchdowns in the third quarter to put the game away. The first was a 3-yard run by Isiah Coble, followed by a 12-yard rush by Austin Cseh and finally another pass — this one from Gaffney to Brandon Devlin.

Stevens would fittingly finish the scoring on a defensive gem, when Vincent Riegel sacked Jones in the end zone for a safety with 3:34 left in the game.

"This is the best group of players I've ever played with," Gaffney said. "There are truly no individuals on this squad. We are a team."

The second-year QB, who plans to go on to another college to continue his playing career, complimented the work ethic of his fellow Bulldogs.

"We had probably the best week of practice we had all year. Everyone did what they are supposed to do, and that's what wins championships. Just like this one!"