Teammates, roommates, best buddies – The Lafayette

Teammates, roommates, best buddies – The Lafayette

Freshman wide receiver Mason Kuehner and freshman offensive lineman Sean Kinney have already attended at least three football games at their alma mater this season. (Photos courtesy of GoLeopards)

Freshman wide receiver Mason Kuehner and freshman offensive lineman Sean Kinney have already attended at least three football games at their alma mater this season. (Photos courtesy of GoLeopards)

Mason Kuehner and Sean Kinney are freshmen on the football team. They are also roommates, high school teammates, and good friends. Kuehner, a wide receiver, and Kinney, an offensive lineman, both chose Lafayette College after playing local high school football at Nazareth High School.

The two have remained close since starting at Lafayette, which both stressed has helped with the adjustment to college football and college life.

“The football team is so close, but just having someone you’ve been with for years to get together with, where you’re already comfortable with someone, living with someone you’ve known for a while and then together is “We get to play together — it’s just cool to be able to do it again after being together in high school,” Kuehner said.

Both Kuehner and Kinney have already spent a lot of time on the field in Lafayette this year. Kuehner scored his first touchdown in one 58-yard punt return on September 14 against Marist College and had four receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown in The Leopards lost to Columbia University on September 21st. Kinney has also been on offense in every Maroon and White game so far.

While Kinney noted that the two “took what they needed personally” when being recruited for college football, they remained in touch and took several recruiting visits together.

While their Nazareth head coach Tom Falzone ’00 played football at Lafayette, Kuehner and Kinney said he didn’t force the idea of ​​becoming a Leopard on them.

“He let us do our own thing and make our own decisions together,” Kühner said.

During their career at Nazareth, the Blue Eagles won three EPC Conference titles and the District XI 6A title in their final year under Falzone. Both Kuehner and Kinney have secured spots on the list Pennsylvania Football Writers Class 6A All-State team last year after leading Nazareth to a 12-2 record and the District XI 6A title.

“Winning that together our senior year, especially with all of our other friends — we were such a close group — was just the best feeling ever, being able to win a district championship together,” Kuehner said.

Although Kinney won the district championship in his first year with the team in 2019, he said last year’s win meant more to their “group.”

“I won my freshman year, but it wasn’t really in my group,” Kinney said. “I was a young guy on a really good team, so it was great to go back there with our group.”

Although Kinney and Kuehner are no longer in Nazareth, they still support their team, just as their Nazareth community supports them at the Lafayette games.

“We’ve already been to about three games,” said Kühner. “It’s really cool to just go home and see our family and then go over and see our old coaches and our old teammates that we played with last year and still be able to support them.”

“The biggest thing for me is that a lot more people – people from Nazareth – are coming to our games. It’s cool to see the impact we’ve made and that they’re still willing to support us,” Kinney said.