By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
While she may not have made a tackle or scored a touchdown, Samantha Phelan felt like as big a part of Clemson University’s national championship win over Alabama as anyone., The West Windsor-Plainsboro North graduate has been a member of the Clemson cheerleading team for the past three years, cheering at every home game and two away games per season. Phelan was on the sidelines on Jan. 9 in Tampa when Deshaun Watson connected with Hunter Renfrow with one second left to lift Clemson to a 35-31 win over the Crimson Tide in the national championship game., “It was a lot of fun and really cool to be part of history being made at Clemson,” Phelan said. “Last year getting to the championship game was more unexpected to make it that far. This year, the team was more ready for revenge and a shot to make it and actually win.”, Phelan was there last year when Clemson lost to Alabama, 45-40, in last the FCS championship game. This time around the Tigers rallied from an early 14-0 deficit and came away with a national title., “Being on the field is always exciting,” Phelan said. “You are right in the center of the action on the sidelines. You’re right next to the team at the eye level. Everyone is watching the game and you are kind of removed from it. But at the same time, especially this past season with Clemson, every game is nerve-racking.”, No game was more nerve-racking than this year’s title game. The Tigers scored with just one tick left on the clock to defeat the favored Crimson Tide and garner the school’s second national title., “One of the downfalls of being on the sideline is you are always competing with people to see the game,” Phelan said. “One thing about Clemson cheerleading is they really want us to know what is going on on the field. We’re taught to pay attention to the game and what is going on and have natural reactions to the game. That last play, so many reporters and photographers and alumni were all crowded on the sidelines. A short 5-foot-3 person like me competing with everyone to see that play didn’t have much of a chance. So I didn’t see it as much first hand as I would have liked. But I saw it on the Jumbotron many times after it happened.”, Phelan comes from a sports family, so being around the game was nothing new for her. Her parents both played sports and continue to be fans, while her siblings have all been heavily involved in sports. Her older bother, Ryan, played multiple sports at WW-P North and went on to play baseball at Fordham. Her older sister, Taylor, played softball at WW-P North, while her younger brother, Matt, still plays football and baseball at North., “Growing up in a sports family, I was always going to games,” Phelan said. “This was great for my dad. He got to go to a lot of games. In these games I wasn’t a main player but I got to bring him to some of the college venues and stadiums and it was exciting., “The whole family came down for Thanksgiving. Our rivalry game is against South Carolina, where my sister just graduated from last year. So the family came down and they were able to go to the game. My dad was at the national championship game, but the rest of the family watched from home.”, The entire season was a magical ride for Clemson. The Tigers won seven of their games by seven points or less and their only loss of the season came by one point against Pittsburgh., “We played a lot of close games,” Phelan said. “Louisville, North Carolina State, a loss to Pittsburgh on a late field goal. Even the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State, being the away team in that situation and the underdog, to blow out Ohio State the way we did (31-0) was unexpected. Then in the national championship game we were down in the first half. On the sidelines we felt we had to keep the crowd up even when we were down 14 points., “Even when we’re down we always have to be the people saying we’ve got this. It gets exciting at points and hard at points to be in the center of the action. But it is always a great experience, especially with Clemson fans. They are alway positive. There was a lot of excitement for everyone in that last game. To pull out a last-second win was truly remarkable with the crowd going wild.”, Phelan arrived at Clemson just in time to see the program take each step toward winning a national title. The Tigers were 11-2 her freshman year and 10-3 a year later before going 14-1 last year and reaching the national title game., “I was originally going to Penn State as everyone from our area does,” Phelan recalled. “Clemson was not a big name in the Northeast, so when came down here I wanted to cheer at a big football school. Being in the south it is a totally different culture. In 2013 and 2014 we had good seasons but no big thoughts of a national championship. As it became bigger and Clemson became bigger it was exciting to see how the team and program grew.”, A senior, this was Phelan’s last season with the cheerleading squad. But she knows she’ll be a fan for life when it comes to Clemson football., “I graduate in May,” she said. “But I will definitely be a fan for the rest of my life. It will be different to experience what the fans do from the stands. Now I have a reason to make my dad take me to some games.”
