The Victory bell that hangs outside the entrance to Alumni Stadium on Thiel's campus in Greenville, Pa., about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh, has tolled 393 times for the football team this fall -- once for each victory and once for each point score in a game.

		Last week revisited Highlights from performances by individuals and teams in district colleges last week: Edinboro sophomore Brooke Heath, who had four first-place finishes in meets against Kutztown and Mansfield, is CollegeSwimming.com National Collegiate NCAA Division II Women's swimmer of the week. She was Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference rookie of the year last season. Washington & Jefferson senior quarterback Chris Edwards, who completed 65.8 percent of his passes for 3,175 yards and 34 touchdowns this season, is the Presidents' Athletic Conference player of the year. Thiel's Jack Leipheimer, whose Tomcats won their first league championship since 1972 and reached the Division III playoffs for the first time, is coach of the year. California senior running back Antoine Bagwell, who was third in points per game (15.2) and fifth in rushing yards per game (158.8) in Division II, is the PSAC West's offensive player of the year, and Edinboro sophomore tackle Chris Amico is the defensive player of the year. Kutztown's Sarah Brandon, a junior from Pine-Richland High School, is the PSAC East women's volleyball athlete of the year for the second consecutive season. Holy Cross center David Cannon, a 6-foot-2, 283-pound senior from Franklin Regional High School, made the first-team All-Patriot League.

The Tomcats are 11-0 and have scored 382 points heading into the game against visiting Bridgewater (Va.) College at noon tomorrow in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

The scuffed brass bell has reverberated often as the players gather to pull the rope each Saturday after a game, whether it is at home or away. This season, parents and friends have greeted the Tomcats as they got off the bus from a road trip to join in the festivities. Ringing the bell to celebrate victorious Thiel teams has been a ritual since 1881.

The bell originally found a home at Thiel in 1876 and was used to call the students to lunch and dinner.

The bell gathered dust for much of the 1980s and 1990s and was rung just 11 times for football victories in the nine seasons before Jack Leipheimer's arrival in 2001. He has resurrected the long-suffering program, and the Tomcats have been on a glorious ride this fall, picking up momentum and fans with each win.

"If there was a season-changer, it was the Washington and Jefferson win," said Kevin Fenstermacher, a one-man sports information department whose job is to spread the word of Thiel's unprecedented success. "After we beat W&J, people started climbing on the bandwagon."

Thiel's 38-35 overtime victory Oct. 1 at W&J was the catalyst for what has blossomed into the most memorable football season in school history. The Tomcats have set a school record for victories in a season and captured their first Presidents' Athletic Conference championship since Leipheimer was a strapping tight end on the 1972 team.

They reached the playoffs for the first time and advanced to the second round with a 28-3 victory against visiting Johns Hopkins last week.

The expectations for the Tomcats, the size of the crowds at Alumni Stadium and the media attention have grown week by week.

The seating capacity of the stadium has been expanded to 2,000 with the addition of about 600 auxiliary bleachers behind the west end zone. The announced attendance at the Johns Hopkins game was 2,300, which more than doubles the size of the crowds in September.

"We'll jump way past the 2,300 mark for Bridgewater," Fenstermacher said. "I'm told they travel well and will bring 500 of their fans."

The tiny press box, with stools for three or four newspaper writers to work behind a counter, had more than enough room before the victory at W&J. To accommodate the 25 or so media requests for the game tomorrow, Fenstermacher asked Thiel president Dr. Lance Masters to relinquish the use of his booth.

"He said, 'Absolutely,' " Fenstermacher said. "He'll be in a VIP tent in back of the end zone."

Although Fenstermacher said, "We don't do pep rallies," the football fever on campus and the community has been rising despite the falling temperature.

"People are talking about Thiel football around here," he said. "When I came to Thiel five years ago, you never heard a word about Thiel football. Life really has changed."

Fenstermacher, 28, knows a little something about Thiel because he spent four years at Bethany, a rival school in the PAC.

"We never lost to Thiel," he said, with a laugh. "Thiel didn't really spark our interest."

In fact, the only interest generated by Thiel football before Leipenheimer took over was focused on free safety Kennard Davis, a three-time All-American from Farrell from 2001-03.

"It's amazing now how people want to know everything about Thiel football," Fenstermacher said.

"My game notes are 11 pages compared to only four last year. We've added player profiles, school records and a lot more pictures. I'm working 12, 13 hours a day, but you'll hear no complaints. This is a passion for me."

For Thiel followers, too.