By Jim Fenton, Enterprise staff writer

EASTON - The postgame celebration was in full swing at Hickox Field in Brookville, N.Y., last Saturday afternoon.

The Stonehill College football team, which has not had a winning season since 1996, had just stunned C.W. Post, 12-7, for one of the program's biggest wins ever.

As congratulations were being exchanged, Skyhawks' first-year head coach Robert Talley was met by senior outside linebacker Chris Regan of Hanson.

Victories of any sort have been hard to come by during Regan's career at Stonehill, so knocking off a quality team like C.W. Post to improve to 3-0 was quite a feat.

"He's so excited about it," said Talley. "He came up to me and said, 'Thank you, coach. I've been waiting four years for this.'"

The Skyhawks were a combined 7-22 over the past three years, so Regan and the nearly dozen seniors who are enjoying the team's best start since 1995 are appreciative.

Regan, a Boston College High School graduate, is one of the reasons for Stonehill's impressive start this fall.

He is second on the team to fellow senior linebacker Mike DeBye with 23 tackles, 10 of them coming in the upset win over C.W. Post, which was picked to finish second in the Northeast-10 Conference.

For Regan and the Skyhawks, who host Div. 1-AA Iona Saturday night at W.B. Mason Stadium, they hope it is only the start of a special turnaround season.

"That was the best feeling I've had in football so far," said Regan of the win at C.W. Post. "To beat a team like that on their home field was something.

"Every time we've gone there, everyone had the opinion we couldn't do it, we couldn't play C.W. Post. This game showed we're not a bad team. It's a new era for Stonehill. There is a complete turnaround in attitude here now."

Regan, who began his Stonehill career at strong safety, is an important part of a defense that has allowed just 21 points in the three wins.

After finishing second on the team with 58 tackles (including 3 1/2 for a loss) to go with a fumble recovery) in 2006, Regan has picked up where he left off.

"He's played well," said Talley. "The great thing about him is that he's gotten better every game. He doesn't say boo for the most part, but he just keeps playing away, and he's one of the leaders of this team.

"His strength is he's as strong as an ox and he always ends up around the ball. He's an aggressive player and he uses his strength."

Regan was a safety at BC High, and after being recruited by several schools, decided to go to Stonehill where another BC High graduate, Chris Woods, was the head coach.

The six-foot, 220-pound Regan made 14 tackles with a sack as a freshman and had 26 tackles as a sophomore. In that season, Regan returned a fumble 76 yards for Stonehill's only touchdown against Bentley College.

Regan was moved to linebacker to take advantage of his size and strength, and he was one of the top tacklers last season. Regan had nine tackles each against Iona and Saint Anselm.

"There's a lot more hitting involved at linebacker, a lot more contact," said Regan, who is a leader in stopping the run. "I definitely enjoy the contact more than pass coverage.

"I was on the track team in high school, so I can definitely use my speed to go with my strength at this position.

"I've played a lot since my freshman year and I feel a lot more comfortable and confident out there now. I'm playing with a lot of guys who have been here a long time, too, and there's a comfort level."

The group of upperclassmen is now enjoying success, something there has been little of around the program of late.

The Skyhawks know there is still a long way to go, but finally, there is a foundation to build on, thanks to the three early wins.

"Last year was (the low point)," said Regan. "We were coming off a 4-6 season my sophomore year and we were kind of hoping to beat that record, but it wound up being the same deal. We were going in reverse.

"It was a challenge. You lose faith sometimes when you are losing like that. But the seniors now stuck with it. We've just got a bunch of tough guys who didn't throw in the towel or quit."