POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The depiction of a football team as a family is commonplace across the country.
 
For red-shirt junior wide receiver Christian Keenan of the Marist football team, his family connections to the program are literal.
 
Keenan's father, Chris, played for the Red Foxes in the 1980s. Chris' brothers, Sean and Brian, were teammates of his. The trio played all played together at Marist in 1985 and 1986. Pete Keenan, the father of Chris, Sean, and Brian, was a longtime area coach who worked at Marist under head coach Mike Malet.
 
"Marist football was always a really big part of my life growing up," Keenan said. "There's Marist memorabilia all throughout my house. Marist is a huge part of my family."
 
A local product who played scholastically at Our Lady of Lourdes High School in Poughkeepsie, Christian Keenan has shown considerable growth throughout his collegiate career. He red-shirted as a true freshman, and then caught three passes for 16 yards as red-shirt freshman. As a red-shirt sophomore, Keenan established himself as one of quarterback Mike White's favorite targets. He caught 15 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns.
 
"He's 365 days a year about Marist football," head coach Jim Parady said of Keenan. "That's something you have to give him a lot of credit for."
 
Keenan scored touchdowns in each of the Red Foxes' last three games of the 2016 season, highlighted by a game-winning play in a 45-38 win over Stetson on Nov. 5. The Hatters had tied the game with 57 seconds to play, but on the Red Foxes' next play from scrimmage, quarterback Mike White found Keenan for a 76-yard touchdown pass.
 
This season, Keenan has eight catches for 77 yards in four games played, and is a valued special teams player who has been an asset as a gunner on punt coverage.
 
About Saturday's Game
For the first time in Marist football history, an Ivy League program will visit Poughkeepsie. At 3-0, Columbia is off to its best start since 1996. Marist is 0-2 against Columbia all-time, having previously faced the Lions in 2007 and 2012.
 
Saturday's game will be broadcast on Facebook Live through the Marist Athletics Facebook page.
 
Up Next
Marist returns to the road and Pioneer Football League as they travel to Valparaiso on Saturday, Oct. 14. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Eastern. The Red Foxes are 6-0 against the Crusaders all-time. This will be the first meeting between the teams since 2014.