Great PA Teams STEELTON-HIGHSPIRE 1978 @AndrewErby @RollerAthletics

Tagged under: District 3, News

Billy Splain | October 2, 2019

We are pleased to begin a series, Great PA Teams, by the great Hal Wilson, a long time contributor to PA High
School Football. Hal has written many stories in the past for PAFootballNews dating back to
our print days.

Great PA Teams

STEELTON – HIGHSPIRE 1978

Several small high schools in Pennsylvania have reached legendary status in football
over many years of extraordinary achievement. One of these is Steelton-Highspire whose
football history began in 1894 with a contest with Harrisburg Central.

A great 1978 Steelton-Highspire team was preceded by outstanding Steelton teams as far
back as the early 1900’s. The 1926 and 1948 squads were particularly strong, both with
perfect records. The 1926 team had been led by the ill-fated Myles Fox.

Steelton, the location of a major Bethlehem Steel complex, had joined with Highspire in
1957. The joined school’s enrollment has declined as the steel plant declined and
townspeople moved to Harrisburg suburbs and farther away. In 1978, the Steel-High ( as
the school became known to many observers ) enrollment had reached 388 in the 10-12
grades. Nevertheless, the Steamrollers, or simply Rollers, continued to play the largest
schools in the Central Pennsylvania area.

With an 8-2-1 record in 1977 and an experienced cast returning, the Rollers expected to
be good in the following season. Coached by the equally legendary Mickey Minnich, the
1978 edition of the Rollers rolled through 11 quality opponents and won the final Central
Penn Conference championship and finished No. 1 in the Saylor Pennsylvania state ratings.

Mickey says today that Steel High’s great 1978 team was dedicated to being the best they
could be – to representing the Steelton and Highspire communities to the best of their
abilities. All the members of the squad were tough and hard-working, through all practices
and games. It was a blue collar team whose motto was “don’t mess with us”, with
focus at the same time on being good citizens.

The Rollers were talented, had speed, but were not over-sized. “Little things” were
emphasized such as punt blocking and techniques of line play. Attention was given to all
aspects of the game and practices were well organized and precisely scheduled.

Among key personnel, Arnell Reid, just 5-8 and 150 at quarterback , was, according to
Mickey, “one of the best he ever coached”. Halfback Dwayne Chisholm was outstanding and
named to the All-State first team.

The game with Cedar Cliff, won by 7-6, required a series of goal-line stands to hold off
Bob Craig’s Colts. The final game against Harrisburg was characterized as a “War”.
The Rollers prevailed at the end of the battle 17-7.

Radnor, a Philadelphia suburban school from the elite Main Line, had a few ambitious years
in the football sun and reached out to Harrisburg to play the Rollers..

Great PA Teams – Steelton-Highspire 1978 2

The Rollers were not seriously challenged by any other of their Central Pennsylvania rivals.

The Steamroller starting lineup:

E 88 Ben HAILEY 6-3 172
T 74 Jeff HEAGY 6-2 210
G 62 Ed WILLIAMS 5-10 185
C 63 Dan MOHN 5-10 148
G 64 Tony ELHAJJ 6-1 220
T 51 Ed MARION 6-1 200
E 90 Albert HOUSE 6-3 205
Q 9 Arnell REID 5-8 150
H 20 Dwayne CHISHOLM 5-11 190
H 11 Freddie HILL 6-0 180
F 32 Brian SLADE 5-10 205

A significant number of other squad members were dependable reserves who could
be counted on to play well when called upon. 22 Norman BROWN, although listed at
just 5-8 150, could spell Chisholm. 33 Terry COLBERT, a linebacker and fullback, was
the backup to Slade. 52 Mark MARROQUIN, from an old Steelton family, was a versatile
reserve.

Paul AVERY, at 6-0 and 180, handled the punting-

Dwayne Chisholm played at Cincinnati. The fullback, Brian Slade. went to Temple, while
end Ben Hailey became a minister.

The sterling Steel-High record:

26 HERSHEY 6
33 CHAMBERSBURG 6
40 BISHOP MCDEVITT 14
7 CEDAR CLIFF 6
27 RADNOR 7
40 YORK 8
18 READING 7
41 CENTRAL DAUPHIN 14
44 WILLIAMSPORT 6
41 DELONE CATHOLIC 6
17 HARRISBURG 7

In 1983, in the second year of District 3 playoffs and the first year of the Mid-Penn
Conference, Steel-High won the AAA title, competing among the largest schools.
Bishop McDevitt of Harrisburg was beaten for the championship.
.

Great PA Teams – Steelton-Highspire 1978 3

Mickey Minnich was a head coach for just eight years. His record was a superlative
76-8-3. He was head coach at John Harris from 1968 to 1970 succeeding the
legendary George Chaump.. When Penn and Harris were merged in 1971, he served
as head coach at the combined Harrisburg High School just one year..Minnich
then returned to coaching in 1977 at Steelton-Highspire and headed the Steamroller
program through the 1980 season. During his total eight coaching years, he won four
Central Penn titles and one South Penn title.

Mickey was born in Harrisburg. After graduating from William Penn, he went on to a
college career at Gettysburg, playing defensive back for the Bullet gridders. He began
working as a substitute teacher, was drafted into the U.S. Army, and, after two years,
came back to join George Chaump’s staff at Harris.

He worked with the PA Coaches Association during the 1970’s and early 1980’s, serving
as Executive Director, as well as game manager for the Big 33. In 1985, Mickey
organized the series with Maryland and Ohio for the Big 33. He retired in 2007 and now
devotes himself to the Vickie’s Angel Foundation which provides financial and other
support to cancer victims and their families. Vickie, Mickey’s wife, had become a
cancer victim.

Limited enrollment Steel-High has won eight District Three A championships since 1997.
The PIAA Class A state title ( for the smallest schools ) has been won in 2007 and 2008
under Coach Rob Deibler.

Among Steelton gridders who reached the professional game, Bull Behman was a
standout tackle for the Frankford Yellow Jacket of thr esrly NFL in the 1920s, Troy
Drayton went from Penn State to play tight end for three NFL teams, former Pitt star
Warren Heller played for Art Rooney’s early NFL Pittsburgh Pirates, Duke Maronic
was a guard in the NFL without college experience. He was a key player
for the Philadelphia Eagles 1948 and 1949 NFL champions.

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