Great PA Teams PITTSBURGH WESTINGHOUSE 1951 @HayesDayon @WHCoachGreen

Tagged under: District 7, Great PA Teams, News

Hal Wilson | October 30, 2019

We are pleased to run 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.

PITTSBURGH WESTINGHOUSE 1951

Westinghouse, the famous school in the far East End of Pittsburgh, the Homewood-Brushton area, has a long and illustrious history as a football power. First under the legendary “Pro” Burton, followed by the equally legendary Pete Dimperio, “The House” dominated the City of Pittsburgh for many years, winning championship after championship.

Possibly the best Westinghouse team of all was the 1951 squad, under Dimperio, which ran roughshod over eight teams, including WPIAL powers Altoona and Duquesne, and then decisively defeated Carrick in the city title game.

Pete Dimperio coached the Westinghouse Bulldogs for 21 years, beginning in 1946. His teams won an amazing 17 City championships in those 21 years, playing in the title game almost every year. His record against City League opponents was an equally amazing 118-5-1. His overall record was158-26-1. Pete was a 1930 graduate of Thiel College where he was a standout tackle.

In 1946, he was moved from Pittsburgh’s Herron Hill Junior High, where he had been the successful basketball coach, to Westinghouse to take over the football program from Burton. He had never coached football before and there was considerable player resentment. He proved himself more than capable, won the players’ confidence, and the Dimperio era was underway.

Dimperio’s teams employed a powerful single wing attack with emphasis on the running game. The Bulldogs usually ran from an unbalanced line. 1951 was a veteran team with eight returning major players. Billy Peatross was considered the “star” back, but fullback Tom Shubert scored eleven touchdowns and Francis Griham passed and ran from his wingback post. All-America tackle Ron Latronica, guard Willie Hancock, and center Felix Della Valle were the standout defenders.

End Chuck Garland says today that Dimperio was a “great” coach. He was more a psychologist than disciplinarian. “He got inside our heads and you learned to perform”.

A game at Altoona was an early test for the 1951 Bulldogs. The Mountain Lions would later outplay a good Greensburg team, but were no match for Westinghouse as the Bulldogs won, 34-0. Dimperio’s team was reported to have displayed one of the ”greatest offenses ever witnessed here”. Altoona was smothered and suffered one of its worst defeats.

After a tightly played first quarter, Westinghouse drove 73 yards with Peatross scoring from the one. A 70 yard march followed. Francis Griham covered the final 16 yards with a beautiful sprint. Kicker Earnie Jones had booted both conversions. In the third quarter, Peatross, forced to run when rushed while attempting to pass, dazzled the Mansion Park crowd with a brilliant 44 yard broken-field TD. In the final period, Peatross circled right end for 22 yards and his third touchdown of the evening. Tackle Wilbert Anderson then recovered a blocked Mountain Lion punt at the home 11 and Shubert scored on the fourth play. The rout was complete.

A week later at undefeated Duquesne, another WPIAL AA power, the game was marred by penalties and fumbles. The two teams sparred well into the second quarter. Then the Little Dukes took a 7-0 lead on a fumble return. Westinghouse countered with a 66 yard drive, culminated with a 12 yard pass from halfback Griham to end Chuck Garland. The conversion was missed and the Bulldogs trailed 7-6 at the half. In the third, a brilliant Duquesne sleeper play went from the Bulldog 43 to the six where Peatross saved the touchdown. Westinghouse held for downs at the three with an inspired stand.

Three plays later, Griham sprinted 56 yards, but a penalty wiped out a 20 yard scoring pass from Shubert to end Wilbert Mack. Finally, the Bulldogs gained possession at Duquesne’s 35. Griham passed to Mack for the final ten yards and Westinghouse had taken the lead. In the final period, a 77 yard sustained drive ended when Shubert bulled over from the one. Griham had run 34 yards to the Duquesne six on a short reverse to set up the clinching score. Westinghouse snuffed the Little Dukes’ desperate passing attack and won 18-7.

The Bulldogs then rolled through the balance of their City League schedule. 19 points were scored in the first quarter in a 40-7 win over South Hills, played at the Allderdice
field. Against Allderdice itself in the next game, Peatross was unstoppable, scoring three touchdowns. Seven players made TD’s and 33 points were scored in the second quarter in
a 64-8 romp over South. The final regular season game was played against Schenley, the 1950 champion. As in the previous season, the game was moved to Pitt Stadium. Westinghouse won this time, 41-7.

Now a perfect 8-0, Westinghouse was matched with unbeaten but once tied Carrick, champion of the other Pittsburgh City League division. The game was played on Friday night at the recently built South Stadium on Pittsburgh’s South Side. A crowd of 7,500 packed the stadium while another 2,500 jammed the McArdle Roadway above.

The Bulldogs were heavily favored but Carrick’s Raiders put up surprising resistance. Early in the game, Carrick reached the Westinghouse 22 but lost the ball on downs. Two minutes later, a reception was barely missed on the Bulldog four.

The contest turned when a punt by Chuck Garland bounced off a Carrick blocker’s back and was recovered by Della Valle at the Carrick 45. A fourth down pass by punter Garland hit Griham on the 16. Shubert carried the ball the rest of the way, scoring finally from inside the one.

Great PA Teams – Pittsburgh Westinghouse 1951 3

A Shubert interception at the Carrick 45 was returned to the 30. From there, he bulled to the five in a series of runs, and then carried into the end zone to make the score 14-0 at the half. In the fourth quarter, Griham scored from in close to clinch the title. Carrick’s
touchdown came against Bulldog reserves in the last two minutes. The final score was 20-7.

Westinghouse had made 13 first downs to Carrick’s two. The Bulldogs completed six of 15 passes for 131 yards.

The Westinghouse 1951 starting lineup:

95 E Russell GREEN 170
67 Chuck GARLAND 5-6 150
98 T Wilbert ANDERSON 180
91 G James COSTELLO 165
99 C Felix DELLA VALLE 170
94 G Willie HANCOCK 180
92 T Ron LATRONICA 5-10 190
93 E Wilbert MACK 180
96 Q Lucio MARTIN 170
81 H Billy PEATROSS 175
79 H Francis GRIHAM 155
77 F Tom SHUBERT 155

Garland handled the punting. 69 Earnie JONES at 140 was the capable place kicker. Back 62 Russell RENN, tough and fast and also just 140, had broken his elbow in the Duquesne game.

The sterling Bulldog record:

45 PITTSBURGH ALLEGHENY 19
34 ALTOONA 0
18 DUQUESNE 7
40 PITTSBURGH SOUTH HILLS 7
53 PITTSBURGH TAYLOR ALLDERDICE 12
64 PITTSBURGH SOUTH 8
41 PITTSBURGH PEABODY 7
41 PITTSBURGH SCHENLEY 7

City Championship

20 PITTSBURGH CARRICK 7

Outstanding tackle Latronica was named All-American, All-State and All-City after the splendid season. He and halfback Peatross went to Michigan State.

The very capable quarterback, play caller Lucio Martin, had a successful career with the Arizona Wildcats.

In 1951, Swoyersville, near Wilkes-Barre, had fielded a great team. A basketball playoff was actually more likely as both schools had powerful court squads.

In 1965, another perfect record Westinghouse team, led by tackle Lloyd Weston and halfback Wesley Garnett, terrorized the Pittsburgh City League.

The 1921 Bulldogs under Burton, had a 7-0-0 regular season record and shared the WPIAL Championship with Rochester, after the two teams had battled to a scoreless tie at Carnegie Tech’s field.

A small body of water near the school had given Westinghouse another nickname – the Silver Lakers.

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