On the GEFA Trail—Indiana County Crusaders

Tagged under: Gameday Hub, GEFA

Guy Smith | June 18, 2024

2024 Episode 12. It was the final week of the regular season, and we had been to see eight of the 11 GEFA teams play at home, plus the neutral field “Kickoff Classic” triple header. The Monroeville Titans folded early, and the Somerset County Miners home season had ended. Also, the Bedford County Buffaloes had played their previous home game at another location, but the regular season finale was back in Claysburg. That left the Indiana County Crusaders as the only remaining “new” choice for us this week.

And what a week it was. Auto racing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, plus a sixth race of the week on Sunday afternoon. Hard to squeeze in a football game too, but we did it. We have been faithfully working out daily since the start of the pandemic, not missing a day in over four years. And the Crusaders home field is three and a half hours from home. That meant we had to be in the gym by 7:00 a.m., drive 3.5 hours for the game, go straight from the game to the races, and not get to bed until after midnight. Then do the workout to two-sporting-event-schedule again the next day. And we’re in our 60s. This is what we do.

2024 GAME 18. SATURDAY, JUNE 15. MOSHANNON VALLEY VIKINGS VS. INDIANA COUNTY CRUSADERS @ INDIANA AREA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, INDIANA, PA. The Indiana County Crusaders are a new team in GEFA this year. They play their home games at the Indiana Area Senior High School. Admission was free this week but I got the impression that is not always the case. It’s a nice stadium with a turf field, and a full working scoreboard.

They had a refreshment stand operating but didn’t make any hot food on the premises. The hot food available that was brought in was pizza and cabbage & noodles. The pizza was very good and a bargain at $2 a slice. We had several.

What they were missing was a real announcer to explain what was happening on the field. For example, the league paid tribute to former player Aaron Nicklas, who passed away during the week. Aaron was twice winner of the Big Ugly Award winner for the Mountain Conference as the top offensive lineman, and in 2023 he was inducted into the GEFA Hall of Fame. At all GEFA games played Saturday, the team that got the ball first lined up with only seven players, missing Aaron’s position (left tackle), and took a delay of game penalty. Unfortunately at this game many didn’t know what was happening due to no explanation to the crowd in the stands.

The Crusaders are not only a new team, but they have almost all players new to the league. According to their roster on the league website, 35 of the 37 players are rookies, with just two having previous league experience, and those two just a single year with the Miners.

On the other end of the spectrum, the visiting Moshannon Valley Vikings (sometimes good naturedly called the “Cyclings”) have just two rookies listed on their 42-person roster. They have a number of players with NCAA D2 college experience, and a number of players with years of experience in the league totaling double digits.

The result was that going into the final regular season game, the Vikings were 9-0, while the Crusaders were 0-9. Statistically, it looked like a blowout and it was. The Vikings sailed (get it) to an easy 70-0 halftime lead. Once again it was a joy to watch Greg Medina play football. For the second straight Saturday they eased up in the second half to keep their final score under 100, but even with backups and the running clock for the entire second half, the Vikings won 94-6.

Over the course of the ten-game regular season, the Vikings have scored over 500 points while giving up only 156. The Crusaders scored less than 100, while giving up 564. However, they were not all blowouts, as the Crusaders lost by just five to the Titans and by eight to the Miners, both one score losses.

The worth of a team is well more than the results on the field. The Crusaders played as a team, for the most part stayed positive, and supported each other while certainly knowing what to expect playing the best team in the league. The Crusaders have shown themselves to be an asset to the area having hosted a number of fundraisers and special events to help the community. For this game they advertised $5 haircuts to support Breast Cancer Awareness. Guy brought his cash but never saw where they were doing the cuts.

Based on the deportment of the team on Saturday and what we have read about the Crusaders’ off the field charity and fundraising accomplishments on their Facebook page, we have more respect for them than a couple of other league teams that tend to represent themselves with profanity, constant anger, taunting, and fighting. The Crusaders are an example of how teams should represent themselves to their fans and sponsors.

You’d think a seven-hour drive for a running clock game with a team down by 70 at halftime would be considered a bad experience. But the way both teams acted both on and off the field gave us a good feeling about GEFA. Hopefully the Crusaders took their expansion season lumps and will return next year. They are an asset to the league.

After 12 weekends of spring football and 18 games in 13 weekends, we will be taking a couple of weekends off for other sports, concerts, and a graduation party. We plan to be back with GEFA in July for our first Keystone Bowl and All-Star game. Feedback Welcome: rtryfbar@aol.com.

GUY & PAM 2024 FOOTBALL SCORECARD (18 Games as of June 15)

Week 0—GEFA: Kickoff Classic (Central Columbia High School, 3 Games)
Week 1—GEFA: Bedford County Buffaloes (Claysburg-Kimmel High School)
Week 2—GEFA: Dauphin County Comanche (Koons Park, Linglestown)
Week 3—AIF Arena Football: Harrisburg Stampede (PA Farm Show Complex)
Week 4—GEFA: Berks County Raptors (Exeter Township High School)
Week 5—GEFA: Hazleton Mustangs (Gene Della Croce Memorial Field)
Week 6—GEFA: Wilkes Barre Warriors (Exeter Panther Junior Football Assoc. Field)
Week 6–High School: Schuylkill / Colonial All Star Game (North Schuylkill High School)
Week 7—GEFA: Coal County Nightmare (St. Clair Veteran’s Memorial Stadium)
Week 7–WFA Women’s Football—Harrisburg Havoc (Palmyra High School)
Week 8—High School: PSFCA All Star Games (Cumberland Valley High School)
Week 9—GEFA: Williamsport Wildcats (Roundhouse Field)
Week 9—High School: PSFCA Big 33 (Cumberland Valley High School)
Week 11—GEFA: Moshannon Valley Vikings (Phillipsburg-Osceola Area High School “Old Stadium”)
Week 12—GEFA: Indiana County Crusaders (Indiana Area High School)

On the Spring Radar. GEFA: Keystone Bowl, All-Star Game.

Missed. GEFA: Somerset County Miners, Monroeville Titans (team folded), Bedford County Buffaloes (played one game at alternate home field in Everett). WFA: Harrisburg Havoc @ McCaskey High School (last minute site change).

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