PA Football News Archives
June 2023
The Greatest Games I Ever Saw (Part 11 – Close but No Cigar)
June 9, 2023 | Phil Myers
(Note: This is a multi-part series of weekly articles that will appear every Friday through June regarding all of Pennsylvania’s greatest games I’ve seen from the 1970s through 2022. All of these game recaps are from my memory, my notes, and some research which included newspaper articles from the Centre Daily Times, the Erie Times, […]
Great PA Teams: CUMBERLAND VALLEY 1992
February 28, 2023 | Billy Splain
CUMBERLAND VALLEY 1992 In 1992, Cumberland Valley, from the western Harrisburg suburbs along Carlisle Pike, fielded a mighty team, unbeaten and untied in 15 games. The Eagles conquered the perfect record and No. 1 Upper St. Clair Panthers in the AAAA state championship game, with a show of extraordinary power, led by […]
Great PA Teams: Johnstown, 1958 @masty81 @GJSDAthletics @GJSDnews @JohnstownTroja1
May 14, 2021 | Billy Splain
JOHNSTOWN 1958 In the heavy industrial cities and towns that prospered in the hills and river valleys of Pennsylvania for decades, scholastic football was the most important activity, excepting perhaps only family and church – and the gridiron sport was a religion of itself. Such was the case in the Flood City, Johnstown, hemmed […]
Great PA Teams: Downingtown 1996 @TheHistoryDtown @DASD_Athletics @DTownFball @DTownFball
January 29, 2021 | Billy Splain
DOWNINGTOWN 1996 Recovering magnificently from a devastating opening game defeat, the 1996 Downingtown Whippets roared back to complete a 9 -1 regular season, capture the District One title, and overwhelm three highly-touted opponents to win the 1996 PIAA AAAA state championship. Coach John Barr’s great team had a vast arsenal of weapons, used them […]
Great PA Teams: Lansford 1943 @PVSDFootball @PVSDsports
January 12, 2021 | Hal Wilson
LANSFORD 1943 The Lansford Panthers fielded one of the most powerful teams ever in the Coal Regions in 1943. The squad from the anthracite-rich Panther Valley ran roughshod over all twelve rivals, including lop-sided routs of two Big Fifteen schools, Lebanon and Pottsville. In fact, the Panthers hammered these two again in 1944. The two-year […]
Great PA Teams: McDowell 1968 @mcdathletics @bo_orlando @mcboostersfam
December 7, 2020 | Billy Splain
Great PA Teams MCDOWELL 1968 Coach Joe Moore’s 1968 McDowell Trojans “can only do one thing – and that is to knock ’em down; and we’re going to come a-hellin’ and a-hittin’ “. This team may have been the finest ever produced in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The 9-0 perfect record Trojans captured the Section One […]
Great PA Teams: 1957 Cass Twp @MinersFB @ShamokinSports
July 10, 2020 | Billy Splain
CASS TOWNSHIP 1957 The 1957 Cass Township, high school football team exclusively used single-wing offense, now referred to as “wildcat” . The Cass (Schuylkill County) PA Condors rolled through a season unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon over 50 years ago, going 9–0 in the regular season before defeating Shamokin 2–0 in a special […]
Great PA Teams: Central Dauphin 2011 @CDRamsFootball
June 24, 2020 | Billy Splain
CENTRAL DAUPHIN 2011 Starting in 1958 and 1961 with perfect 10-0 seasons, the Central Dauphin Rams had fielded several promising teams through the following decades, competing againstthe best Central Pennsylvania had to offer. Finally, in 2011, the Rams marched through a murderous playoff schedule to win the PIAA AAAA State championship. An excellent 1958 […]
Great PA Teams: Beaver Falls 1960 @JoshHough5
June 15, 2020 | Billy Splain
Western Pennsylvania is known as the “cradle of quarterbacks” – many great ones have been nurtured on the fields of the WPIAL over the years. In 1960, one of the all-time best led his team to the pinnacle of scholastic football. That year, Joe Namath and his Beaver Falls Tigers devoured […]
Great PA Teams: CB West 1997 @Coach_Rowan @westcbfootball
May 24, 2020 | Hal Wilson
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1997 After hammering Upper St. Clair, 44-20, to win the 1997 State championship, Coach Mike Pettine of the C. B. West Bucks said, in a bit of an understatement, “Maybe this isn’t a great team that we have, but we do have a lot of great athletes”. The Bucks had […]
Great PA Teams: Allentown 1944 @WilliamAllenFB @TheCanary_WAHS
May 11, 2020 | Billy Splain
1944 Allentown Canaries – Front row -1. to r. – John Hipple, Fred Shankweiler, Glen Thomas, Bob Bossons, Joe Augustine, Chester Gierulla, Bill Wanish. Second row -1. to r. – Ernie Abraham, Ralph Walters, Frank Fischl, Bobby Kurtz, Bill Flamish, Harry Hartman. Third row – includes Wesley Farmer – Fourth row – […]
Great PA Teams: MT. LEBANON 1981 @mtlebofootball
April 25, 2020 | Billy Splain
MT. LEBANON 1981 Penn State’s Coach Joe Paterno was reported to have termed the 1981 Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils to be as good a high school team as he had ever seen. Others who saw this splendid team play felt the same way. Mt. Lebanon sped through a tough WPIAL AAAA schedule without a close […]
Great PA Teams: ELLWOOD CITY 1925 @ECWolverinesFB @EC_Wolverines
April 23, 2020 | Billy Splain
ELLWOOD CITY 1925 In 1925, Ellwood City, a steel center in southern Lawrence County, produced a football team for the ages. Giant county rival New Castle dominated the scholastic game for most of the 20th century in that neighborhood of the WPIAL – but 1925 belonged to the Blue and White of Ellwood. […]
Great PA Teams: North Allegheny, 2012 @nafootball_tfl
March 31, 2020 | Hal Wilson
NORTH ALLEGHENY 2012 North Allegheny emerged as a new high school in the northern Pittsburgh suburbs in 1958 and quickly became an athletic power in the WPIAL and State. However, the Tigers didn’t win their first WPIAL football championship until 1990 after disappointments in 1982, when an injury to star fullback Tim Manoa helped cause […]
Great PA Teams: Jeannette 1956 @Jhawkathletics
March 23, 2020 | Hal Wilson
JEANNETTE 1956 The Jeannette Jayhawks have been a force in Pennsylvania scholastic football for many decades, from the 1920’s to the Terrell Pryor teams of the late 2000’s. A WPIAL AA title was shared in1932 and a championship was lost by a 10-0 team in 1936 through the vagaries of the Gardner point system. […]
Great PA Teams: Easton 1958 @EastonFootball
March 5, 2020 | Billy Splain
Great PA Teams: Easton 1958 The Easton Red Rovers have had many outstanding teams in the past 100 or so years. The very best at the Forks of the Delaware may have been the great 1958 edition of the Rovers. This team marched through a difficult nine game schedule, climaxing a marvelous season with […]
Great PA Teams: Coal Township 1955 @ShamokinSports
February 18, 2020 | Hal Wilson
1955 Coal Township Purple Demons First Row. L. to R. Fellin, Gurski, Blascovich, Switzer, Sabol, Brightbill, Narke, Carter. Second Row. L. to R. Zablosky, Thomas, Rumberger, Blasick, Rubendall, Paczkoski, Forbes, Soroka. Third Row. L. to R. Dobson, Rozinski, Yanchuck, Zimmerman, Rosini, Hetzendorf, Martin, Shaffer. Fourth Row. L. to R. Hoffman, Nye, Lubreski, Stutz, Doty, […]
Great PA Teams: Lower Merion 1923…..For Kobe and the Lower Merion family
January 28, 2020 | Hal Wilson
LOWER MERION 1923 Dating from the 19th century, Lower Merion football has a long and rich tradition. Over the years, the suburban Philadelphia school has fielded many fine teams. Perhaps the greatest of all was the perfect record squad of 1923. This Maroon team from Ardmore scored 349 points in ten games while allowing […]
Great PA Teams: HARRISBURG JOHN HARRIS 1931 @HBGCougar_FBall
January 18, 2020 | Billy Splain
Beginning in 1926, the two new schools in Harrisburg, John Harris and William Penn, succeeded rapidly to the gridiron glory of Tech and Central in Pennsylvania’s capital city. Penn won the East-West title in 1928, led by the great back Don Watts. Then in 1929, John Harris, under Coach Harry Rote, entered a golden […]
Great PA Teams: CLAIRTON “COBRA’S?” 1931 @CCSDathletes @bears_hc @Goony_38
January 18, 2020 | Hal Wilson
The 1931 Clairton gridders climaxed a golden age of football greatness with a powerhouse team that swept aside all its opposition and won the WPIAL A title for the second time in three seasons. Big and experienced, the Mon Valley squad won ten straight games and finished the 1931 season having lost one game in […]
Great PA Teams: SHENANDOAH 1931 @ShenQBclub
January 18, 2020 | Billy Splain
The mighty 1931 Blue Devil starting lineup: Through the years of the Great Depression, in Shenandoah, a compact city in the southern anthracite region, J. W. Cooper High School, widely known as the Shenandoah Blue Devils, fielded one of the top football programs in Pennsylvania. Under the direction of legendary coach Bobby Nork, the Blue […]
Great PA Teams: Donora 1944-45
January 6, 2020 | Hal Wilson
Many outstanding teams have been produced over the years in the vast WPIAL. The very best of all may have been the 1945 Donora Dragons from the rugged steel town in the Monongahela River Valley. After sweeping through unbeaten and winning the AA playoff in 1944, Coach Jimmy Russell’s 1945 squad was even better, […]
Great PA Teams: BRADDOCK 1959 @WoodyHigh @WhCoachTim
December 21, 2019 | Hal Wilson
BRADDOCK 1959 The legendary Chuck Klausing coached at Braddock High School for just six years, beginning with the 1954 season. In those six seasons, he won five WPIAL A titles outright and shared a sixth. His record at Braddock was an amazing 55-0-1; not a single loss. Chuck believes today that his final team, the […]
Great PA Teams: BERWICK 1983
November 26, 2019 | Hal Wilson
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. BERWICK 1983 A primary exemplar of Pennsylvania football for decades, the Berwick Bulldogs have […]
Great PA Teams: WASHINGTON 1923 @WashHighFB @javandspeed
November 20, 2019 | Hal Wilson
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. “Little Washington”, located 27 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, has a long history of fine football. […]
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