The Greatest Games I Ever Saw (Part 2)
Tagged under: News, The Greatest Games Ever Played in PA High School Football History
Phil Myers | April 7, 2023
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(Note: This is a multi-part series of weekly articles that will appear every Friday through June regarding all of greatest games I’ve seen in PA from the 1970s through 2022. I was just a young whipper-snapper in the 60s, joined the Marines in the 70s, and didn’t get to witness many games in the 80s. From the 90s on, I have traversed the state looking for intriguing games and teams I have never seen before. All of these game recaps are from my memory, my notes, and some research which included newspaper articles from the DuBois Courier-Express, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Patriot News, and the Herald. Since I am a staff of one, time did not permit me to look up every player I witnessed to see where they went to college and if they played in the NFL. So, obviously I may have missed a few and for that I apologize. There are also some great games I saw that may have eluded my memory and notes over the years which I regret.)
State College 30 Indiana 26 – State College was 8-0 and in the midst of a 36-game winning streak that extended from 1970 to 1974. In 1973 the Little Lions would win the mythical state championship by defeating Pittsburgh Central Catholic 37-26 in the last game of the season. Indiana came in 7-1 and was psyched for this game. It was November 3, 1972 and I can remember the field being wet so there may have been some light rain.
Indiana jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the 1st quarter, scoring on a Steve Neal to John Kurtz pass play. State College accounted for all the scoring in the 2nd quarter by getting a safety, then a touchdown shortly after the Indiana free kick. That made the score 9-6 St. College at the half. The third quarter started out a nightmare for the Little Lions. Neal hit Kurtz again for the Indians second TD. A little later Tom Goulasky ran an interception back 55 yards to give the Indians a two-score lead, 20-9. A big momentum switch occurred when Indiana had the ball once again and was driving, but fumbled and St. College recovered. John Sefter caught a touchdown pass on the subsequent drive and State was back in business at the end of the third, trailing 20-15.
Early on in the 4th quarter State College regained the lead 23-20. Indiana then seemingly put the game away with a 71-yard 14-play drive that used all but 2:40 of the clock. State College had to come up with something big because for the most part, the Indians had done a nice job defensively. That something big came on the kickoff. Ken Decker gathered in the ball at the 13 and proceeded to find some room. Gaining speed, he ended up travelling 87 yards to put the Little Lions up for good 30-26. I believe at some point during the game or near the end, Indiana had the ball near the Little Lion goal line but were turned away. Dirk Grissinger (OT) and (LB), Bill Gray (LB), and Andy Sefter (RB) each made the all-state team for State College in ’72.
Aliquippa 32 Northern Lehigh 27 – This Class 2A state title contest was not only a great game, but had one of the greatest individual performances of all time on the championship stage. The game was played at Hersheypark Stadium on December 7th, 2003 which was a Sunday. A Friday and Saturday snowstorm cancelled the 2A and 4A games until Sunday. I can remember this was the afternoon game, and even though the sun was out, it was bitterly cold. Northern Lehigh controlled the game in every sense of the word. The Bulldogs possessed the ball for over 30 minutes, they had 430 yards of offense to the Quips’ 162, they had the lead entering the 4th quarter, and they had everything going for them. They had it all, except for one small factor. They did not have a Darrelle Revis.
Darrelle Revis embarks on his game-winning run. Photo by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Aliquippa had a Darrelle Revis and that was the difference. Northern Lehigh had allowed only 47 points all year, Revis ended up scoring all five of the Quips’ touchdowns which means he scored 30 points himself. When the Bulldogs scored the game’s first touchdown, Revis ran the kickoff back 89 yards to put Aliquippa on the board. When the Bulldogs scored again, then threatened to go up 17-6 with a short field goal, Revis picked up the ball which had been blocked and raced 69 yards to tie the game at 14. Mr. Revis scored the only touchdown in the second quarter on a 2-yard run. Revis, as most of you may know, played his college ball at Pitt, then played 11 seasons in the NFL, most of them with the New York Jets at the cornerback position. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
Northern Lehigh dominated the third quarter and led 27-20 after three. Coach Mike Zmijanac of Aliquippa then made the move which won the game. He put Revis at quarterback for the last quarter. Revis drew Aliquippa within one point halfway through when he scored on a two-yard run on 4th down, moments after he completed a 39-yard pass. When the Bulldogs were driving to possibly put the game away, they fumbled at the Quip 25. Two plays later, Revis rolled to his left, saw an opening, and off he went for the 64-yard game-winning score. When all was said and done, Revis had accounted for 146 of Aliquippa’s 162 total offensive yards, returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and returned a blocked field goal for a TD. Oh, and he also grabbed an interception during the game too. What a great game and what a great performance!
West Middlesex 12 Coudersport 8 – On Friday night December 1, 2006 at Clarion University’s Memorial Field one of the most exciting endings you’ll ever see to any football game occurred in this Class A western semi-final between the two unbeaten teams. The defenses ruled this game until the last 34 seconds. The game was scoreless at halftime as neither offense could do a lot on this chilly evening. The West Middlesex Big Reds scored near the end of the third quarter when QB Kolten Hoffman broke a couple of tackles and made a throw across his body as he was being hemmed in near the left sidelines to Steve Andrusky, who was open in the corner of the end zone.
With 2:12 remaining in the game, Coudersport embarked on an 80-yard drive to finally get on the board. QB Boomer Wetzel tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brett Whitman as the clock wound down to 34 seconds. Coudy made a 2-point conversion and led 8-6. The Big Reds returned the kickoff to their 37. A 7-yard sack followed to all but end the game, but then a 9-yard pass ended up being 24 yards when an unsportsmanlike penalty was called on the Falcons. Another pass put the ball on Coudy’s 34 and Hoffman spiked the ball with 4 seconds left. On the last play of the game, Hoffman arched the Hail Mary pass to the back of the end zone and 6-foot-3 Tyler Barris came down with it just inches in front of the end line for the score and the Big Red win. West Middlesex beat Clairton the next week, but lost to Southern Columbia in the state final. Hoffman (QB) and Andrusky (LB) made all-state for West Middlesex. RB Chris Cavallari was first team all-state for Coudy.
Shamokin 27 Clearfield 26 (O.T.) – On Friday November 25, 2011 at Mansell Stadium in DuBois, the Shamokin Area Indians pulled off one of the biggest upsets in PIAA playoff history by stunning the Clearfield Bison in overtime. Shamokin came into the game with a record of 5-7, Clearfield was 11-1. Clearfield averaged 36 points a game, Shamokin 20. The Bison pretty much controlled the play through three quarters. They led 7-0 after one, 14-7 at the half, and 20-7 after the third quarter. In fact, Shamokin’s only score came on a 18-yard drive after recovering a fumble. The Indians did miss a long field goal before halftime and fumbled the ball away in the red zone in the third which gave them some confidence heading to the fourth quarter.
Less than two minutes in, thanks to good field position, the Indians struck when QB Tucker Yost found Devin Madara for a 22-yard touchdown. The PAT was blocked, but Shamokin was only down by a score, 20-13. Clearfield later drove into Indian territory, but fell inches short on a 4th down run at the Shamokin 28. That turnover on downs set up Shamokin’s game-tying drive. With 36 seconds left, Yost hit Ryan Burns to tie the contest with a 7-yard pass. In overtime, Shamokin scored first on a third and fifteen fullback dive play of all things. Clearfield quickly answered then decided to go for two, but the pass fell incomplete, giving the Indians the improbable 27-26 victory.
Christian Lezzer of Clearfield #4 catches a TD pass just over outstretched arm of Shamokin’s Jarrod Shurock. Photo by DuBois Courier-Express.
Christian Lezzer of Clearfield rushed for 65 yards and caught 3 passes for 85 yards to lead all players. Lezzer and Beau Swales of Clearfield each scored a pair of touchdowns. Lezzer played some linebacker at Boston College before a number of concussions permanently sidelined him. Swales played running back at Lock Haven University. Curtis Frye, Clearfield’s QB, played at Millersville University before a knee injury did him in.
Archbishop Wood 19 Cheltenham 15 – This 2019 5A championship tilt started out as a battle of defenses for much of the first half. Neither offense could generate a scoring drive until Robert Meyer of Archbishop Wood booted a 42-yard field goal with a little over 3 minutes gone in the second quarter. The first half ended on Meyer’s 22-yard field goal as time expired, giving Wood a 6-0 lead going into halftime. The Vikings, using a steady dose of the hard-running Kaelin Costello, drove from their fourteen to the Panther five. Then quarterback Max Keller spiked the ball with one second left to set up Meyer’s second three-pointer of the half. Costello ended the game with 282 yards rushing on 38 carries,
Kaelin Costello of Wood #20 with ball eyes a way around #6 Nate Edwards of Cheltenham. Photo by Philadelphia Inquirer.
The third quarter began with the Vikings recovering a Cheltenham fumble of the kickoff at the Panther 28. Costello scored on the next play to double the Wood lead to 12-0, but the two-point conversion failed. The Panthers fumbled again on the ensuing kickoff, but the defense forced a FG attempt that was missed. This seemed to spark Cheltenham as they drove 80 yards, scoring on an Adonis Hunter to TJ Harris 20-yard strike. The third quarter ended with Wood leading 12-7. With exactly four minutes remaining Cheltenham took the lead when Hunter threw a short TD pass to Jamir Barnes. They converted the 2-point try and led 15-12.
The Vikings began their final possession at their 35. They drove to the Panther three where they called their last timeout with 8 seconds left. On the next play Max Keller hit Cardel Pigford perfectly on the quick cross for the 19-15 win and give the Vikings their sixth state championship. Wood’s Coach Kyle Adkins said, “We thought about it (the field goal), but with eight seconds to go, we thought we’d get a match-up. Our quarterback is smart enough to know if it wasn’t there to throw it out of bounds. We had no timeouts, so we felt like we had no choice but to pass and if it’s incomplete, we kick the field go and go to overtime.”
The thought crosses my mind every time the players walk off the football field of play and I see the winning players elated and the losers dejected, that game of life can be won by everybody if we just look in the right place. Although winning is bliss, sometimes more character can be built through losing. Kids for the most part are resilient and life goes on. So, win or lose, games like these are memories for sure, not only for those who participated, but also the fans and media in attendance.
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