Football Royalty
High School football season is almost here and teams are gearing up for the upcoming season. That is why a lunch that I attended recently at Grand View Golf Club in North Braddock, Pa. is so noteworthy and timely.
I was in the presence of football royalty. Good friend Bill Priatko put the gathering together and when I sat down for lunch, five coaches present and past were seated at the table. Between them they had garnered a total of 25 WPIAL football titles and one Catholic League championship.
The coaches who attended include current head coaches Jim Render of Upper St. Clair ( 5 WPIAL Titles), Tom Nola Gateway (6 WPIAL Titles) and retired grid mentors Chuck Klausing who coached Braddock from 1954 through 1959, where his teams won an unprecedented six consecutive WPIAL championships. His six teams at Braddock went 54-0-1 during that time span and broke the national undefeated record set by Massillon Washington High School.
Also breaking bread with us was Pete Antimarino who coached Gateway High School for 32 years. He posted a record of 236-80-12 and a .725 winning percentage, with five WPIAL Titles. Former Jeanette High School and Greensburg Central Catholic Coach Joe Mucci was in attendance. He compiled a record of 184-48-5 in 31 years. Mucci won three WPIAL football championships at Jeanette and one Catholic League crown at Greensburg CC.
Stories flowed like fine wine as the lunch wore on and several interesting tidbits are worth noting.
Klausing who is 89, stated that the best backfield he ever saw in the WPIAL may have been the Connellsville High School backfield in the 1940无毛视频檚 consisting of Johnny Lujack, Wally Schroyer, Dave Hart and Alfred 无毛视频淏iz无毛视频� Bieshada.
Opinions were varied on the best team they had seen in the WPIAL.
无毛视频淭he best team I ever saw was my 1989 team,无毛视频� Render offered.
无毛视频淚 was in Single A for all those years so I无毛视频檓 not sure,无毛视频� Nola said. 无毛视频淪ince I无毛视频檝e been around I guess I just saw them, But I would venture to say the North Hills team with Lavar Arrington.无毛视频�
无毛视频淭here were so many great teams,无毛视频� Klausing stated. 无毛视频淲ay back the New Castle teams and then some of the Mon Valley teams and then the Allegheny Valley had some great teams. The great teams were along the river valleys. The steelworkers along the river valleys produced the great high school football.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 very hard,无毛视频� Mucci said. 无毛视频淵ou have to look at some of those Hopewell teams with Dorsett who may have been the finest back in the country.无毛视频�
Tony Dorsett was the consensus choice as the best player in WPIAL history.
无毛视频淚 played against Tony Dorsett,无毛视频� Nola stated. 无毛视频淭he things he did in high school, at Pitt and with the Cowboys that is hard to match. I would say Dorsett.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚 would probably have to go along with Tony Dorsett, although I wasn无毛视频檛 in Western Pennsylvania when he played.无毛视频� Render said.
无毛视频淒orsett very well could have been the best in the WPIAL,无毛视频� Mucci stated.
The dean of the coaches at the luncheon Klausing had a different take on the best WPIAL player.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 prejudiced,无毛视频� Klausing said. 无毛视频淚 played with Doctor Tom Casey who became one of the greatest players for the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League. He was my teammate and he was the brightest kid I无毛视频檝e ever been around. I like him as the best player.无毛视频�
Opinions varied on whether the brand of football being played in the region is as good as it used to be.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 not sure there无毛视频檚 as many good teams,无毛视频� Render stated. 无毛视频淓very year there无毛视频檚 a couple good ones, but I无毛视频檓 not sure that top to bottom that Western Pennsylvania football is as good as the old glory days. When I came to Uniontown in the Old Western Conference, if you played Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Uniontown, Upper St. Clair, Chartiers Valley you were in a dogfight every week. It无毛视频檚 not quite like that today.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚 believe some of the players are even better,无毛视频� Nola opined. 无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 less of them, but the quality might be a little better. There were so many good players back in the day, no those numbers are down.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚 think football is here is still the best,无毛视频� Mucci opined. 无毛视频淵ou go through all the great quarterbacks and all the great players Western Pennsylvania ranks right up there with the best of them.无毛视频�
While football still draws crowds to the TV set, participation in the sport in U.S. high schools was down 2.3 percent in the 2012-13 season from the 2008-09 season, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. High-school basketball participation fell 1.8 percent in the period.
Participation in area high school football is a big concern. Nola who now coaching Gateway reported that they have 50 kids out for football.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a concern the numbers going down,无毛视频� Mucci said. 无毛视频淟ook at Jeannette High School where I used to coach, I think last year they only graduated like 50 or 60 kids. It无毛视频檚 very difficult, we always played up when I coached, but we had more kids than they have today. This is the general trend.无毛视频�
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 less and less kids playing,无毛视频� Nola stated. 无毛视频淭he numbers are dwindling at every school. It无毛视频檚 a big concern. Basically kids are the same, there is more attention to technology.无毛视频�
The biggest change in athletics as far as the coaches are concerned is the parents.
无毛视频淭he kids haven无毛视频檛 changed,无毛视频� Render noted. 无毛视频淧arental involvement has changed. People want to organize everything. Parents are organizing everything, we played all day long when I was growing up, but we didn无毛视频檛 have any parents organizing these things for us. First of all you ruin the kids creativity by organizing everything. The biggest change in athletics is parent involvement.无毛视频�
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 a lot of parental interference today,无毛视频� Nola said. 无毛视频淎s a coach you expect it now.无毛视频�
无毛视频淧arental interference is one of the most difficult problems,无毛视频� Mucci offered. 无毛视频淲hen I coached we had very few problems like that, but we still had them. Parents love there kids and it无毛视频檚 hard to realize not everybody is a superstar.无毛视频�
High School football season in Western Pennsylvania kicks off the weekend of August 29-30.
George Von Benko无毛视频檚 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� column appears in Monday editions of the 无毛视频-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.