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鈥檚 consisting of Johnny Lujack, Wally Schroyer, Dave Hart and Alfred 鈥淏iz鈥� Bieshada.
Opinions were varied on the best team they had seen in the WPIAL.
鈥淭he best team I ever saw was my 1989 team,鈥� Render offered.
鈥淚 was in Single A for all those years so I鈥檓 not sure,鈥� Nola said. 鈥淪ince I鈥檝e been around I guess I just saw them, But I would venture to say the North Hills team with Lavar Arrington.鈥�
鈥淭here were so many great teams,鈥� Klausing stated. 鈥淲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.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard,鈥� Mucci said. 鈥淵ou have to look at some of those Hopewell teams with Dorsett who may have been the finest back in the country.鈥�
Tony Dorsett was the consensus choice as the best player in WPIAL history.
鈥淚 played against Tony Dorsett,鈥� Nola stated. 鈥淭he things he did in high school, at Pitt and with the Cowboys that is hard to match. I would say Dorsett.鈥�
鈥淚 would probably have to go along with Tony Dorsett, although I wasn鈥檛 in Western Pennsylvania when he played.鈥� Render said.
鈥淒orsett very well could have been the best in the WPIAL,鈥� Mucci stated.
The dean of the coaches at the luncheon Klausing had a different take on the best WPIAL player.
鈥淚鈥檓 prejudiced,鈥� Klausing said. 鈥淚 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鈥檝e ever been around. I like him as the best player.鈥�
Opinions varied on whether the brand of football being played in the region is as good as it used to be.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure there鈥檚 as many good teams,鈥� Render stated. 鈥淓very year there鈥檚 a couple good ones, but I鈥檓 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鈥檚 not quite like that today.鈥�
鈥淚 believe some of the players are even better,鈥� Nola opined. 鈥淭here鈥檚 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.鈥�
鈥淚 think football is here is still the best,鈥� Mucci opined. 鈥淵ou go through all the great quarterbacks and all the great players Western Pennsylvania ranks right up there with the best of them.鈥�
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.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a concern the numbers going down,鈥� Mucci said. 鈥淟ook at Jeannette High School where I used to coach, I think last year they only graduated like 50 or 60 kids. It鈥檚 very difficult, we always played up when I coached, but we had more kids than they have today. This is the general trend.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 less and less kids playing,鈥� Nola stated. 鈥淭he numbers are dwindling at every school. It鈥檚 a big concern. Basically kids are the same, there is more attention to technology.鈥�
The biggest change in athletics as far as the coaches are concerned is the parents.
鈥淭he kids haven鈥檛 changed,鈥� Render noted. 鈥淧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鈥檛 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.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of parental interference today,鈥� Nola said. 鈥淎s a coach you expect it now.鈥�
鈥淧arental interference is one of the most difficult problems,鈥� Mucci offered. 鈥淲hen I coached we had very few problems like that, but we still had them. Parents love there kids and it鈥檚 hard to realize not everybody is a superstar.鈥�
High School football season in Western Pennsylvania kicks off the weekend of August 29-30.
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in Monday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.