South Union’s Varnak was four-sport athlete
In today鈥檚 world of specialization in high school sports most athletes concentrate on one sport, some maybe two. Former South Union High School standout Phil Varnak would be considered an oddity today, Varnak played four sports in high school.
Varnak was a standout on the Blue Devil football squad and also played basketball and baseball as well as participating in track and field.
Varnak was a part of some very competitive South Union football squads. The Blue Devils were 7-1 his sophomore season in 1957, 7-2 in 1958 and posted a record of 4-4 in Varnak鈥檚 senior season in 1959.
鈥淚 started getting playing time my sophomore year, I was a starting guard,鈥� Varnak said. 鈥淲e had a really good team in 1957, but injuries hurt us in the loss to German. I suffered cracked ribs in that game.
鈥淲e were very competitive. We lost a lot of talent between my junior year and senior year. We guys like Tom Rae and Rich Novak on some of those teams and Fran Novak took over for brother Rich at the quarterback spot. Fran was a good quarterback, he was a lineman鈥檚 quarterback, we loved him.鈥�
Varnak played as a sophomore and junior for coach Park Glass and then John Pringle became head coach in Varnak鈥檚 senior campaign.
鈥淣o question that we left a lot on the practice field under Pringle,鈥� Varnak offered. 鈥淗e was a tough taskmaster, Pringle was the guy that took four of us all over visiting colleges, he went to bat for us on going to college.
鈥淧ark Glass was a wonderful man in addition to being a great coach. He had really good assistants in Ringy Stefancin and Ron Fudala.鈥�
Varnak was a two-way performer for the Blue Devils at offensive guard and defensive guard or linebacker.
鈥淚 also handled the punting and the kickoffs,鈥� Varnak reported. 鈥淚 was generally in the game from opening kickoff to final play.鈥�
Varnak, at 6-1 and 205, was named first team All-Fayette County as a senior and played for Fayette County in the Fayette County All-Star game at Connellsville. Varnak put forth an outstanding effort for the East All-Star defense, but the West rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat the East, 19-13.
鈥淲e had a great All-County team and it was fun and we had our All-Star game at Connellsville,鈥� Varnak recalled. 鈥淚 was honored, it was a big honor, and looking back it鈥檚 just as big an honor now as it was then.鈥�
Varnak also played on some pretty good basketball teams at South Union. The 1957-58 squad posted a 21-3 record and lost to Sharon, 54-46, in the WPIAL playoffs. In 1958-59, the Blue Devils went 11-3 in Section 11 play and 17-4 overall and in 1959-60 they were 12-2 in Section 11 and 16-5 overall, they beat Donora in the WPIAL playoffs, 47-46, and lost to Midland, 62-38.
鈥淚 was not a starter in basketball,鈥� Varnak stated. 鈥淚 came off the bench to give the others a rest, basketball was probably my weakest sport, but the coaches wanted me to play.
鈥淐oach Marty Fagler knew how to get the most out of the guys and Coach Fudala was his assistant and he was great to work with and he was a great teacher.鈥�
Varnak was on the track team competing in the shot put and discus and he also played on the Blue Devil baseball team.
鈥淲e had really good coaches,鈥� Varnak said. 鈥淭he football coaching staff with Coach Glass, and assistants Stefancin and Fudala was a top notch coaching group, it was much better than what I had in college.鈥�
When Varnak graduated from South Union in 1960 he decided to play football at West Virginia University.
鈥淲est Virginia was my top school from my sophomore year on,鈥� Varnak explained. 鈥淚 had a family friend Fred Lebder who was a WVU alum and he would take me to all the WVU home games.鈥�
鈥淚 played freshman football in 1960,鈥� Varnak said. 鈥淲e had a good team, Rich Juriga from Uniontown was my roommate for one year and then I roomed with Pete Goimarac and Ken Herock.鈥�
WVU was 8-2 during Varnak鈥檚 sophomore season at WVU in 1962 and Varnak played offense and defense. In 1963, the Mountaineers went 4-6.
At WVU, a game against The Citadel stands out in Varnak鈥檚 mind. Why?
鈥淏ecause one of my best friends in high school played tight end for them,鈥� he explained. 鈥淲e won, 49-0.鈥�
Yes, Varnak got to play in that game against his old buddy Vince Petno. 鈥淚 got the best of him,鈥� he added.
鈥淭here were two other guards, Keith Melenyzer started and I was his backup,鈥� Varnak explained. 鈥淚 also played linebacker and middle guard. I never did really start for West Virginia. I played a couple of games my junior year in 1963. That was my last year because I got my knee wiped out in a game . That was the end of my varsity career. I tried to come back the next year, but I couldn鈥檛 play my senior year.
鈥淚 got my diploma and went on and did some graduate work at WVU and then got hired by the Veteran鈥檚 Administration.鈥�
He was with the VA from 1965 to 1986. Varnak then worked for the Department of The Interior in Denver, he was there from 1986 to 1997. He formed his own business Phil Varnak Associates that worked in human resources. Varnak is going to retire from that business at the end of December, 2015.
Varnak,73, and his wife of 50 years, Donna, reside in Colorado. They have two children: A daughter, Laura, and a son, Brian. They have seven grandchildren.
鈥淚 look on my football career and I had a number of injuries,鈥� Varnak said. 鈥淚 have two artificial knees and one shoulder that has been reconstructed. A lot of people ask would you do it again? My answer is absolutely I would do it again, I loved football and I still do.鈥�
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the 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.