Golden Age hero: Radcliffe part of legendary Uniontown football, hoops teams
Submitted photo
Uniontown graduate William “Trip” Radcliffe is shown during his playing days at Bucknell.
Submitted photo
Uniontown players celebrate in their dressing room after the Red Raiders defeated Butler, 14-7, in the WPIAL Class AA championship game at Pitt Stadium on Nov. 27, 1965. Pictured in the front row are Tim Renzie (21), Terry Brady (72), coach Leon Kaltenbach, and Ray Gillian (48). William “Trip” Radcliffe is shown in the upper right corner (white tee shirt) and Ray Parson is visible in the lower right corner.
The 1950s and 1960s were the “Golden Age” of Uniontown Area High School athletics. The Red Raiders were a football and basketball power, and one of their key cogs in the 1960s was William “Trip” Radcliffe.
“The thing to remember about Uniontown football,” Radcliffe said, “there were a lot of people who contributed. Leon Kaltenbach, who later had his issues, but he was an excellent football coach, and Joe Yourchik is often forgotten about, was a real fine coach, and Tony Nunes was an excellent assistant. There were a lot of people who contributed to that success.
“The one thing that you’ve got to remember is a lot of us came out of the East End. There wasn’t much of a material advantage, but it was a great place to grow up. You had good role models like Joe Thomas, and Spider Minor, guys that you could get good advice from. Lawrence Curry was a younger guy, but he was an influence in the East End.
“The other thing to remember I guess is since we didn’t have a lot, I had some advantages because of my grandparents, but others didn’t. We didn’t have a lot, but look at what these guys made of themselves. Look at Gene Huey and Ray Gillian. Huey got off a train in the summer of 1965 and went to Wyoming and Gillian went on to Ohio State, and you look at them now. Huey was a Super Bowl assistant coach for the Colts for years and Gillian was the No. 1 chief aide to the president of Johns Hopkins University. Kids today, those are two good people to look at and see what they accomplished.”
Looking back, Radcliffe was a product of Uniontown’s great playground system.
“Oh yeah, you either were playing on the playground system or you were playing football in the fields,” Radcliffe recalled. “It was a great system for kids to be part of. I spent some time at East End playground and also spent some time at Lincoln View playground. I wasn’t any good at basketball, but I loved it, but I liked football and that was the sport I liked to play.”
Radcliffe was a three-year regular as a defensive back and wing-back on Uniontown football squads that went 7-1-1 in 1963 (losing to Washington, 20-19, and tying Charleroi, 20-20) and 8-0-1 in 1964 (with a 6-6 tie against Johnstown).
Uniontown built on that setback — which is what they considered the tie to be — in 1964 and forged one of the greatest teams in WPIAL history in 1965.
Uniontown’s mighty 1965 WPIAL Class AA champions earned the highest numerical index ever in Dr. Roger B. Saylor’s Pennsylvania scholastic football ratings. The Red Raiders played and defeated many of the WPIAL’s strongest teams in the regular season, then came from behind to conquer what may have been Butler’s best ever team, 14-7, in a great AA title game at Pitt Stadium.
The Red Raider defense had four shutouts and gave up seven points only once, (13) to Redstone. Uniontown’s offense rolled up 252 total points in 10 games and the defense surrendered 47.
In the 1965 AA epic at Pitt Stadium, the Red Raiders fell behind Butler and its Saul brothers, Rich and Ron, 7-0 in the first half. With the game tied at 7-7, Uniontown got the ball back on a punt at its own 13-yard line. The Red Raiders started a decisive drive that covered 87 yards in just nine plays.
Halfback Ray Gillian scored the winning touchdown. Sweeping right behind the blocking of fullback Phil Vassar and halfback Radcliffe, Gillian cut back and, with Vassar and Radcliffe taking down more would-be Butler tacklers, raced in for the winning touchdown.
“There were a lot of guys that had a lot to do with that play,” Radcliffe modestly opined. “It wasn’t just a few of us.”
Radcliffe commended Kaltenbach.
“Coach Kaltenbach was tough, but he made sure his kids went on to college,” Radcliffe said. “I think on the 1965 team he had football scholarships for I believe eight or nine players and he always made sure that happened.”
Radcliffe was also part of some great Uniontown basketball squads. He played varsity in 1964-65 when the Red Raiders posted a record of 24-1 and went 14-0 in Section 5. In the WPIAL playoffs they downed Mohawk, 87-36, and Hempfield, 75-40, before they were knocked out in the semifinals by Aliquippa, 66-65. Radcliffe scored 19 points for the Red Raiders off the bench that season.
“There were some real great basketball players,” Radcliffe pointed out. “Abe Everhart of course was a fine coach. Uniontown basketball was definitely a part of the playground system and the competition. To get on the court at the playgrounds you had to be good because you would never get any time. You had to win and stay on and do your best.”
During Radcliffe’s senior hoops campaign in 1965-66 Uniontown went 25-2 and 12-0 in section play. In WPIAL playoff action they best Freedom, 74-43, Farrell, 68-66, and McKeesport, 81-63, to win the WPIAL crown. In the PIAA tournament they beat Altoona, 85-52. The Red Raiders lost a thrilling double-overtime game to Schenley, 71-67, in the PIAA Western Finals at the Pitt Field house. Radcliffe notched 42 points off the bench his senior season.
“We had a very good team both years I played on the varsity,” Radcliffe said. “We lost some tough games and if the ball had bounced the other way it might have been a lot different. The loss to Schenley in double overtime was a great game. There was a lot of talent on both sides in that game.”
When the 5-11, 180-pound Radcliffe graduated from Uniontown in 1966 he sifted through several college football scholarship offers.
“I think it came down to three schools,” Radcliffe explained. “Vanderbilt, Penn and Bucknell, and I just liked Bucknell a little better and it was the right place for me.”
“He has real determination and desire,” Uniontown coach Kaltenbach remarked in announcing Radcliffe’s selection of Bucknell. “Trip is one of the reasons our defense was so good these past two years.”
The Uniontown playgrounds provided a job opportunity for Radcliffe.
“Bus Albright ran the Uniontown Recreation Department,” Radcliffe explained. “He gave me my first job. I was 15-years old and I worked on the playgrounds for four or five years. It was a great job, you got paid for playing basketball.”
At Bucknell, Radcliffe started in the backfield on a freshman team that went 4-1. He was the fourth-leading ball carrier with 110 yards on 17 carries. He was the top pass receiver with eight catches for 102 yards and he scored two touchdowns.
Radcliffe became a starter in the Bucknell secondary during his three varsity football seasons for the Bison. He also played some split end. A big highlight was an interception against Lafayette in 1968 which helped preserve a 13-10 Bucknell victory.
Bucknell posted records of 4-6 in 1967, 5-5 in 1968 and 3-5-1 in 1969 during Radcliffe’s three varsity campaigns in Lewisburg, Pa.
“It was a good situation during my time there,” Radcliffe said. “We played against some good teams. I can remember playing against Colgate when they had Marv Hubbard who later played for the Oakland Raiders. One of my teammates was Sam Havrilak who went on to play with the Baltimore Colts.”
Radcliffe graduated from Bucknell in 1970 and went to law school at Vanderbilt. He graduated from Vandy in 1973 and came back to Uniontown and got married and decided to stay in Uniontown and entered private practice in Uniontown. He has a broad legal background, having been a former Assistant District Attorney of Fayette County, and former Chairman of the Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee, which imposes discipline on attorneys in Pennsylvania. He also is a former President of the Fayette County Bar Association.
Now 72, Radcliffe resides in Uniontown and is married to the former Jenny Robinson, who is a lifelong resident of Uniontown and a retired Laurel Highlands School District elementary teacher. He and Jenny have been married for 47 years and they have three sons: Christopher is an attorney with the Department of Justice, Eric is a commercial loan banker in Arlington, Virginia, and Craig is employed as counsel to a U.S. Senator in Washington, D.C. They also have a granddaughter and grandson who reside in the D.C. area.
“Looking back it was a great ride,” Radcliffe said. “The people that I played and went to school with, I still get together with Huey and Gillian and I see Pete Smith.
“Lots of good people and good memories.”
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Sunday editions of the Ăĺ±±˝űµŘ. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.