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Football '84
Well, here it is — Football
'84! The Dallas Post's first-
ever special football edition.
Inside these pages of Foot-
ball ’84, you will find previews
of six area high schools, an
Eastern college roundup, spe-
cial features, special columns
rosters, schedules and lots of
pre-season photographs.
Dallas and Lake-Lehman,
our two Back Mountain
schools, have received exten-
sive coverage in Football ’84
since the Back Mountain is
where the heart of our cover-
age area lies. However, you
will also find four West Side
schools featured as our circu-
lation also reaches the outly-
ing areas of such school dis-
tricts as Bishop O’Reilly
Wyoming Valley West, Wes
Side Tech and Wyoming Semi-
nary.
The 24 pages of Football '84
serve as a pre-season warmu
to the upcoming football
season and will tease you foot-
ball fans as you gear up for
next week’s first game. Foot-
ball ’84, however, will also let
you in on what area high
school coaches expect this
season, what players are
expected to shine on the high
school gridiron as well as the
collegiate circuit.
Football ’84 is our gift to you
sports fans. It is a special
publication into which our
staff members have put their
heart and soul. Sure, there
may be some rough spots, but
we think we did rather well for
our first effort.
Members of The Dallas Post
staff would like to offer a
round of applause to the
coaching staffs of the six area
high schools featured in Foot-
ball ’84 for their patience and
understanding in helping us to
meet our deadlines.
With practice sessions not
etting underway until mid-
ugust, there was a certain
amount of difficulty in round-
ing up all the gridders for
pictures and finding time to
Interview coaches. We found,
however, that all of the
coaches were extremely help-
ful and certainly did every-
thing they could to make our
jobs easier.
We’d also like to thank our
advertisers for the space they
have purchased so that we
may bring Football '84 to you.
These people were confident
that we would present a qual-
ity publication and helped
make it all possible with their
advertising dollars.
All in all, Football ’84 has
been a tremendous accom-
lishment for all of us at The
allas Post. We put our best
foot forward and have
presented our readers with,
prohany. the best special edi-
ion we've done yet. And we're
mighty proud of it!
We hope you enjoy readin
Football ’84 and invite all o
our readers to join us in wish-
ing our area high school foot-
ball players the best: of luck
during the 1984 gridiron
Season.
— DOTTY MARTIN
@
Wilkes-Barre Fats
DALLAS POST FOOTBALL ’84
DALLAS
Conyngham Ave., Dallas
‘Mountaineers’
Blue and White
675-5201
Principal: Dr. Thomas Cypher
LAKE-LEHMAN
Lehman
“Black Knights”
Black and gold
675-2165
Principal: John M. Zaleskas
BISHOP O‘REILLY
‘“Queensmen’’
Blue and gold
288-1404
Principal: Fr. Theodore M. Marcinko
WEST SIDE TECH
Evans and Pringle Streets, Kingston
“Titans”
Navy and Gold
288-8493
Principal: Thomas F. Feeney
WYOMING VALLEY WEST
Wadham Street, Plymouth
“Spartans”
Burgundy and Gold
779-5361
Principal: James F. Ferris
On the cover
by Ed Campbell)
By LEE L. RICHARDS
Sports Columnist
As the 1984 football season approaches,
I find it hard to simply sit back and wait
for it to get here. So, instead, I've dug
deep into my notebook and pulled out the
following thoughts:
— Syracuse, by far,
has the toughest grid
schedule in the East.
The Orange will square
off against seven bowl
teams from last year.
They entertain
Nebraska, while facing
road games at Mary-
land,
Florida, West Virginia and Penn State.
— Boston College won the mythical
Eastern Crown last season despite
bowing to West Virginia and Syracuse,
but defeated Penn State and Alabama.
Eagles have some rugged opponents and
will be fortunate to finish 7-4. They have
a trip to Alabama, then entertain North
Carolina. They're on the road to West
Virginia, Penn State and Miami late in
the season.
— East will have three cnadidates for
the Heisman Trophy in Boston College’s
Doug Flutie, Navy’s Nap McCullum and
Pitt’s Bill Fralic. Barring any unforseen
complications, Fralic will win the Out-
land Trophy, Lombardi Trophy and even
the Maxwell Award. He could be the first
player selected in the draft, too. Flutie
and McCullum may not have the horses
around them to really challenge for the
Heisman, despite being quite productive
performers.
— On paper, Pitt receives a slight nod
over Penn State in the race for the
Eastern title. However, the Panthers
must solidify their secondary and come
up with a consistent punter. The key to
Pitt’s success will come if one of the in
coming freshmen runners can give them
the breakaway speed the offense lacked
the previous two years.
— Right now I'd rate D.J. Dozier as the
best running back in the East. He's
explosive and can break it for the dis-
tance from any spot on the field. I like
the way he can cut and juke in traffic.
Penn State is going to have to rely on his
running more this season.
— The Nittany Lions have a formidable
schedule. There's a three game stretch in
late September starting with Texas,
Maryland and Alabama that will give us
indication of the Lions’ strength. In
comparing personnel, State has perhaps
four or five teams that could lineup and
beat ’em head to head, so an 8-3 season is
the worst my crystal ball sees the Lions
going.
— Pitt, on the other hand, has four
teams capable of knocking them off.
Oklahoma is the first step and will give
us an indication just how good the
Panthers will be on Sept. 15. They have
Miami and Penn State, too. Many presea-
son polls rank the Panthers among the
top 10 in the nation. My own method sees
the Panthers as still having to prove
themselves that they belong.
— The East has five steller QBs worth
watching. Flutie is the catalyst that
makes things happen. Colgate’s Steve
Calabria is another top-notch performer.
Princeton has a slinger in Doug Butler
and my scouts tell me he’s a winner.
Penn State’s Doug Strang improved with
every outing and is dangerous. Pitt's
PER aH Tae
“RRA RRIF LTRs
Ee eal
John Congemi has the potential to be the
best of the lot.
— Here’s some players to watch with
All-Star potential: Holy Cross’ Gill
Fenerty, Penn State’s Dean DiMidio.
— Pitt is the sixth winningest team in
the country over the last 10 years with a
94-23-2 record.
— Penn State’s record of 45 straight
winning seasons is a “lock” in ‘84 as the
Lions extend it to 46.
— QB Warren Moon will turn the
Houston Oilers into a winner in time and
perhaps even this season. He’s a heckuva
athlete in my book.
— Dallas Cowboys are cut above the
ordinary, but sorry drafts by Gil Brandt
in past five years has done little to
bolster sagging team. Brandt has been
living off his past reputation. Butch
Johnson will be missed, too.
— Will Phil Simms in his sixth try
finally prove he’s capable of being an
NFL caliber QB for the Giants? A losing
season and Coach Bill Parcells is gone.
— Dotto for Jets’ Coach Joe Walton. He
must bank on QB Ken O’Brian, who was
selected in draft ahead of Dan Marino.
— Please don’t tell me how the Charg-
ers are going to be a standout team when
their defense is like Swiss cheese with so
many holes.
— Look for the Saints to be more
competitive this season and QB Richard
Todd to lead them to a winning record.
— I look for Denver’s John Elway to be
more productive his second time around.
He’s not blessed with a heap of talent to
work with either.
— The Eagles will continue to struggle.
With Coach Ted Marchibroda calling the
shots on offense they will be a bit more
unpredictable, but QB Ron Jaworski is
only an also-ran with his best days
behind him.
— Why do I keep hearing negative
things regarding the handling of the
football program at Alabama by Coach
changes in his first year which has
alienated many of the Tide's biggest
backers.
— “Once they’ve paid the price. the
investment of work and preparation to be
good, most football players won't give up
easily,” Coach Bear Bryant.
— The difference in parity between the
pro grid teams around the NFL is so
small that the use of ‘upset’ is kind of an
obsolete term.
— Here's our Top Five Schoolboy
teams for the upcoming season: 1-Valley
West: Needs some blockers but has
plenty of scoring punch. 2-Wyoming
area: Always one of the best prepared
teams in the WVC. Need some tackles on
defense, but will challenge. 3-GAR-Last
year I said if your going to beat the
Grenadiers, you'd better get ’em now. 4-
Meyers: Could be the surprise of the
WVC if the Mowhaks jell early. 5-Cough-
lin: Heap of new things going on with
Crusaders, but there is still some talent
remaining.