Pa
&
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Correspondent
It was in 1948 that Francis “Red”
Ambrose, member and president of
then Dallas Township High School
football coach Robert Dolbear with
. an idea suggested by the Club to
promote a friendly rivalry between
. the teams of the Back Mountain
schools.
." The 1940’s were a time of intense
rivalry between Kingston Township,
Lehman Township and Dallas Town-
ship, and the Rotary Club decided
they wanted to honor the Back
Mountain Football team that won
the championship. That was before
the time of mergers or jointures.
Ambrose discussed the idea with
Dolbear, who took the subject to the
coaches of the other schools and it
was decided to go along with the
Rotary Club’s suggestion.
© Dallas Township football players
- shoes were put in a pile and mem-
bers of the Rotary Club had the
coaches pull a shoe from that pile of
shoes. Then the club had the show
bronzed and attached to a plate.
. In 1948, Kingston Township, now a
part of the Dallas School District,
won the trophy. At that time, the
shoe was displayed on the field
‘throughout the game so it could be
‘seen by players and fans. The
awards ceremony came later when
the Shoe was presented to the win-
ning team at a dinner and program
held at the Irem Temple Country
Club. This dinner, to which mem-
bers of the winning and losing
teams were invited, was sponsored
by the Dallas Rotary Club until
1959. The next year the Dallas
Kiwanis Club sponsored the Old
Shoe game and dinner.
. Originally, the team who won the
Shoe for three consecutive years
was to keep the Shoe. It was not
until 1957 that one school won the
Shoe for three consecutive years.
In 1957, what was then Lehman-
Jackson-Ross defeated Westmore-
land (now Dallas Senior High
School). In 1958 and 1959, Lake-
Lehman (formerly Lehman-Jack-
son-Ross) won the games, but by
then the idea of keeping the shoe
after three consecutive wins had
been discarded.
During the years 1948 through
1959, Kingston Township won the
Shoe once; Lehman Township won
it twice; Dallas Township won it
once; Westmoreland won it twice;
Lehman-Jackson-Ross won it three
times; Lake-Lehman won it twice;
and there was a three-way tie in
1956 between Lehman-Jackson,
Westmoreland and Dallas-Franklin.
There is no official record declar-
ing when Dallas Kiwanis gave up
and losing teams but one or two
former members of the club do
know that it has been since the
jointure that the exchange of the
Old Shoe has been done by the
school and although there is to be a
formal presentation that is not
always the case.
Since 1960, when Westmoreland
won the Old Shoe, the games were
between Dallas Senior High School
and Lake-Lehman Senior High.
Dallas won the Shoe consecutively
from 1961 through 1966; Lake-
Lehman won the Shoe from 1967
through 1969. Dallas reclaimed it in
1970 and kept it in their display case
from that year through 1977. In 1977,
Lake-Lehman took it back and kept
it through 1979.
Dallas won the games in 1980 and
1981 and had the Shoe but, in 1982,
the teams played to a tie and each
school had the Shoe for six months
which was according to the original
stipulation by the Rotary Club.
Dallas won the Shoe last year and,
until this Saturday, the Shoe is on
display in the high school office.
Saturday’s game will decide where
the Shoe will make its home
throughout the coming year.
On the Shoe is a plate on which
are listed the years the trophy was
won by the various schools.
“I believe there was a lot more
camaraderie among the players in
the earlier years,” said Robert Dol-
bear, former coach and retired prin-
cipal of Dallas Senior High School.
“All of the players used to gather at
the Town House in Dallas after the
games and talk over the game-why
they won or why they lost. That
feeling is gone today.
“The kids from both schools get
up for the game but I hope they
keep in mind the principle behind
the Old Shoe is a friendly rivalry
behind two great Back: Mountain
Schools,”” Dolbear added.
OLD SHOE WINNERS
1948 - Kingston Twp. 1965 - Dallas Senior High
1949 - Lehman Twp. 1966 - Dallas Senior High
1950 - Lehman Twp. 1967 - Lake-Lehman
1951 - Dallas Twp. 1968 - Lake-Lehman
1952 - Westmoeland 1969 - Lake-Lehman
1853 - Lehman-Jackson-Ross 1970 - Dallas Senior High
1954 - Lehman-Jackson-Ross 1971 - Dallas Senior High
1955 - Westmoreland 1972 - Dallas Senior High
1956 - Three Way Tie (Leh 1973 - Dallas Senior High
man Jackson, Westmoreland, 1974 - Dallas Senior High
Dallas- Franklin) 1975 - Dallas Senior High
1957 - Lehman-Jackson-Ross 1976 - Dallas Senior High
1958 - Lake-Lehman 1977 - Dallas Senior High
1959 - Lake-Lehman 1978 - Lake-Lehman
1960 - Westmoreland 1979 - Lake-Lehman
1961 - Dallas Senior High 1980 - Dallas Senior High
1962 - Dallas Senior High 1981 - Dallas Senior High
1963 - Dallas Senior High 1982 - Tie
1964 - Dallas Senior High 1983 - Dallas Senior High
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Correspondent
With the Wyoming Valley Football
Conference season coming down to
the wire, the most important game
of the year for Dallas and Lake-
Lehman will be played this Satur-
day at 2 p.m. at the Black Knights
Stadium.
The contest for the Old Shoe
trophy will end the season for the
Back Mountain Schools with the
until they meet again next year.
Who will win the Old Shoe this
year? With the Knights holding a 3-3
record and the Mountaineers a 1-5
record, both in Divison AA, it
appears to be a sure thing to bet on
Lake-Lehman, but most fans are
reluctant to predict. They know only
too well the emotion and rivalry
between the two schools for this
traditional contest.
Over the past 36 years, the Old
Shoe trophy has often been won by
the team picked less likely to do so.
Spirits run high, teams sporting
mediocre or poor records are l0ok-
ing down the road to this game to
redeem themselves for the season.
Coaches of both teams have to play
the role of psychologists to keep the
contest in proper perspective for the
players.
Other coaches in Division AA are
familiar with both Lake-Lehman
and Dallas, having played them
during the season. They know the
potential of both teams but they also
know what the Old Shoe game
means to both schools and, as a
result, they are not too definite in
predicting a winner.
Crestwood Coach Sam Elias said
in a game such as the traditional
Old Shoe game one can throw away
the record books. ‘The kids are
fired up and who knows what can
happen?” he said. “Take away the
emotional atmosphere then I would
have to pick Lehman as the favor-
ite.”
Elias said the Knights had a
better record for the season and
they have a better group of athletes,
athletes who have had more e ;
ence. However, Elias belie¥
Dallas is capable of winning and
said the Mountaineers played his
Comets better in the second half.
“But Dallas has a lot of young
boys this season with little experi-
N
coming team next year, one to be
reckoned with: It will be a tossup
because of the emotion,” said Elias.
Coach Charlie Fick of GAR, like
Elias, said one could throw the
records out the window, that the
traditional Old Shoe game makes it
a one-game season for the Back
Mountain schools.
“Going by statistics I have to give
Lake-Lehman the edge because of
their kicking and their speed. They
also moved the ball better against
us. They did a good job against
Meyers.”
Fick said the Knights played
tough the first half against his
team, but the Dallas kids didn’t quit
when they played GAR. Fick said
the Mountaineers have a lot of
young, inexperienced kids and that
nees to be taken into consideration.
Like Elias, Fick said it’s a difficult
game to predict.
Hanover’s Coach Al Kopacz said
that his team played Dallas in the
first game of the season and that
the Mountaineers have a lot of
young inexperienced boys. He
stated that from the papers he sees
that Rybak has been playing a lot of
young boys and they will be a team
to reckon with next season.
“Lake-Lehman has more experi-
enced kids; they played Meyers and
GAR tough and knocked off Crest-
wood,” said Kopacz.
Kopacz pointed out that the
Knights VanGorder plays a good
running game and figures he will
come right at the Mountaineers. On
the other hand, he said Dallas is
improving its passing game and has
(See OTHER, page 13)
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