was 4d
ood
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Going into the 1986 Wyoming Valley Confer-
ence season, the outlook for both the Dallas and
Lake-Lehman High School football teams was
that of optimism. The Mountaineers were
coming off a 6-5 season in which they also
captured the WVC Division II title, while the
Black Knights were looking forward to fielding a
young but somewhat talented squad in D-III
competition.
And after both teams battled in the mud of
Edward Edwards Stadium on Saturday after-
noon in the season’s finale, in which Dallas
retained the “Old Shoe’’ trophy for another year
with a 15-2 victory, both coaches said they were
satisfied with their clubs 1986 performance and
are already looking forward to next season.
“We thought we would do a little better this
year than we did,” Lake-Lehman coach Rich
Gorgone said of is teams 4-7 record. ‘But we
were a young team and inconsistent at times. I
believe you win with a veteran team. They don’t
make as many mistakes.
“And you could see the inconsistency with this
year’s team,” Gorgone added. ‘At times, we’
played great. We came very close to beating
Tunkhannock and Meyers. But, other times we
made too many to mistakes.”
Next season, the Black Knights should be a
legitimate contender for the D-III title. Lehman
will have 31 players from this year’s squad
returning, including quarterback Len Annetta
who will be a Junior.
We started five sophomores and eight juniors
today and we also had one of our best Junior
High teams this season,” Gorgone explained
after the game. ‘We are really looking forward
to next year’s club.”
And so is Dallas coach Ted Jackson. Although
the Mounts will be losing a host of talented
players from this year’s 8-3 squad, including
quarterback Scott Francis, who became the first
Mountaineer QB ever to throw for over 1,000
yards in a season, Jackson will have 12 juniors
and five sophomores returning who either
started or saw plenty of action this year.
“We lost a lot of horses, but we have a good
nucleus coming back,” Jackson said. “We think
Jay Cherup (a sophomore) is going to do the job
for us at quarterback next year. He’s tall and
thin. We expect good things from him.
“But we also have guys like Mike Koprowski
and Jerry Ogurkis and Jonathan Wagner who
will be back,” Jackson added. “And we have a
lot of other people returning who played very
well for us this year.
“We would have liked to have gone to the
playoffs this year: but we lost to GAR and
Meyers and that cost us. But it was a good year
and I'm very proud of these kids. They never
quit. They gave it their best in every game.”
Whether or not the “Shoe” will be on the other
foot next year is anybody’s guess. But with two
veteran teams returning in 1987, next year’s
clash between the two Back Mountain schools
should be one to remember.
ports
By CHARLOT M. DENMON
Staff Writer
It was the ‘“‘Game of the Season’’, the entire
schedule rolied into one important contest for
the Dallas Mountaineers and the Lake-Lehman
Knights - the ‘Old Shoe’ game.
Predictions were made, bets were placed,
statistics were put away and the teams were
ready to play.
The gray clouds, hanging low in the sky, cast a
gloomy curtain over the area. A sea of mud,
surrounded by dirty, white snow marked the
field of play.
Game time was 1 p.m. but fans began arriving
early, bundled in heavy jackets and coats,
wearing caps and gloves and carrying blankets
to protect them from the cold, damp air. This
was not a perfect football day, weather-wise.
Enthusiasm, however, was not to be dampened
as the attractive Black Knights cheerleaders
dressed in their mini-skirt uniforms of bright
gold and black came through the gate. There,
the girls took up their task of escorting senior
football players and senior cheerleaders to their
waiting parents standing along the side of the
field facing the Lehman fans.
Each player presented his mother with a
corsage and payed homage to his dad; each
cheerleader presented a corsage fo her mother
and greeted her dad with a ‘‘thank you, I love
you’ kiss. And the coaches’ wives, their hus-
bands unable to join them, were not forgotten as
the cheerleaders proudly presented them with
corsages during the thunderous applause from
the stands.
Parents Day ceremonies over, the parents and
students left the field to take their proper places
in the stands or with the team. Now came time
for the Lake-Lehman Award-Winning Band’s
performance!
But, no — the field was too muddy and too
slippery. Band director John Miliauskas wisely
decided the band would not go on. It was not
worth it to have a student slip and perhaps,
injured under the existing conditions. Fans had
to be content with the ‘show’ music played from
the bleachers as seats on both sides of the field
filled with fans.
Dallas cheerleaders, shivering in the cold,
jogged around the outside of the field to their
places on the visitors’ side and, just as their
counterparts, had the Dallas Band members
filed onto the track and marched quietly to their
seats on the visitors side.
Black and white shirted officials, none in
shorts, entered the field. A hush came over
bleachers on both sides as fans, young, old,
friends and visitors waited for the entrance of
the contestants.
The Dallas Mountaineers came first — in
sparkling white and Columbia Blue, waiting at
the entrance to the field until the cheerleaders
unfolded their large paper banner urging
(See MUD, page 14)
Action-packed contest
Dallas Post/Charlot M. Denmon
Dallas
retains Old
One of the best
Dallas Post/Charlot M. Denmon