) ) ? It all comes down to this ’ ¥ i ’ » [3 5 [} ¥ [ ¢ The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, November 10, 1993 9 The Dallas Post SportsWeek B School news HB Calendar HM Classified Dallas, Lehman will meet Saturday By DAVE KONOPKI Sports Writer People in South Bend, Indiana . are calling this Saturday after- ' noon's college football showdown ¥ [ between No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Notre Dame the biggest football game to hit that town in + the last 25 years. But for players and fans of local i high school football, there is an + even bigger game taking place this ’ Saturday afternoon and the re- ' sult could make or break both A ¢ [ Back Mountain teams' season. At 1 p.m. at the Edward Edwards Stadium in Lehman, the Dallas ' and Lake-Lehman football teams will play in the biggest game be- tween the two schools in the sto- ried history of the nearly half- century battle. The two teams will square off for the 46th time in the annual battle for the “Old Shoe Trophy”. But unlike the majority of the other 45 times, much more than pride is on the line this time around. What makes this particular meeting so special? Here are three reasons: 1) For the first time in nearly 50 years, both Dallas and Lake- : Lehman have the chance to make the playoffs in the same year. . 2) Dallas (9-1) is ranked fourth in the state in the Harrisburg- ® Patriot News Class AA poll and a win over the Black Knights and a . District 2 or Eastern Conference . championship could give the Mounts their first-ever state play- . off berth. - 3) Lake-Lehman (6-4) has won ' three straight games and a win over Dallas could do two things: First, they would virtually be assured of a post-season berth (and maybe as high as a third - seed) and second, they would all but end the state playoffs hopes of their backyard rivals. Okay, so maybe this isn't for . the national championship. But . there is nodoubt this game is very important to both teams. “I think it adds something to (the rivalry),” said Lehman head coach Rich Gorgone. “Even with- . out the playoff situations, this is usually the biggest game of the + year. This rivalry is a lot bigger . than myselfor Teddy (Dallas head . coach Jackson). It was here be- + fore we got here and it will con- . tinue long after we leave.” ¥ [! Jackson agreed. “This is a big game, both for the ‘ teams and for the community,” ' said Jackson, whose Mounts are + 7-0-1 versus Lehman in his eight . years at Dallas, including a 21-0 ® ' win last season. “Lehman should » [} goto the playoffs with awin against . us and we don't want to go into [> € ® the playoffs on a negative note. It's going to be a very tough game.” Here is a breakdown of the * offensive and defensive match- + ups between the two teams fol- [3 . [3 [5 » lowed by the weekly prediction. The prognostication record for the year stands at 15-5. DALLAS PASSING GAME VS. * LEHMAN AGAINST THE PASS: . Dallas has the WVC's most pro- [ v lific passer in senior quarterback * Brian Brady, who leads the con- * ference with more than 1,300 - yards this season. He is nearing . the 3,000yard mark for his career * and could get the necessary yard- age against Lehman. It comes ' down to experience—Brady and " Pizza-eating contest will add spice to Old Shoe tradition By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff Unless you have lived in in the Back Mountain for a long time, you may not understand the unusual combination of football ) | - : and an old shoe. LJ Pizza will be added this year to spice up the combo. As part of “Old Shoe Game DALLAS COACHES - Kneeling, Ted Jackson, head coach. Standing, from left, Bill Silvi, Sam Jayne IV, Sa Jayne lll, middle school coach Harry Gulich, Scott Francis, John McNeil. Absent from photo, Tony hiarucci. his corps of receivers, led by jun- jor Mike Viglone (28 catches for 410 yards) versus Lehman's sec- ondary, led by Ernie Chamber- lain, Mike Ruger and John Oliver. Some of the success for Dallas's passing game will rely on how well the Mounts run the ball. If full- back Rich Butcofski and tailback Buddy Rhodes can combine for at least 125 yards rushing, look out! EDGE: DALLAS LEHMAN PASSING GAME VS. DALLAS AGAINST THE PASS: In the first game of the season Pittston Area's combination of Jerry Ranieli to Mike Alba torched the Dallas secondary for nearly 200 yards and it looked as though it could be a long year for the Dallas defensive backfield. But first-year starters Jared Cooney and Brian Ford have been pleas- ant surprises and no trio of defen- sive backs hit harder than Cooney, Ford and Brady. In his first varsity season, Ol- iver has exceeded everyone's ex- pectations at quarterback for the Knights. The sophomore has passed for more than 1,000 yards and is third in the WVC in pass- ing. Lehman also has two out- standing athletes in receivers junior Tim Waslick and senior Ernie Chamberlain. In his first year on the gridiron since mini- football, Waslick has developed into one of the WVC's best receiv- ers. He's currently second in the league with more than 600 receiv- ing yards. Like Waslick, Cham- berlain is a threat to score from anywhere on the field. EDGE: slight edge dallas DALLAS RUNNING GAME VS. LEHMAN AGAINST THE RUN: IN A THREE GAME SPAN (CRESTWOOD, GAR ANd Ha- nover) the Black Knight run de- fense gave up more than 700 yards rushing. But Lehman's defense has gotten better, led by massive defensive linemen Larry Lucarino (6-5, 260-pounds), Chuck Kin- dler (6-4, 240) and Dave Thomas (6-2, 230). There should be some serious hitting going on in the trenches with Dallas linemen Greg Nadzan (6-4, 245) Marty Straigis (6-4, 250) and center Ed Langdon (5-10, 240) taking on the big boys of Lehman. It's true Dallas may not have the 1,000 yard rushers they have had in the past, but Rhodes, Butcofski, Cooney, Viglone, Ed Mattie, Rich Klick and Ted Jackson have formed a commit- tee of rushers who have gotten the job done this season. EDGE: DALLAS LEHMAN RUSHING GAME VS. DALLAS AGAINST THE RUN: Of all the matchups, this is the most lopsided. A quick look at these two statistics is all you need to know: 1) The quintet of Cough- LAKE-LEHMAN COACHES - Kneeling, Rich Gorgone, head coach. Standing, from left, Scott Kerkowski, Bob Langan, Bob Roberts. Absent from photo, Don Spencer, Scott Shaeffer. lin's Baldo Vincarelli, Nanticoke's Mike Vnuk, Hanover's Kevin Proc- tor, Crestwood's Mike Graham and Bishop Hoban's Nick Quaglia have combined to rush for more than 5,300 yards this season. Against Dallas, the five combined for less than 250 yards rushing, and 67 of those came on one run (by Proc- tor). 2) Dallas's defense hasyielded just 10 points to WVC Division II Head Coach: Ted Jackson DALLAS OFFENSE No. Name 15 Brian Brady 10 Buddy Rhodes 8 Rich Butcofski 23 Jared Cooney 27 Mike Viglone 80 Charlie Siglin 72 Greg Nazdan 76 Marty Straigis 62 John Howe 60 Jeremiah Jancik or 78 Dave Townsend 74 Ed Langdon LEHMAN DEFENSE 89 Dave Thomas 76 Larry Lucarino 30 Ed Pitcavage 80 Bob Sayre 55 Brian Gizenski 17 Jamie Patton 5 Aaron Yaple 25 Tom Smigelski 27 Mike Ruger 24 Ernie Chamberlain 1 John Oliver -— \When Dallas has the ball Dallas Mountaineers 1993 overall record: 9-1 (6-0, WVC, Div. Il) Assistants: Bill Silvi, Ponch Gillick, John McNeil, Scott Francis, Tony Chiarucci, Sam Jayne Ill, Sam Jayne IV. Total Points Scored: 288 (179, WVC Div. Il) Total Points Against: 44 (10, WVC, Div. Il) Lake-Lehman Black Knights 1993 Overall Record: 6-4 (3-3, WVC Div. ii) Head Coach: Rich Gorgone Assistants: Bob Roberts, Bob Langan, Scott Kerkowski, Don Spencer, Scott Shaeffer. Total Points Scored: 210 (127, WVC Div. ll) Total Points Against: 142 (114, WVC Div. I) Pos Bt. Wt. Yr. OB 6-1 165 Sr TB 6-2 185 Jr FB 6-3 205 Jr WB 5-10 150 Sr SE 5-10 155 Jr TE 6-5 215 Sr T 6-4 250 Sr T 6-4 245 Jr G 6-0 210 Sr G 5-10 180 Jr G. 6-5 200 Jr c 6-1 250 Jr DT 6-1 235 Jr DT 6-5 285 Sr NG 5-11 200 Sr DE 6-0 195 Sr DE 5-11 185 Sr LB 5-11 180 Jx LB 5-8 165 Sr LB 6-0 165 Sr DB 6-0 165 Sr DB 6-1 165 Sr DB 6-1 165 So No. Name John Oliver 32 Mike Pitcavage 30 Ed Pitcavage 24 Ernie Chamberlain or 7 Dave Raspen 80 Bob Sayre 81 Tim Waslick 70 Chuck Kindler 76 Larry Lucarino 55 Brian Gizenski 56 Mike Spencer or 62 Chris Swire 61 Jason Stockage DALLAS DEFENSE No. Name 72 Greg Nazdan 76 Marty Straigis 70 Steve Button 30 Ed Mattie 8 Rich Butcofski 62 John Howe 35 Matt Williams 43 Pat O'Neil or 10 Buddy Rhodes 23 Jared Cooney 22 Brian Ford 15 Brian Brady When Lehman has the ball Pos. Bt. Wt. Nr. QB 6-1 165 So TB 5-9 155 So FB 5-11 200 Sr WB 6-1 165 Sr WB 6-3 180 Jr TE 6-0 195 Sr SE 6-1 160 Jr T 6-4 260 Jr. T 6-5 285 Sr G 5-11 185 Sr G 5-11 170 So G 5-11 205 So C 5-11 185 Jr Pos. Bt. Wt. Yr. DL 6-4 250 Sr. DL 6-4 245 Jr DL 6-3 185 Jr NG 5-11 190 Sr LB 6-3 205 Jr LB 6-0 210 Sr LB 6-0 180 Jr LB 6-0 185 Jr LB 6-2 185 Jr DB 5-10 150 Sr DB 5-10 155 Sr. DB 6-1 165 Sr Week,” 10 Dallas and Lake- Lehman pigskinners will pig out in a friendly pizza-eating contest November 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Villa Roma at Harveys Lake. Each athlete will have to de- vour a large 18-inch pie in the timed event. The team whose members are finished eating first wins. A For every pizza sold that night, Villa Roma will donate $1 to be split between both schools. “Wow, that's a lot of pizza,” said the Lake-Lehman athletes while trying on their special pizza event jerseys during lunch period Mon- day. “That's OK. We can eat faster than Dallas.” The Lake-Lehman athletes, Will Woronko, Mike Adamshick, Kevin Rusinko, Ernie Chamberlain and David Fosko, may have met their match, depending on who defends Dallas's honor. Several Dallas football players said Saturday that David Townsend, Rich Burcofski, Ed Mattie, Marty Straigis and Greg Nazdan would probably represent their school Straigis set the 1992 record for eating Buffalo-style chicken wings - 75 - at the Gridiron Club's annual Wing Night last year. His record fell this year to Greg “Naz” Nazdan, who devoured 90 wings, four cuts of pizza and a six-pack of Coke. The Old Shoe Game is all part opponents and has outscored those teams (GAR, Crestwood, Meyers, Hanover, Bishop Hoban and Nanticoke) by a combined score of 179-10. With the transfer of junior full- back Rob Fugate to Coughlin and some injuries, Lehman's backfield has become a virtual revolving door this season. Sophomore Mike Pitcavage, who started the year on the bench, is now the starting tailback while brother Ed, a sen- jor who began the year as an offensive guard, will be the fullback. EDGE: HUGE EDGE DALLAS Ya INTANGIBLES: The similari- ties are astounding. Both teams are coming off 35-0 wins against less-than-spectacular opponents. Both teams are playing their best football of the season. And it appears as though both teams are headed for the playoffs. It could be argued that Dallas could have more incentive with a possible state playoff berth on the line. But depending on what happens elsewhere this weekend, a win over Dallas could be the difference between a third and fourth seed in the playoffs for Lehman. They say because of the in- creased social interaction between the students of both schools, the intensity of the rivalry has dimin- ished over the years. But this is still a football game, not a debu- tante's coming out party. EDGE: EVEN PREDICTION: Before the sea- son began, Lake-Lehman head coach Rich Gorgone felt Dallas was still one step ahead of the rest ofthe league. They haven't proven him wrong. But Gorgone also said that when the dust settles, one or two teams may be there to give them a battle. Those two teams look tobe GARand Lehman. GAR had their chance and lost, 26-0. Now it's Lehman's turn. Unfortunately for them, they probably won't fare much better. DALLAS 26 - LEHMAN 6 of a 45 year-old football rivalry between area schools, dating back to 1948, when Dallas Rotary presi- dent Francis “Red” Ambrose first suggested promoting the friendly - rivalries by presenting a special trophy to the best Back Mountain team. See PIZZA, pg 10
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers