The Post 4 Li alo SMSO Es : Ty Sok ib (J sored OLD SHOE GAME Sunday, November 2, 2003 11 The Dallas Mountaineer band put on quite a show at halftime. This year’s Old Shoe football game had two distinctions — it was the first played at night since 1971, and it was played Halloween night. The 1971 game had been scheduled for Thanksgiving day, but a huge snow storm forced postponement. The game wasn't even played in the Back Mountain, but at Wyoming Area’s stadium. Thanksgiving day games haven't been played since the institution of a state playoff system. With the need to get through several rounds of weekly playoff contests, the season must end long before the holiday. And by a quirk of the calendar, the date available was also Hal- loween, which added to the enjoyment, at least in the stands. "An old shoe, ghouls You he. Dallas trumpeters have more fun. Matt Noble, Dustin Bednarz and Kimberly Tou- ssaint wore jazzy chapeau. Meredith Davies held the music for them. Old Shoe (continued from page 1) remaining in the first quarter. Lake- Lehman answered after recovering a Mountaineer fumble, driving 68 yards in nine plays. Mark Yankowski capped the drive with a 12-yard touchdown re- ception from quarterback Brandon Burkhardt. Led by Harris, Dallas rushed for 154 yards in the first half. But the lost fum- ble and an interception by Lehman de- fensive back Ryan Besteder limited the Mountaineers to the seven points. Morgan Jacobs practiced for the day she would be on the other side of the fence. Post PHoTOS/RON BARTIZEK Jackson said it was an emotional Dal- las locker room at halftime. “I think our pride was hurt in the first half,” said Jackson. “I was embar- rassed and the kids were embarrassed. That's not to take anything away from Lehman. They came to play. They had a great game plan and they played great in the first half.” After Kelly’s score in the third quar- ter, Dallas took possession following a Lake-Lehman punt and drove 76 ya.ds in 11 plays. Kocher finished the drive with a 12-yard run. The Mountaineers added two touchdowns in the final quarter, the first on a 1-yard run by sen- ior Adam Schoonover and the other on a 9-yard run by sophomore quarterback Chris Parrish. “I thought we were very physical in the second half,” said Jackson. “Harris and Kocher ran like bears. We're happy for Doug. You don’t go into a game, es- pecially a rivalry game like this, and ex- pect for someone to get 200-plus yards. (Reaching the 1,000-yard mark) is a nice accomplishment.” Lake-LLehman head coach Bob Lan- gan was pleased with the effort of his team, which lost four key players after an alleged hazing incident in late Sep- tember. ; “It was an emotional game,” he said. “Im very proud our of our kids. They played hard and they never gave up. They could have jumped ship, but they stayed with us and played hard all year.” » play announcing duties. Students sages. Lake-Lehman co-principal Bob Roberts handled the play-by- plastered the Lake-Lehman fence with hopeful mes- Dawn Meeker handed out the fries — which were normal colored, un- like her hair — in what the photographer was told is the #1 refresh- ment stand in the region. casion. The first Old Shoe trophy was pre- sented to the Kingston Township High School football team at the Jan- uary 15, 1949 dinner of the Dallas Rotary Club. James Martin, Super- vising Principal of the Kingston Township Schools, accepted the tro- phy, a football shoe that was bronzed in New York and mounted on a ma- hogany base prepared by Ray Hed- den. Kingston Township defeated Dal- las Township 14-0 that year, with one of the touchdowns scored on the now-extinct Statue of Liberty play. Ted Szela, just back from World War II service with the Marine Corps, was coach of the winning team and Bruce Griffiths was the Mark Mueller, Katie Yamrick and Josh King came dressed for the oc- captain. The principal speaker at the dinner was Harold “Dutch” Wer- mouth, former coach at GAR High School. He was introduced by Don- ald Clark, who originally submitted the idea to Rotary and arranged to have the shoe bronzed. Interviewed for a special issue marking the 50th anniversary of the Old Shoe game, Dean Johnson of Trucksville said the shoe was his. He said coach Szela asked each of his players to throw a shoe into the pile, then pulled one out. “Everybody lays claim to it,” John- son said in 1997. “When it was all said and done, I got a new pair of shoes.” The Post thanks Sheldon MacAvoy for his help with this article.
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