ET — ———— a a aa LE gil October 29, 2006 THE ALLAS POST PAGE 9 SPOrts hy TIMES LEADER FILE PHOTO/JIM JUKA The Old Shoe trophy - a bronze football cleat from the late 1940s - is coveted by players at Dallas and Lake-Lehman. The 59th annual game will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday in Dallas Township. Playing for heart and sole Old Shoe Notebook There’s an old — and often overused — sports adage that offense sells tickets, but de- fense wins championships. In the Back Mountain defense not only wins championships, it wins the Old Shoe Game. The losing team has been shut out in nearly half of the games played — 28 times — and the losing team has been held to a touchdown or less in 46 of the 58 games. In a 14-year period from 1983 to 1996, the losing team failed to score a touchdown in 13 @ Since that time, howev- 2 ):. there have been only two shutouts. Dallas posted nine shutouts in Jackson's first 12 years. ® 0 0 The longest winning streak in the backyard rivalry belongs to Dallas, from 1970 through the 1977 season. The Moun- taineers have a five-year win streak going into this year’s contest. ® 00 Lake-Lehman head coach Carl Kern is believed to be the first person to participate in the game as a player and a head coach. The former Black Knight standout played for Ge- orge Curry from 1967-69, with Lake-Lehman winning all three Old Shoe contests. The Black Knights outscored the Mountaineers by a combined score of 76-8 in the three games. ® 0° Dallas head coach Ted Jack- son, by far, has the most wins by a head coach in an Old Shoe Game. The veteran coach has See NOTEBOOK, Page 11 By DAVE KONOPKI Dallas Post Editor Although he’ll walk the side- lines for the first time as a head coach, Carl Kern knows all about the annual battle for the Old Shoe between the Lake-Lehman and Dallas football teams. And he’s hoping he can have the same suc- cess as a coach as he did as a play- er. The Lake-Lehman coach will get his chance next weekend. The Black Knights and Moun- taineers will play in the 59th edi- tion of the Old Shoe Game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mountaineer Stadium in Dallas Township. At press time, Lake-Lehman (0-8) was preparing to take the field against Nanticoke Area in quest for its first win of the season, while Dallas (5-3) was traveling to Meyers in hopes of solidifying its grip on the No. 1 seed in the upcoming District Class 3A play- offs. Kern was a standout player on three George Curry-coached Lake-Lehman teams that defeat- ed Dallas by a combined score of 76-8 during the 1967-69 seasons. He went on to play for Ohio State and legendary head coach Woody Hayes in Columbus. “This game is Ohio State ver- sus Michigan. It’s Penn State ver- sus Notre Dame,” said the first- year Black Knight coach. “This is the game.” Ted Jackson agrees. And the longtime Dallas head coach also knows something about the Old Shoe Game — and how to keep the bronze football cleat trophy in the Dallas trophy case. The Mountaineers have compiled an incredible 17-3-1 record against some their neighborhood rivals in Jackson’s 21 seasons at Dallas. “This has always been a special game,” he said. “These kids know DALLAS POST FILE PHOTO/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Members of the Dallas football team celebrate last year’s thrilling overtime win against rival Lake-Lehman in the Old Shoe Game. each other. Their families know each other. Many times, the se- niors are playing football for the final time. And if you're fortunate enough to make the playoffs, you want to go in on a positive note.” That seems to be the case for Dallas this season. With a win against Meyers and Lake-Leh- man, the Mountaineers will most likely enter the District 2 Class 3A playoffs as the No. 1 seed. Dal- las will take a decided size advan- tage into this year’s Old Shoe Game. “By far our biggest concern is their front (offensive and defen- sive) lines,” said Kern referring to the Mountaineers, who aver- age almost 240 pounds per line- man. “Theyre so much bigger than us. We have no one to match with them height- and weight- wise. We have a defensive end who weighs 145 pounds. Our size — or lack of it — as been a problem we've been dealing with all year.” Despite their lack of size, the Black Knights have been able to move the ball — and put points on the board. The wide-open Lake- Lehman offense is averaging al- most 20 points a game. “Theyre a little undersized, but they do some things that are hard to stop,” Jackson said. “Carl's a good guy. He wasn’t dealt very good cards. (Lake-Leh- man) lost 18 seniors from last year’s team. That’s devastating to a (Class) 2A program. “They might not have a win, but they're a dangerous team. I'm sure they're going to throw every- thing at us. It would make their season to win the game.” There’s a reason why the Dal- las football program has been so good for so long, says Kern. A rea- son why the Mountaineers have been able to win almost 200 games and 18 different cham- pionships since 1985. “There’s no secret to their pro- gram’s success. Ted Jackson is the reason,” he said. “When he took over the program, things didn’t just fall into his lap. He’s worked very hard. When the sea- son is over, he doesn’t pack away the equipment and walk away from the program for four or five months. He’s there year-round. That’s why his teams have been 1948 - Kingston Township 14, Dallas Township O 1949 - Lehman Township 7, Dallas Township O 1950 - Lehman Township 20, Dallas Township O 1951 - Dallas 20, Westmoreland 19 1952 - Westmoreland 19, Dallas Township O 1953 - Lehman 21, Dallas Township 20 1954 - Lehman Township 12, Dallas Township O 1955 - Westmoreland 6, Dallas Town- ship O 1956 - Three-way tie (Westmore- land, Lehman and Dallas) * 1957 - Lehman Township 13, Dallas Township 6 1958 - Lehman 26, Westmoreland 6 1959 - Lehman 37, Westmoreland O 1960 - Westmoreland 20, Lehman 7 1961 - Dallas 18, Lake-Lehman 7 1962 - Dallas 14, Lake-Lehman O 1963 - Dallas 19, Lake-Lehman O 1964 - Dallas 18, Lake-Lehman 6 1965 - Dallas 31, Lake-Lehman O 1966 - Dallas 35, Lake-Lehman 14 1967 - Lake-Lehman 25, Dallas O 1968 - Lake-Lehman 23, Dallas O 1969 - Lake-Lehman 28, Dallas 8 1970 - Dallas 24, Lake-Lehman 14 1971 - Dallas 45, Lake-Lehman O 1972 - Dallas 50, Lake-Lehman O 1973 - Dallas 34, Lake-Lehman 6 1974 - Dallas 12, Lake-Lehman 7 1975 - Dallas 15, Lake-Lehman 7 1976 - Dallas 13, Lake-Lehman 7 1977 - Dallas 7, Lake-Lehman 6 1978 - Lake-Lehman 42, Dallas 14 1979 - Lake-Lehman 14, Dallas 7 1980 - Dallas 20, Lake-Lehman 19 1981 - Dallas 34, Lake-Lehman 6 1982 - Dallas 16, Lake-Lehman16 (tie) 1983 - Dallas 16, Lake-Lehman O 1984 - Lake-Lehman 33, Dallas O 1985 - Dallas 7, Lake-Lehman O 1986 - Dallas 15, Lake-Lehman 2 1987 - Dallas 27, Lake-Lehman O 1988 - Dallas 21, Lake-Lehman 21 (tie) 1989 - Dallas 6, Lake-Lehman O 1990 - Lake-Lehman 7, Dallas O 1991 - Dallas 42, Lake-Lehhman O 1992 - Dallas 21, Lake-Lehman O 1993 - Dallas 21, Lake-Lehman O 1994 - Dallas 19, Lake-Lehman O 1995 - Lake-Lehman 9, Dallas O 1996 - Dallas 21, Lake-Lehman 0 1997 - Dallas 20, Lake-Lehman 12 1998 - Dallas 20, Lake-Lehman O 1999 - Dallas 28, Lake-Lehman 7 2000 - Lake-Lehman 12, Dallas 7 2001 - Dallas 21, Lake-Lehman 14 2002 - Dallas 35, Lake-Lehman O 2003 - Dallas 34, Lake-Lehman 7 2004 - Dallas 28, Lake-Lehman 14 2005 - Dallas 19, Lake-Lehman 16 (OT) so successful. Dallas doesn’t have kids who show up each year that big and that good. They work hard at it.” Although it remains one of the most popular sporting events of the year, Kern says the Old Shoe Game has lost a little of its luster since his playing days. “I don’t think family history is as big a part of the game as it used to be,” he said. “When I played, my Dad and uncles had all played in the game before me. It was kind of a right of passage. You had to show up and you had to play hard. It wasn’t an option. If you didn’t you got your behind kicked by family members and friends. “Now, many of the old families of Dallas and Lake-Lehman have moved out of the area and new families have moved in. Many of them don’t understand the mag- nitude of the game.” Kern doesn’t expect either coach to give a Knute Rockne- style speech to his team before the game. “There shouldn’t have to be any message to the players,” Kern _said. “This is Lehman versus Dal- las. This game still means a lot to a lot of people. This game is for bragging rights.”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers