Aug 22, 2002 By Jim Kriek For The 5 min read

Whoever first coined the phrase “there’s no place like home” certainly wasn’t a football coach – at least not in Connellsville last year. As his team was getting ready to depart for camp at California University of Pa., CAHS coach Dan Spanish was discussing the approaching season with a trio of sports writers.

When asked about the schedule and what his hopes were for the season, the Falcon coach, now starting his 29th year in Blue and White, said, “The goal is the same as it has been for every season since I have been coaching. That is the playoffs. But along the way we will have to play solid football, especially on defense, and not give games away.

“I have been coaching a long time, but the fire still burns after all those years. My goal every year is to win the conference title, then go from there into the playoffs and try to win the WPIAL championship. As long as I am coaching, that will be our goal.”

As he spoke, the thoughts of one writer turned back almost 40 years to the first time he ever encountered Dan Spanish. Wooddale was then the power in the old Fay-West Baseball League, and had entered a tournament at New Castle. Their opponent this night was a local team, whose pitcher was a young right-hander, just graduated from high school. He threw a two-hit shutout. His baseball days might be over now, but that old competitive fire, as he said, “still burns.”

As he pondered the season ahead, Spanish made a point that for the moment had escaped a writer who likes to delve into figures.

He observed “we finished 4-6 last year, and all of our wins came on the road. We were 0-5 at home, plus another road loss.”

CAHS won at Albert Gallatin (43-14), at Baldwin (22-16), at Hempfield (12-7) and at Shaler (14-13). The latter was also more than just a win. It was the 500th all-time in Connellsville’s long and illustrious football history, and at the same time it was the 193rd for Spanish as a head coach. Ironically, Shaler was going after its own 300th team win that night, but the Falcons forced them to wait another day for that goal.

The Falcons won three of their last four games, and as Spanish pointed out, “Now we have to pick up where we left off last year. We have some new players in certain spots, and hopefully they will develop as we go along, especially on defense. Our program has been successful over the years, and we are going into the season with those same goals in mind that have made us successful.”

The Falcons might just be having a little football fun this year.

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While Spanish was looking ahead to the coming season, he also made an observation that was more prophetic than he realized.

He was comparing the teams his Falcons will be playing this year, noting the sizes of some of their players, and said with a wry sort of smile, “We will be playing some big opponents this year.”

In the case of one opponent, “big” isn’t the word for them. Some professional teams don’t have this much bulk.

In fact, Spanish’s comment might be an advance warning to those living out near the football stadium, to get some kind of props or bulwarks around their houses before the night of Oct. 4. That night they might be thinking that they live in an earthquake zone.

That is when Woodland Hills comes to Connellsville, and to call the Wolverines big would be an understatement.

They have six players up front who average 6-1 and 296 pounds, with four of them going over 300. Their average would be even higher if it wasn’t for their “little” center who goes a mere 247. The two guards flanking him are 302 and 296, and the two tackles 304 and 307. Plus one guy on offense who won’t be starting but will play, and he hits 319.

And that’s high school players!

Former players can recall times that if a 200-pounder was up front he was considered a giant. How many 200’s did Connellsville have in 1941 when they battled for a spot in the WPIAL playoffs, only to be knocked out by a 14-14 tie with Brownsville?

Coaches back then prayed for big linemen. If tackles went 185-190, they were considered big, and if a lineman went 220-225, and up, college coaches would come flocking.

But in another sense, when talking about size, one can remember back to when Tom Sankovich was an assistant to the late Stan McLaughlin, coaching the linemen at Dunbar Township and then at Connellsville. Sank once observed, “Some coaches talk about not having big linemen. I never look at the size of the dog in the fight, but I sure do look at the size of the fight in the dog.”

Which explains why he coached some pretty good linemen over the years.

Anyway, if you folks out around Connellsville Stadium feel the earth shaking on Oct. 4, you will know why.