Out of The Past
1973: When Dennis Garrett and John Culp made J-M football history One of the oldest reminders in football, whether played at the scholastic, collegiate, or professional levels, is that running the ball is the safest way to keep possession.
A coach once reminded that when you put the ball in the air, three things can happen, and two of them are bad. Therefore, you stay on the ground. His teams did, and with great success, over the years.
Jefferson-Morgan borrowed a page from that running book wayyyyy back in 1973, and unless records can show otherwise, the Rockets might still hold a record of some sorts for one game they won that year.
Jefferson-Morgan came out running at the start of the game against Avella, and kept right on running.
Before the day was over Dennis Garrett and John Culp had written a page of Rocket football history while sparking a 47-16 win.
The Rockets won the pre-game toss and elected to receive.
Garrett caught the kickoff at his own 15, broke free at about the 30, and outran everybody for a quick lead. A little bit later, he was off and running again, this time with a pitch from Bob Dugan on his own 25, and 75 yards later he had left everybody in his wake for another score.
John Culp had a short burst of 5 yards for another Rocket score, and then Avella got its first TD. The Eagles kicked off, and Culp caught the ball at his own 15, from where he, too, was off to the races for an 85-yard offsetting TD.
On the next Rocket possession, Culp had a “short” TD jaunt of 57 yards to score, and Kevin Martin followed with a 10-yarder.
Can anybody remember that “triple” ever being duplicated, including twice by one player in one game, and if so, when did it happen?
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In other football action that weekend:
– Upper St. Clair drove 57 yards in three plays with time running out and tripped Uniontown, 8-3. John Lizza kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second period, and UHS held that lead until the final minute.
– Laurel Highlands capitalized on turnovers to beat Clairton, 27-14, the fourth win in a row by coach Bill Elias’ Mustangs. Chuck Correal caught a 25-yard pass from Jeff Weaver and returned a pass theft 75 yards, and Jeff Ramsey plunged 2 yards and caught a 9-yard pass from Weaver for Mustang scores.
– Chartiers-Houston pulled away in the second half to beat German Twp., 23-15. GT moved 53 yards in 13 plays for the first score with Ralph Still plunging from the one. John Spak passed 7 yards to Jim Patitucci for the other score, and to Still for the PAT.
– Albert Gallatin scored on a 20-yard run by Ralph Strimmel with a blocked punt, but Brentwood shut the door after that, and went on to win, 22-6.
– Bentworth scored early, then held off a late comeback by Mapletown to edge the Maples, 24-14. Ralph Billetz (2 yards) and Rex Burkholder (36 yards) got the MHS scores.
– Fairchance-Georges collared Serra, 26-0, as Herb Reese ran 2 and 16 yards, Elvis Matlick 28, and Marty Jordan 6, for scores. Duane Reckard had the longest run of the day, 44 yards.
– John Menhart rushed for 142 yards and reached 1,110 for the season, plus he added three scores, as Carmichaels beat West Greene, 24-6. Menhart ran 50, 3, and 4 yards for scores, and Jim Yeash added a 2-yarder, as the Mikes got their fifth win.
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Elsewhere that week:
– Nizar Zubchevich (Beth-Center) scored on runs of 30 and 3 yards to help West Virginia Wesleyan defeat Waynesburg, 24-6.
– California nipped Shippensburg, 21-13, with Dan Kordich (Frazier) scoring on a pair of 1-yard plunges, and Gary Michaux (California) running 9 yards. Steve Toth (Carmichaels) ran 56 yards to set up the first score.
– Albert Gallatin JVs stopped German, 22-12. Charles Bucklew ran 5 yards and had one PAT, Greg Krempa passed 60 yards to Bill Butterworth, and Butterworth ran 70 yards with a pass interception for AG scores. Patitucci ran 6 and 7 yards for Uhlan TDs.
– Jonathon Clark ran 65 yards for the only score, and then added the PAT, as German Junior High collared Frazier, 8-0.
– Greene County Country Club recognized club golf champions for the year, Rich DiNardo in the men’s division, and Patty Holupka in the women’s division.
– Freshman Bill Lukach (Laurel Highlands) is a member of the JV football team at Indiana, Pa.
– Tom Hull (Uniontown) was the No. 2 tackler for the Penn State defense with 25 solos and 25 assists for a total of 50.
– Stu Lantz (Uniontown) scored 40 points in five games for the NBA Detroit Pistons, plus catching 12 rebounds, nine off the defensive boards.
– Fred Pagac (Beth-Center) was the No. 2 pass catcher for Ohio State, with (believe it or not!) three for 49 yards. To that point the ground-minded Buckeyes had passed only 41 times in five games, completing 18.
– Buck Mrozek (Royal) was named most valuable player for the season at the annual banquet of the Fayette Traveling League. Individual team MVP awards went to Mike Dvorchak, Keister; Jack Stafire, Colonial; Jack Garbutt, Searights; Bob Volek, Smock; Bill Umbel, Filbert; Bob Buttermore, Braznell; and Ed Elnikar, Perry Sokols. Luther Harrison also received a trophy as the oldest active player in the league.
– The Steelers scored a very costly 20-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Terry Bradshaw and Frenchy Fuqua suffered broken collarbones, and backup QB Terry Hanratty suffered a rib injury. The Steelers (6-1) were leading the Central Division over Cleveland (4-2-1).
– And does this sound just a little bit familiar? A front page story that week noted that businesses around the country had to cut back on plans for Christmas decorations for economic reasons. A poem with the story noted “T’was two months before Christmas, and all through the nation, Holiday planners preached conservation. Santa’s bright lights, his greetings for Yule, were cut back and dimmed, by the shortage of fuel.”
Remember?
Jim Kriek is a Herald-Standard sports correspondent.