Out of the Past
1967: Close games were lost for want of an extra point Remember that old analogy about how for want of a nail the shoe was lost? The shoe caused the horse and rider to be lost, and so on, until the loss of everything was blamed on one nail being misplaced.
There are times when you can also say the same thing about for want of an extra point the game was lost, and so on.
For a couple examples of that, let’s go awayyyyyy back to this week in 1967 and pick up where the last column left off.
There were some weekend football games being played, and in a couple cases the final decisions rested on extra points going awry.
Connellsville was hooked up in one of its usual strong battles with Mount Pleasant, and the Vikings got two scores from their big, strong fullback Bob Gorinski who was usually more at home on another field with a baseball bat in his big hands.
Dennis Marzano squeezed in from the one, and late in the fourth, Les Hart circled end 11 yards. But after the second score, the PAT try was wild, and the Falcons wound up losing 14-13.
The same afternoon, up at Harnedsville, Barney Eisentrout raced 51 yards for a first quarter score, and again from the four in the fourth. But both times, the PAT try was smothered, and Turkeyfoot wound up losing to West Newton, 13-12.
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In other football action:
l Tom Surlas, who would go on to become an all-conference linebacker for Bear Bryant at Alabama and then play in the short-lived AFL, put on an offensive display as Southmoreland blanked South Huntingdon, 21-0. Surlas scored on runs of 2, 4, and 8-yards in the first three quarters, and Dave Czerniak kicked three PATs as the Scotties gave new coach Ray Gorman his first win.
l German Twp. got its second win, 26-6 over Avella, with linemen having two of the Uhlan scores. Avella went to punt in the first, but Ed Petcheny charged in and blocked the kick with lineman Charles Woolridge recovering at the 20 and going in for the score. DL Gene Edwards swiped an Avella pass and ran 55 yards for another score, and Randy Mosely ran 93 and 7-yards for the other TDs. Charley Dues kicked two PAT.
l Fred Stuvek passed for three TDs to lead Carmichaels past West Greene, 41-14. He threw 56-yards to Dave Penish, 50 to Jim Weido, and 31 to Kenny Jones, and in between Dave Bane ran 10, 32, and 68 yards for scores. Toth (3), Weido, and Stuvek ran the PATs. Ken Moore (8-yards) and Ken Rhome (5-yards) got the WG scores.
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In other sports that week:
l Connellsville scored 60 points to win the Uniontown X-Country Invitational, followed by Clairton with 73, Canon-McMillan 94, Laurel Highlands and Mon Valley Catholic 104, host Uniontown 130, Latrobe 149, Geibel 155, Monongahela 160, and St. John 162. Sam Martin (Clairton) won the 2.5-mile race at the Uniontown Country Club, in 11:59, and Don Fosselman (CAHS) was second in 12:03. Other locals runners in the top-10 included Dan Cole (CAHS), 4th, 12:14; Ritz (U), 6th, 12:25; Butterfield (LH), 8th, 12:38; Ross (U), 9th, 12:39; and Leos (U), 10th, 12:41. Greg Dixon (15), Pat Raymond (17), and Don Echard (22) completed Falcon scoring.
l Starters listed for California State in its home opener with Marietta include RB Ken Chenger (North Union), RB Jim Boggio and G Emil Litwin (Carmichaels), TE Tom Polosky (Brownsville), RB Fred Tarpley and DE Marv Elder (Uniontown), and center Jeff Weaver (California).
l Tom Haller led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run to give San Francisco a 1-0 win over the Pirates.
l Coolspring Softball League held its awards night program, with Albert Botti as speaker. Awards went to Sonny Oris, most valuable player; Buddy Quertinmont, batting champion (.471) and doubles leader (10); Jerry Weltz, hits (50) and runs scored (31) leader; Joe Beal, triples (7); Gutch DeBerry, RBI leader (26), and a five-way tie for the home run lead with three each, among Hawk David, Jim Butler, Jim Dice, Turk Vargo and Pat Trimbath.
l Al DeStefano and Don Pritchard scored 57 to win the member-member, best-ball-of-2, full handicap golf event at Pleasant Valley CC. Audley Paterline and Ed Sowden, and Bryan Hayden and John Herr tied for second, with 58.
l Southmoreland split two x-country runs, losing to Norwin, 24-31, and downing Geibel, 19-36. Against Norwin, Chuck Marshall was second overall and first for SHS, in 11:54. Marshall won the Geibel race in 11:04, followed by Bob Pritts and John Chlebowski. Phil Foley was fourth overall and first for Geibel.
l Tri-Town was recognized for winning the Connellsville Little League championship for the eighth time in the last nine years, under the management of Dr. Bill Colvin. Coaches were Harold Livingston, Bob Coughenour Jr., Bill Miller, and Bob Bloom, and players included Dennis McBeth, Mark Baird, Ron Addis, Dick Husband, Dennis Lohr,. Shane Kovack, Ron Fuller, Bob Lynn, Greg Rubis, Bob Rosensteel, Cary Keffer, Steve Campbell, Paul Puskar and Dave Beck.
l QB John Cartwright, Sharon Hill, formerly of Connellsville, is starting his third year as quarterback at the U.S. Naval Academy. Last year he set new USNA records for TD passes in one game (3) and for the season (10).
l ‘Rho Dylan,’ a red checker from the Aggie Marinelli Loft, Connellsville, won the weekly competition of the Connellsville Homing Pigeon Racing Club, covering the run from Lancaster, Ohio, in 4:34, averaging 1,032 yards per minute.
Jim Kriek is a Herald-Standard Sports Correspondent.