Jack Fudala, football
Jack Fudala is from an athletic family, but it wasn’t until he got a strange wake-up call in sixth grade that the athlete in young Jack truly emerged.
“My little sister (Bailey) beat me in a race when I was in sixth grade and she was in third grade,” Fudala said. “I wasn’t much of an athlete back then. We would always race up the hill to the house when we got off the school bus, just to see who could get there first. One day she beat me. I said, something’s wrong, this has got to change. That really motivated me to become a workhorse in the weight room and on the field.”
Not only did young Bailey motivate her older brother, she gave him someone to look up to. Jack lists his sister as the person who has had the greatest influence on him as an athlete, even though his grandfather, Noel Whipkey, played fullback at West Virginia University.
Fudala was chosen as Waynesburg Central’s fall sports male representative in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program. He is the son of Vicki and Mark Fudala of Waynesburg. His only sibling is Bailey Fudala, a WCHS freshman who plays on Waynesburg Central’s girls soccer team.
Fudala has overcome plenty during his days with the Raiders. Most recently, he overcame a severe knee injury that wiped out his track and field season last year. He is a linebacker and running back on the football team and the injury occurred late last season.
“I used to run track until last year, when I tore my ACL and MCL,” Fudala said. “I got hurt playing football, but I only missed the last regular-season game and the playoff game. I didn’t get to play in the playoff game, which was kind of a bummer, but I didn’t miss much of the season.”
After missing track season last year, Fudala was determined to get back on the football field as a senior this fall.
“The coaches and my teammates pushed me through six months of rigorous rehab to get me back on the field,” he said. “I have brothers on the team, they are like brothers to me, anyway I had to come back for them and for coach (Russ) Moore.”
Letting down teammates and/or coaches is something Fudala learned while rehabbing, but remembers to this day.
“We had a lot of senior leadership, which was nice last year,” he said. “They pushed us pretty hard. When I was running sprints, I wouldn’t want to let down our seniors. That actually comes up when you are contemplating giving up, you have to think about everyone else on the team.”
Fudala plans to continue playing football in college and has a few options.
“I visited Case Western, the College of Wooster and Dickinson,” Fudala said. “Everybody has told me I would play linebacker, so hopefully that’s what I will play in college. I will study finance and my favorite subject is accounting. I hope to become a very successful financial adviser and to hopefully start my own firm one day.”
Where is it that Jack Fudala would like to open his own financial advising firm? On the water in Florida, of course, because it’s his favorite place to be.
“I’d like to live on the water in Florida near the rest of my family. Most of my family is down in Florida,” Fudala said, noting that his mother moved to southwestern Pennsylvania to go to college. “My grandfather played for WVU, so my mom came back up here to go to college and that’s where she met my dad. Florida is my favorite place on earth. Great place to visit, great place for a vacation and a great place to live.”
Fudala’s grandfather, Noel Whipkey, was a fullback for the Mountaineers from 1956-1958. He ran for 550 yards and scored six touchdowns. He also caught eight passes for 67 yards. Making Whipkey proud and happy, Fudala leads Waynesburg Central in scoring with six touchdowns (36 points) and has gained over 300 yards rushing for the Raiders.