Charleroi’s Goimarac used size, talent to excel in football
Pete Goimarac earned All-WPIAL and All-State honors as a football player for the Cougars, then went on to be named All-Southern Conference and second team All-American at West Virginia. (Photo courtesy of Tom Jenkins)
Submitted photo
Charleroi graduate Pete Goimarac was a talented and versatile player who could play any position on the offensive line. He starred for the Cougars and at West Virginia. (Photo courtesy of Tom Jenkins)
All football fans know the names, statistics and even the jersey numbers of the stars who play the glamor positions — the legends such as Jim Brown, Gale Sayers and Johnny Unitas. However, those men wouldn’t have had gaping holes to dart through or impenetrable pockets to provide them with ample time to unleash passes without the men who do the grunt work in the trenches.
Charleroi High School’s Pete Goimarac was one such blue collar worker.
A 1960 graduate, Goimarac participated in both football and track for the Cougars, but the recognition he did gain came from his gridiron play. His talent was so obvious, his legendary coach, Rab Currie, gave him the starting nod on the offensive line when he was a mere sophomore.
Charleroi sports historian Tom Jenkins noted that the 6-foot-3, 220-pound tackle, who played at the end position on defense, was “extremely fast for a player his size. There was hardly anybody that big in high school then. That size made you a behemoth back then. He was also so versatile that Currie used him at every offensive line position. The coaching staff even considered using him as a fullback.” In fact, at times during practices, Goimarac worked out as a fullback. “He was one of a kind.”
He continued to shine as a junior — so much that he was named to the 1958 second team All-Big Six squad at the tackle spot. In the 1959 season his Cougars enjoyed a glistening season, winning their conference title then advancing to capture the WPIAL championship by squeaking by Aliquippa at Pitt Stadium by a 13-12 score after initially building up a 13-0 lead. The Quips stormed back with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, but they failed twice to convert on their extra point attempts. The exciting victory capped off a perfect 11-0 season.
It marked only the second time Charleroi had an undefeated football team. The other time was in 1936 with a team which also won the WPIAL crown.
The 1959 Cougars were ranked as the fifth best high school team in the country. Jenkins stated, “Only number one Massillion, Ohio, number two Miami Edison, number three Lane Tech of Chicago, and number four New Dorp of N.Y. were ahead of this group of Cougars.”
Then a senior, Goimarac wasn’t through compiling honors. He went on to make the All-Big Six first team as an unanimous selection, this time as a guard. Jenkins recalled, “He was picked as a combination end, tackle, guard, center on the Big 33 squad that played the National High School All-American team in Hershey. Pete started that game as the center and his teammate Gary Hogan was the starting quarterback. The game, which was played in a driving rain storm, ended in a 0-0 tie.” Incidentally, Hogan and Goimarac grew up in the same neighborhood.
Goimarac’s honors also included making first team All-WPIAL and first team All-State. Jenkins added, “To cap off a great scholastic career, Pete was named to the High School All-American team by Scholastic Magazine and was named second team All-American by a national poll of coaches, writers broadcasters and college and professional scouts.”
Naturally, Goimarac was flooded with college scholarship offers. He finally decided to head west to South Bend, Indiana, to join the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He wasn’t there too long before he decided it would be wise to transfer to West Virginia. That was probably a great decision as it was there, as a Mountaineer, that his talent again emerged. He was a three-year starter and letterman as a linebacker and center, and he was selected to serve as the team captain when he was a senior. As a senior he had 43 solo tackles plus 34 assists, and, in a game versus Pitt, he set a school record with 16 tackles.
In addition, he was All-Southern Conference as a junior and senior at the center position. To top things off, in his senior season, 1963, Goimarac was selected to the second team All-American squad.
Goimarac was so impressive he was coveted by two pro leagues. In 1964, he was drafted in the fifth round by the San Diego Chargers of the old AFL, a team which was coming off a championship season. The Philadelphia Eagles made him the 86th overall NFL pick that same year. He opted to sign with the Eagles, a move that earned him a $5,000 signing bonus. He made it all the way to the team’s final cut, but, unfortunately did not play in an NFL regular season contest.
In 1987, Goimarac was inducted into the Charleroi High School football Hall of Fame. Twenty-three years later he was selected (posthumously) as an honoree in the Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame. In 2002, at the age of 59, Goimarac passed away at his Palm Coast, Florida, residence.