Jul 3, 2022 By George Von Benko for The 5 min read

In Jeff Petrucci’s first season as Belle Vernon football coach in 1975 after coming over from Ringgold, his first order of business was establishing a winning culture at BVA and instilling pride that would be the bedrock of a successful program.

Based on the GITO golf outing (Greek’s In Town Open), which was held June 25 at Cedarbrook Golf Course, the seeds that Petrucci planted years ago have borne fruit. Forty golfers, many former BVA football players, participated and about 40 more guests who had ties to BVA showed up for the cookout following the golf outing.

“It is something we tried to establish when I came to Belle Vernon as a coach,” Petrucci stated. “To establish that our teammates are our family. We did it. Look at them, they are still together.

“Last year when Bill Contz called me, I had no knowledge of this. Now I won’t miss it because this is a very important part of my life. These kids were so important, even 40 years later. It’s more important to me than it is to them. I truly believe that.”

The GITO golf outing was started by former Leopard Jimmy Drizos and this was the eighth get-together.

“These are just good buddies from childhood,” Drizos said. “There’s several guys I was in kindergarten with, guys I played Little League baseball with, Midget League football with, and we’ve just been good friends. I had to leave home in the 1980s and it’s tough to leave home. I left for Washington, D.C., and I’m now in Charlotte.

“These are the best guys in the world and I kept close with them. Several guys are here that not only played football in my era, but we have guys that are younger than us that have kept on the tradition and kept up friendships. It is cross-generational and we’ve actually been fortunate to have nephews, sons, brother-in-laws come and join. It has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with everyone else.

“I called some guys in 2014 and said I’m coming to town, does anyone want to go and play golf? We had such a good time and we said we should do this more often and invite some more guys. It grew to this and that’s how The Greek’s In Town Open started.”

In Petrucci’s six campaigns at Belle Vernon he was 46-17-1. Belle Vernon didn’t lose a conference game in three years. In 1978, 1979 and 1980 the Leopards were 25-0-1 in conference play with three straight WPIAL playoff appearances.

Petrucci looks back on the run of conference titles with a great deal of pride.

“Once we got it rolling we all believed,” Petrucci stated. “We worked hard, we had great kids with really good football coaches that cared about their kids and it was just a real big family atmosphere.”

“The Pride is still there,” Contz said. “Coach Petrucci played such a pivotal role. He was an agent of change and he put Belle Vernon football on the map. We reached a level that the school hadn’t achieved before and it was primarily due to great coaches that surrounded him, work ethic, a can-do attitude, why not us, whatever analogy works, but something changed when coach Petrucci arrived and we’re all grateful because of it.”

The GITO golf outing is proof positive that the bonds of BVA football remain very strong.

“I’m just a figurehead,” Drizos said in downplaying his role. “Coach Petrucci is here and coaches Denny Neupaver and Dave Simon, they pushed us and they were hard, but they made us better. They treated us equal, we didn’t have any superstars on our team, but we played as a team and those are values that we have taken on into our adult life. We talk about the past, but we make memories every year.”

“It is a unique get-together,” Contz offered. “It is a gathering of old friends who enjoy each others’ company and it is great to see so many friendly faces that carved out some time from their weekend to get together and catch up.

“It means as much to us to see Petrucci. We’re all getting on in years and most of us are in our early 60s and we’re not quite sure how many more years we can continue to do this. It’s a great mix of people and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of it.”

Leopard pride was on full display at the GITO golf outing.

“Our conditioning at the end of every practice was called prides,” Petrucci said. “That’s what we did and we ran until we dropped.”

That pride is being passed on to the younger generation.

“We have a younger generation that has embraced this,” Contz explained. “We hope we pass the torch to them at some point and they take a leadership role. Leopard Pride is a great way to summarize what you see here today.”

George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Sunday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.