BY MIKE MASTOVICH
The Tribune-Democrat
JOHNSTOWN
September 10, 2009 09:56 am
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Chuck Wyatt played a significant role in Johnstown High School’s 500th football victory 21 years ago.
Wyatt, the current Trojans’ wide receivers coach, won’t be strapping on the pads as he did when Johnstown defeated Greensburg Salem 33-7 on Sept. 29, 1988 in Westmoreland County. But he hopes to participate in another milestone win.
Johnstown will take its third shot at the program’s 600th victory since 1898 on Friday night when Cambria Heights visits Trojan Stadium for a Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference game. Both teams dropped their season openers, and Johnstown lost to Hollidaysburg in the District 6 Class AAA final a year ago.
“It was special winning the 500th game,” said Wyatt, who caught a pair of Alex Roebuck passes for touchdowns and returned the second-half kickoff 89 yards for a third score in that game back in 1988. “We were undefeated at the time. All of the guys I played with, we had been together since junior high school. That whole season was special.
“We were playing in the WPIAL against some tough teams, and once we got the ball rolling, we were a team. When we approached that game we were looking forward to getting the victory for the school, the team and each other.”
The 500-victory milestone occurred during a special season, as the 1988 Trojans won their first 11 games and claimed the WPIAL Keystone Conference crown before falling to Blackhawk in the WPIAL AAA semifinals.
Current coach Kevin Marabito’s team stumbled against a highly regarded Forest Hills squad in the opener and is hoping to rebound against Cambria Heights, which fell to Somerset in Week 1.
Marabito said Johnstown is focusing on the Highlanders more so than on history, but the coach said Johnstown’s tradition speaks for itself.
“Not too many schools are in a position to get to 600 wins,” Marabito said. “I think being within reach of such a milestone is great for the school and all the people who played at Johnstown, all the former players. With all of the history at Johnstown, with the WPIAL championship teams, it’s something really special for the Johnstown area.”
‘A great tradition’
Only 18 Pennsylvania high school programs began this season with 600 or more wins, led by District 4 Mount Carmel’s 778 wins since 1893.
Johnstown began playing football in 1897 with two games – one against the Market Street Terrors and another against the West End A.C. – but didn’t play its first official high school opponent until 1898, a 24-0 victory over South Fork during the third and final contest of the season. All home games were played in Woodvale back then.
In more than a century since, the Trojans have established themselves as one of the state’s most successful programs.
Among the highlights have been undefeated seasons in 1908, 1911, 1912, 1917, 1919, 1941, 1958 and 1959. Johnstown went 27 consecutive games without a loss from 1958 to 1960. The 1988 team was 11-1.
Johnstown had been a charter member of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League and won WPIAL championships in 1941 and 1958 after playing to a scoreless tie in the 1917 league title game.
The 1958 team is legendary in city football lore. Coached by Dave Hart and assistant Blackie Mihalic, those Trojans went 11-0 in a season capped by a 3-0 victory over Clairton in the WPIAL title game at the former Pitt Stadium. Many of the players went on to Division I and even professional football careers.
“I remember when our group went in there as sophomores, we looked up to the seniors that were there and you knew how well they did. You just wanted to try to maybe do as well as they could perform,” said George Azar, the star lineman who booted the game-winning field goal in the 1958 WPIAL title game. “There was a great tradition at Johnstown. The coaching staff pushed you to a certain extent, but they made you come together as a unit. Everybody just pulled together. That’s how we developed. The following year after us, the team went undefeated, but they couldn’t get in the playoffs because of point system.”
‘They brought fame’
After the glory years of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, the Trojans fell into a slump. Johnstown went 22-71-5 from 1976 through 1985, a span without a winning season. Jerry Davitch, a lineman on the 1958 team and former Division I coach, returned to his alma mater in 1985 and helped rebuild the Trojans. Davitch’s teams went 37-23-3 and were a force in the WPIAL Keystone Conference.
But Johnstown was bumped up to Quad-A in the WPIAL during parts of the 1990s, and the program once again struggled to a 25-69-1 mark from 1992 through 2001.
After much speculation and debate, Johnstown left the WPIAL in 2002 and joined the LHAC, playing against programs in the region rather than traveling throughout western Pennsylvania.
Johnstown, a Class AAA school, is the largest in the Laurel Highlands, a fact that has brought some criticism from traditionalists. But the move definitely rejuvenated the program.
Under coach Bob Arcurio, Johns-town produced a pair of nine-win seasons and ended a long playoff drought.
Multiple Division I college products emerged, with Pitt graduate LaRod Stephens-Howling currently on the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals roster.
Antwuan Reed is at Pitt and Dave Istanich is at Florida International.
“Johnstown has always been respected over the years,” Arcurio said. “When I was a high school student and playing football we had one of the best programs in the state and one of the best coaches in the state in Dave Hart. The town was overwhelmed with that 1958 team. I was in ninth grade at the time, and those kids on the 1958 team were my heroes. They brought fame back to Johnstown.”
‘Consistency in winning’
Times and the game have changed, but the now-retired Arcurio believes the teams of the 2000s have begun to create their own legacy.
“The last five years we’ve got a lot of kids into college and a lot of kids into Division I college,” he said. “We’ve had (Pitt coach) Dave Wannstedt, (Penn State defensive coordinator and Johns-town native) Tom Bradley, and (former Pitt coach) Walt Harris walking through the halls of Johnstown. Major colleges know our program and have come into the school looking for kids.
“Some great things have happened in Johnstown. We have the new stadium. That first game in the new stadium in 2003 against Bishop McCort, there was so much electricity running through the stands, a packed house, standing room only. I’ll never forget that game as long as I live. We have a lot of rich tradition. We’re adding on to it year to year.”
In District 6, only Huntingdon (640) has 600 wins. Eight District 6 teams have 500 or more wins, with Johns-town the only area squad in that group. District 5 Windber has 572 wins since 1914.
“That’s amazing, when you think of the number of wins – 600 – my gosh,” Azar said. “The most people can get up to is 12 or so games. That’s a lot of years. You’d have to have the consistency there.
“Johnstown, for so many years, had such great consistency in winning. It was just because of the way that you were brought up, the town and the coaches. In football season, everyone in the entire town was behind you.”
From 1898 captain-quarterback Jack Henderson to 1941 all-staters Johnny Makar and Lawrence Schellhammer, to Azar, Davitch and the ’58 squad, to Wyatt and Roebuck, to current players such as quarterback John Siciliano and slot back Jordan Jefferson, all have played a part in 599 wins. So have coaches such as Duke Weigle, Clark Shaffer, Hart, Mihalic, Davitch, Arcurio and Marabito.
“If you played there, if you coached there, you’re all part of the 600 victories when it happens,” Arcurio said. “You’re all part of this winning tradition. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
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