Posts Tagged football

      Long before Lincoln High School there was the Ellwood City High School out of the Central School on the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Sixth Street. The School did not field a football team in 1902 as there were not enough boys in the school to put a team on the field but the community still had a team. A great team as it turns out. 
      The Ellwood Athletic Club put together a football team to take the field for Ellwood and in turn, that team finished undefeated and attracted crowds estimated at 1,000 for most of its games. The climax of that history making season was on a snowy Thursday afternoon in the final game of the season when the Ellwood A.C. team defeated a Grove City team by a score of 11-0. Touchdowns at that time were worth only five points.
      That game and the others played by the team were probably played in Burnstown. The Ellwood Citizens band was on hand that day and furnished some music, according to a Dec. 5, 1902 edition of the Ellwood Citizen.
      The team was organized in September of that year by the Ellwood Athletic Club. John Offutt, superintendent of the Shelby Tube Company, was in charge of finances and also played in the teams first game a 24-0 victory over New Castle – but apparently did not play after that.
      The picture here is of the 1903 Ellwood City Athletic Clubs football team. Pictured include back row Aussin, unknown, Bill Robbins, unknown, unknown, Al Crone, Bid Gillespie, Judd Turner; Front row, Govern (Mack) McMurdo, unknown, Dave Havise, Laughlin McConahy, unknown; Front; Bert Gates. This picture of the team was taken in front of the Central School. It too was an independent team, and not affiliated with the school. It was not until 1904 that the Ellwood City High School fielded its first football team and not until 1925 that Ellwood would triumph over rival New Castle.

        The Boltbusters were a Semi-Professional football team in Ellwood City. The team was founded in 1947 by former High School players returning from serving in World War II. The first year the team was simply the Sportsman Club. It was not until 1948 that the team changed its name to the Boltbusters.
      The team played in the Lawrence County Football Semi-Pro league and continued playing games into the 1950′s. We have talked to a number of people that have fond memories of going to watch these games and remember how good these guys could play the game. The V.F.W Post 252 not only sponsored the team but also housed them. The players would meet at the V.F.W. and dress upstairs where their uniforms were kept and then travel to the field for practice or games.
      Carl Agostinelli, one of the few surviving members, was more than happy to help us and gave us the names of the players from this 1928 Championship team…

Front Row Left to Right: H. Young, Leo Presto, Phil Konyak, Al Geniviva, Denn Pelloni, Lou Chiro, Harry Hughes, Bob Chesko, Bill Young, A. Orlando (manager)

Second Row Left to Right: Carl Agostinelli, Nick Sudeno, Bill O’Brien, Will Wiltrout, Mike Raykovich, Joe Vargo, Dale Tillia, Henry Mancini, Bill McClintic, Jack Desport, Ziggy Glogowski

Third Row from the Left: Joe Turner (manager), Frank Ritorto, Danny O’Shurek, Bob Figurell, Jay Mikosh, Carl Ottobre, Chub Thomas, Nick Dudick, Joe Eonta, Marty Abbaticchio, Carl Bintrim, Jack Menied

      We would enjoy hearing your memories of the mighty Boltbusters. Please share your comments below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      The first annual Ellwood City Arts, Crafts, and Food Festival was a two day event that stretched all over the town. On that Fourth of July weekend back in 1981; Ellwood City hosted bicycle races, hot air balloon rides, a 10K race, a car show, and a parade.

      As you can see in the picture here Lawrence Avenue was still a one way street with parking on the south side of the street. Also, there are a number of buildings that are no longer part of the Ellwood City landscape and business like the Ellwood City Hardware and G.C. Murphy that are also but a memory. The old firetrucks taking part in the Saturday afternoon parade are also quite impressive.

      The free hot air balloon rides for children were to take place at the baseball fields in Ewing Park. A large crowd gathered as the balloon was unfolded but were disappointed when officials decided that due to the weather, the balloon was not erected. The picture of the balloon sprawled out on the field is the only picture we at EC Memories have of the old Helling stadium football field.

      It was estimated that 1,500 people walked through Helling Stadium Saturday and Sunday to view the eighty vehicles entered in the Arts, Crafts, and Food Festival Auto Show. It was sponsored by the Woman’s softball league at Stiefel Park.

       As for the festival itself, it was not quite like the festival we are used to today. In this section of the park, the crowd is walking to the various displays while children are playing on the park’s outdoor equipment. Most, if not all, of the playground equipment in the picture including the three swing sets, the tables, and the slide are no longer in the park.
One thing that has not changed from the first Arts, Crafts, and Food Festival to today was that on that first Festival, Saturday’s crowd was smaller because of rain.  We would enjoy hearing your memories of the festival in the park. Please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

       Melwood Norman “Buzz” Guy, Jr. (born March 20, 1936 in New Castle, Pennsylvania) is a former Lincoln High School graduate who went on to play offensive lineman professionally in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL).
      Guy played college football at Duke University where he anchored a top notch line that led Duke to be the best football program in the ACC and considered one of the best in the country. One of the University’s greatest seasons saw the 1957 Blue Devils represent the ACC in the Orange Bowl and finish the season with a No. 16 national ranking.
       Buzz was drafted in the third round of the 1958 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He first saw playing time with the New York Giants (1958-1959) including the 1958 Title game referred to as “The Greatest Game Ever Played” (resulting in a 23 to 17 overtime loss to the Baltimore Colts). Guy earned the rare distinction of being a starter with the Dallas Cowboys during their first season in the league after being selected by the Cowboys in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft. Mr. Guy also played for the AFL’s Denver Broncos in 1961 and the Houston Oilers.
      The mountain of a man from Ellwood City played offensive guard throughout his career. After his playing days were over, he worked as a salesman for the Borg-Warner Co. Back in Ellwood City with his wife Louise Ramella Guy, Buzz belonged to the Lions Club, was a Cub Scout Leader, and enjoyed golfing and remodeling older homes.
      If you would like to share your memories of Buzz Guy, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

       James Edward MacMurdo was born in Ellwood City September 2, 1909. Known more commonly as “Big Jim”, he was an offensive lineman in the National Football League, playing for the Boston Braves/Redskins and the Philadelphia Eagles.
      Before Big Jim’s illustrious college football career at the University of Pittsburgh, he anchored the offensive line at the center position on the area’s greatest football team; the 1925 Ellwood City squad. 
      MacMurdo was not drafted out of college but the 6’1″ 209 pound man played six seasons in the NFL at guard and tackle. In 1932 and 33 he played for the Boston Braves and from 1934-37 he wore a Philadelphia jersey. In his six professional seasons, Big Jim started forty-six games and in 1933 he had one rushing attempt for two yards.
      We would enjoy hearing any memories you might have of Mr. MacMurdo. Please share your memories below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

       In his eighteen year coaching span here, the ledgendary coach Bill Spellman turned Ellwood City into one of the best High School teams in the area winning two WPIAL championships back when the league consisted of 130 teams as there were no separations based on school size such as single A, triple A, as it is today. His team barely missed a third title during his tenure on the final at at-bats in the final inning. 
       During Spellman’s final ten years, Ellwood City won the section title eight out of those ten years, won two league championships, finished runner-up once and reached the semi finals three other times. His career total of 320 wins and 87 losses gives him a remarkable winning rate of 79%. His teams compiled incredible records such as 23-3 (1962), 20-2 (1965). 27-2 (1968) 26-4(1969) and 30-7 (1971), winning sixteen games in a row that his final season.

Excerpt from Spellman: One Man’s Influence by Rev. John Zingaro
       “In that day, athletes tended to play two sports, sometime three. Many teens from the schools in the area who faced each other in football and basketball would also meet in baseball. Thus, stars from nearby towns like Joe Namath and Mike Ditka who gave Ellwood City headaches in the autumn and winter also played against the local boys in the spring. But, in the spring, schools which gave Ellwood City trouble in other sports met their match. Ellwood became a powerhouse in baseball. Playing against schools two to five times its size, Spellman’s teams rose to renown in the second largest high school league in the nation, the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL).
      A modest man, Spellman often gave credit to others. And rightly so. He knew how dedicated were many dads and moms in the steel town of Ellwood City – as well as those in its neighboring communities of Koppel, Wampum, Chewton, Wurtemburg and Ellport. They formed the foundation for the coach’s success by creating one of the nations earliest and best-organized sandlot baseball programs. But once the youths arrived at Lincoln High School, it was Spellman who took them to an even higher level.”
 

    Around the turn of the century, the Shelby Tube Mill team was one of the best in the area consisting of Judd Turner, Bid Gillespie, Bill Robbins, Paul Luther, Bill Bayers, Chip Bayers, Joe Havice, Danny Bookamer, Barney McKay, and former minor leaguer Connie Wardman (who mentored Major League Hall of Fame Hack Wilson).

      Paul Luther was the star pitcher of the team leading the 1909 team to a 19-1 record. Later he played an important role in building the Veterans Memorial swimming pool and the Helling Stadium football field in Ewing Park along with teammate William Bayers.

    The Shelby Tube Mill sponsored a baseball team from 1900 to 1910 and the area’s best players seemed to always find their way onto the team.

From time to time, we get post suggestions, but recently we received an entire post from a Riverside alumnus that we decided to share:

    “There’s a cold chill and the smell of winter in the air. The sun has gone down and the lights shine brightly across 100 yards of grass with two competitors lined up across from each other. As you drive by the stadium, you can hear the hum of fans cheering on their team. Friday night high school football is one of the most exciting things to experience in the fall, but even more exciting than that is waking up on Saturday morning, dew still on the grass, and heading out to watch your alma mater JV football team finally get the chance to face an opponent after a week of running scout team defense and offence to get the varsity team ready for the big game. It’s finally their time to shine and although their names, let alone the game, don’t appear in the paper the next day those boys bust their butts and have a great time doing it. That’s what makes it so much fun to watch, the fact that the underdog finally gets their time to shine. It may only be in a stadium of under fifty people but I’ve never seen such excitement in a boy’s eye when he finally gets his chance to see the field after unselfishly working hard for the greater good of the varsity all week long.

    As a college student, I don’t make my way home often, but when I do you better believe I make my way out to watch my alma mater, Riverside High School, play football. I may enjoy sitting with the crowd and cheering during that Friday night game but even more than that I am one of those few members in the crowd during a Saturday morning JV game. When I’m home, I make it a point to visit these games because these boys don’t seem to get the credit they deserve. I watch as the varsity team succeeds or fails the night before and know that behind every success they celebrate is a group of boys who unselfishly put in just as much time as those varsity boys to receive little to no credit from the fans, the papers, the varsity players, and the varsity coaches. These JV boys prepare their varsity team for those Friday night games and in my eyes without them it would be difficult for varsity to experience any success. This goes for all teams, not just my alma mater, where JV stands every Friday night cheering on the team they worked so diligently to prepare to wake up the next morning and play hard without cheering on from all of their varsity players and coaches.

    It’s time Riverside junior varsity gets their time to shine and so is the reason for this article. This may not appear in the paper and there may not be many people that even read it, but I know that I’ve done my part to support the team that supports the varsity who receives the reward and credit for the success they have.

    In a three week span during the 2010 season the Riverside JV football team has defensively not given up a single point playing respectable teams such as Beaver Falls, Springdale, and rival school Ellwood City. Offense has also done quite the job as well putting points on the score board. Riverside’s offense has compiled scores of 28-0, 36-0, and 36-0 for an outstanding 100 points in three weeks. Offense and Defense have worked hard together for Riverside’s JV football team to be able to outscore their opponents 100-0 in just three weeks time. Along with these three amazing games, Riverside JV also celebrated a victory over Mohawk (21-0) leaving them at a 4-3 record on the season.

    On that note, I want anyone who takes a few minutes to read this article to also take even 30 seconds and celebrate our Riverside JV Football team with big congratulations for the success they have had over this past football season. Whether you’re from Riverside or another school, I also want you to consider taking some time to head out and watch your unsung athletes as they get their chance to step on the field after a week of unselfish hard work for the greater good of the varsity team.” – Author Unknown

    The story of the 1985 Riverside Panthers Football team actually begins with the last game of the 1984 WPIAL Class AA Championship game that took place in New Castle, PA. Beaver Falls edged out Riverside 14-13 to capture the crown. Flash forward to week seven of the regular season in 1985 when Riverside hosted the defending WPIAL Class AA champions Beaver Falls. Riverside and Beaver Falls were battling for the MAC conference lead along with Beaver and cross town rival Ellwood City.
    After leading for almost the entire second half of the game, Riverside watched Beaver Falls tie the game 7-7 halfway through the fourth quarter when Beaver Falls capped an eighty yard, twelve play touchdown drive. Then with six minutes and thirty-one seconds to go in the final quarter, 5-8″ 137 pound junior reserve running back Curt Houk took the ensuing kick-off and rattled off a ninety-two yard kickoff return behind a tremendous block from Mark Altsman giving Riverside a 14-7 lead that would ultimately be the final score in the Panther victory.
    Of course Houk did not win the game by himself but rather Head Coach Karl Florie’s game plan of ball control offense was more of a factor. Mike Potter had 127 yards rushing on 34 carries and scored the first touchdown of the game with twelve seconds remaining in the first half. A half of football that seen Riverside run forty-four plays to Beaver Falls fourteen plays. But the capper was when Beaver Falls drove down to Riverside’s nine yard line with forty-five seconds remaining in the game. Beaver Falls quarterback Arthur Henderson was chased out of the pocket and tried to hit his receiver at the goal line but was picked off by Altsman to clinch the game. The victory left Riverside and Beaver tied for the MAC lead with Ellwood City and Beaver Falls now a half game behind.
    After Beaver Falls, Riverside played Quaker Valley before facing Ellwood City for what be the MAC Championship. Against Quaker Valley, Riverside rolled up 434 total yards total; 366 of those yards coming on the ground lead by Senior halfback Mike Potter. Riverside easily won 39 to 6 improving their record to 7-1, 6-1 in the MAC section.
    The back yard rivalry game between Riverside and Ellwood City carried more heat than usual and the MAC Championship. The highly anticipated game was decided very early in the game when Ellwood City was unable to get two punts offs resulting in two cheap Panther touchdowns. Mike Potter recovered both bobbled snaps; the first on the one yard line, the second was recovered on Ellwood City’s seventeen. Ellwood scratched back to within four points at halftime though. 
    The second half saw Ellwood City drive all the way down to the five yard line but it was Riverside’s Craig Richards that came up with a big tackle on fourth down to keep Ellwood City out of the end zone. After the momentum deflating fourth down goal line stance, Riverside was able to move the ball and control the clock deep into the fourth quarter. Riverside iced the victory when Quarterback Melfi broke loose from five yards out to put Riverside up 21 – 10.
    The first round of the playoffs witnessed Riverside outlast Sto-Rox 22-20 at Riverside. The second round matched Riverside up with Freeport and the weather was not kind. With two minutes left in regulation in a steady downpour that caused the field to resemble a swamp more than a football field, Riverside was down to third and goal at Freeport’s five yard line with the score tied 0-0. A mishandled exchange between quarterback and center put the ball on the ground and Freeport jumped on it. The game was going to overtime.
    In overtime, Freeport won the coin toss but rather than taking the ball, elected to defend a specific goal. The rules at the time stated that each team got one possession in which it had four downs to score. Riverside got the ball at the 10-yard line first. On the first play of the first overtime period ever played by a Beaver County team, Riverside Quarterback Melfi rolled right and ran ten yards for a touchdown. Melfi’s extra point kick attempt fell short giving Freeport an opportunity.
    Freeport’s turn. On first and ten, the WPIAL single season scoring record holder (205 points) Jeff Christy burst up the middle for a six yard gain. Second and four saw Christy gain one yard and third down was stopped for no gain. On fourth and three, Freeport quarterback Chris Zema floated a pass into the end zone where Altsman intercepted it to win the game and put the Riverside Panthers back into the WPIAL Championship game for the second year in a row.
    A second chance that Riverside would seize with a 21-15 victory over 10-3 Swissvale. Riverside (12-1) won the 1985 Class AA championship, the first championship ever for the Panthers. Swissvale running back Brian Chizmar rushed for 153 yards on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns, but he was upstaged by the performance of Riverside quarterback Mark Melfi. The six foot 180 pound senior rushed for 125 yards on fourteen carries and completed six of eight passes for eighty-four yards and accounted for all three Riverside touchdowns. Melfi also intercepted a pass late in the game to seal the Panther Championship.
    We would appreciate any memories of the championship run twenty five years ago you may have or pictures you would be willing to share. Please leave any comments below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    Do you recall those special signs in Ellwood City that fall was coming? The grass would start turning brown, Ames would start replacing their outdoor section with notebooks, pencils and other back to school supplies, and of course young boys would begin crossing the big blue Ewing Park Bridge carrying yellow football helmets on their way to practice. Of course I am talking about the Ellwood City Packers.
    The Packers were Ellwood City’s team in the Beaver County Youth Football League for many years until being re-named the Little Wolverines. The league was set up into four categories, each with its own age and weight restrictions. Players less than seven years old and weighing less than 85 pounds played in the Twerps (category). Once a player turned eight, he was moved up to the Termites, but he could not weigh more than one hundred pounds. Players ten and eleven played at least in the Mitey Mites until they weighed 125 pounds and players 12 and older played on the Midgets squad up until they weighed 145 pounds.
    It was not until recently that players were prohibited from moving up in class due to weight or ability level. I personally remember playing on the Midget squad when I was in Sixth grade and being seven and playing on the Termites. Please let me clarify, I was not moved up because of my ability level either. I was not alone, I recall other players wearing garbage bags under their pads trying to sweat out an extra pound or two so they could play on Saturday.
     In the second picture taken in the 1980′s, the roster included; Left to right – 1st Row – Jamie Yanssens, Josh Lobozzo, unknown, Andy Ingold, Zack Bieselt, B.J. Patterson, Derek Thompson – 2nd Row – Jason Maine, Tim Reed, unknown, Ryan Navolio, Charlie Vesceri, unknown, Erik Montozzi, Russ Rangel – 3rd Row – Brandon Hooker?, Alvin Jenkins, Nino Riccio, Gary Rozanski, Dave Sedgwick, Mark Hall, Dave Tyburski – 4th Row – Coach Bieselt, Coach Brendt, Coach Montozzi

    Thousands of Ellwood City youth played on the Packers over the years, so we can not wait until we hear all your memories and see the pictures you share. Please leave your comments below or you can email us by CLICKING HERE.

     Only FOUR coaches in Ellwood City football history have posted career winning records. The best percentage is held by Denny Schill 8-1-1 in the single season he coached during 1935. Howard Gills is next in winning percentage after coaching two seasons during the war (1944 and 1945). Not many people would argue that the two most successful coaches in Ellwood City football history were Peck Lee and Dutch Croft. Lee coached ten seasons from 1919 to 1930 (missing the 1922 and 1923 seasons) and had a winning percentage of .667. Coach Croft coached from 1938 to 1953 missing 1944 and 1945 years for World War II while posting a .640 winning percentage with the most wins (88) and most losses (48).

    Coach Ganzy Benedict still holds the school record of most tie games with eight in just three years of coaching. Other notable head coaches that coached here at Ellwood City include NFL Head Coach Chuck Knox, Kansas University Head Coach Mark Mangino, and Butler Head Coach Jim Rankin.

    For the first half of the decade, the Ellwood City coach was not measured by wins or losses, but whether or not they beat New Castle. However bad we beat Evans City, usually worked out to how bad New Castle beat us; until 1925 when Ellwood City beat New Castle for the first time. New Castle cried foul that the Head Coach had water-downed the field to make a muddy mess to slow down the smaller, faster New Castle team. I do not know if there is any truth to this but as you can see in the pictures, it was a “little” muddy.

    This would not be the last time that New Castle would use this excuse to try to justify a loss to the “Big Blue”. Sue Campbell recalls hearing back in the 1930′s folks from New Castle complaining that Ellwood City went to New Castle and watered the field until it was nothing but mud and Ellwood said that New Castle did it themselves. The day after this “sprinkling” the Wolverines pulled off the upset and won the game and the controversy began again. She recalled still hearing the charge of “watering” in 1961 when she graduated from Lincoln High School.

    Due to the size of the schools, Ellwood City and New Castle did not play each other in regular season games for a number of years until New Castle dropped down to Triple A in the late 1990′s. The two schools would occasionally meet in pre-season scrimmage games and the rivalry was surprisingly still there. I recall in a pre-season game 1993 or 1994 the banter back and forth between the two teams along with the pushing and shoving and etc., caused the referees to walk off the field. The teams decided to continue the game with coaches officiating and coincidently New Castle and Ellwood did not play each other in pre-season games again for a number of years.

     We may never know if the “watering” was true or not or even if it affected the outcome much as both teams still had to play in the mud but someone always knows someone who knows. One rumor we heard was that the owner of the Ellwood City Ice Company who hired football players during the summers to keep them in shape and ready for the upcoming season, took one of his delivery trucks full of suspects to New Castle the night before the game in the 30′s and the dastardly deed WAS done. Of course we also hear rumors that someone’s grandfather told them that they were in New Castle the evening before the game and SAW with his own eyes a fire truck at the field and knows that it was New Castle that watered the field.

    If you would like to leave a memory you might have about the coaches or the rivalry with New Castle, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    Construction for the School in what is now Ewing Park began in 1925 when the area was still part of Wayne Township. The eight room school was officially dedicated January 1st 1926 as an independent school and not part of the Ellwood City School District. The park area continued to be a part of Wayne Township until 1931 when it became the fifth ward of Ellwood City at which time the school became part of the Ellwood City Area School District and became the Ewing Park Elementary School.
    The area was originally called Wayne Park before becoming more commonly known as the Shelby Land Company’s Plan. The mill decided to honor the Generals and Admirals of World War I with its street names in the park. The name of the plan was later changed to Ewing Park after Thomas Ewing. Mr. Ewing was the assistant to the Vice President of the National Tube Company and was also the tube mill attorney who did the legal work associated with the building of the community in the park.
    The last time the school was used for education purposes was during the construction of the new Hartman Elementary School on Fourth Street. This was however not the first time displaced students attended the school. After the Wurtemburg School burned down in 1933 grades first through third were bused to the Ewing Park School while fourth through sixth grade were bused to Hazel Dell to attend Northside Elementary. The temporary classrooms were setup in the basement of the school. School children from Wurtemburg and Perry would walk a mile to meet at the old school building and get on a modified bus that the students called the Chicken Coop.
    After the students were back at the current Perry Elementary School, the basement was reverted back to its previous state. I have never personally been inside the school building, but luckily Bob Burrows filled us in on the layout of the basement classrooms. The small room under the entry stairs that faced Wood Street was reserved as a shelter in-case of an emergency and some government supplies were stored in that room as well. The room was also used on occasions to house the visiting dental hygienist and other similar temporary uses. The room to the left (North towards Adams Avenue) was the music room and arts and crafts room. The room to the right (South towards Beatty Street) was used as the indoor dodge ball/gym class when the weather prohibited outdoor physical education.
    After the school closed, the yard was used for a number of years for football and cheerleader practice for the Ellwood City Packers and later the Ellwood City Little Wolverines. I remember running the triangle shaped field before and after each practice. We would love to hear your memories of the school, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com