Montour

Montour, Edgewood teams hold reunion

Sunday, November 14, 2010

By Mike White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tony Tye/Post-Gazette

Members of the 1958 WPIAL football finalists - Montour and Edgewood - gathered at Downey's House in Robinson Township to watch the game Saturday. Among them: Bill Rudison of Montour, left, and Wayne Tamarelli of Edgewood, front.

Players from Montour's team got together Saturday to watch game film, just like any undefeated WPIAL team would do on a mid-November Saturday.

But these weren't the 2010 undefeated Spartans and the game film wasn't from Friday's win against Indiana.

These guys had gray hair, some of them sipped on beers, the film was black and white and the game they watched was more than 50 years old.

Members of Montour's 1958 WPIAL championship team had a reunion in Robinson to watch game film from the title game 52 years ago. This wasn't your normal championship team reunion, though. The opponent was also present.

Former players from Montour and Edgewood got together, 23 players total at Downey's House, a restaurant in Robinson. They sat together and watched the 1958 WPIAL Class B championship, won by Montour, 20-7, against Edgewood at Dormont Stadium.

"I don't think anything like this has ever happened in the WPIAL before, where both teams get together," said Bill Kriger, the standout quarterback on the '58 Montour team.

A few players came from out of town and one former Edgewood player, Rich Demore, came from Colorado Springs, Colo.

Art Betts, the coach of the '58 Edgewood team, also was present for the affair -- for a while. He left about a half-hour before the film stopped. The old film was transferred from "reel-to-reel" and put on a DVD for the event.

"We lost," Betts said. "Why would I stay and watch? Who wants to watch a game you lose?"

Betts was 28 at the time. Now he's 80, but certainly doesn't look it.

Bruce Frey, who is a high school football radio color commentator for WBVP-AM and WMBA-AM, attended the event clad in his maroon Edgewood letter jacket. He was 4 in 1958, but his father took him to the game.

"This stuff is more important to me than doing a game with [current Hopewell running back] Rushel Shell," Frey said.

The idea for the event was hatched a few years ago at an Edgewood class reunion. In the early 1980s, former Edgewood player John Brown had called Kriger when Kriger was Montour's head coach. Brown wanted to know if Kriger had a tape of the '58 game because Brown wanted to make a copy of it. Kriger obliged.

Minds started churning at that class reunion.

About six months ago, former players from both teams were contacted. Players were introduced before the game film played. During the film, they laughed. They joked. They re-lived.

"I know this might seem crazy to a lot of people, but a lot of us remember the plays in this game like it was yesterday," Huber said.

Besides Kriger, Montour players in attendance were Dennis Schavolt, Rich Mangiamelle, Dave Yanish, Bill Rudison, Bill Olivani, Fred Dudak, Rich Macek, Rich Phillips, Joe Pass and Bill Kutzavitch.

Besides Brown, Demore and Huber, former Edgewood players at the reunion were Ron Champ, Wayne Tamarelli, Ron Heller, Neil Mackay and his brother, Howard, Dick Dodez, Ron Gontar, Bob Farr and Skip Gove.

"Just look at the animation among the guys here today," Brown said. "There is a lot of connection. No one here is talking about what we have to do today or what we have to do with our wife today. All they're talking about is a game 52 years ago."

Correction/Clarification: (Published November 16, 2010) John Brown was a player on the 1958 Edgewood High School football team that played in the WPIAL Class B championship. His last name was incorrect in Sunday's editions

For more on high school sports, go to "Varsity Blog" at www.post-gazette.com/highschoolsports

First published on November 14, 2010 at 12:00 am

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Montour, Edgewood football teams of '58 join for reunion

Thursday, November 11, 2010

By Joe Koch, Tri-State Sports & News Service

Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette

Clockwise from top: John Brown, Bill Kriger and Rich "Chops" Phillips will be among the former players at the reunion of the teams who played for the WPIAL Class B football title in 1958.

John Brown - Edgewood Bill Kriger - Montour QB

Championship football teams love to get together and relive the glorious times of a title run in gatherings that carry a decades-old feeling, much like a school's class reunions.

But when a group of men reunite at noon Saturday in Downey's House on Steubenville Pike in Robinson, the circumstances will be special.

Their reunion will commemorate the 52nd anniversary of Montour High School's 20-7 victory against Edgewood in the 1958 WPIAL Class B championship game.

And what makes this reunion different is that members of both teams will attend.

John Brown, a tailback for the losing Vikings, said the gathering had its genesis several years ago, when his team planned its 50th reunion.

He was able to borrow a copy of the game tape after talking with Bill Kriger, quarterback of the Montour team, which in 1958 was known as the Montour Ramblers. Mr. Kriger later was the Montour football coach from 1973 to 1986.

"We borrowed a film from Montour and wanted to make a copy of it," said Mr. Brown, an investment counselor at Bill Few Associates. No one from Edgewood had filmed the game.

One of his Edgewood teammates, wingback Jack Huber, had an intriguing idea.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could get together with the guys from Montour to watch the film and reminisce?" he said to Mr. Brown.

Mr. Kriger initially was skeptical.

"I thought it might be quite difficult after 52 years to get players together," he said. "But [Mr. Brown] said he had about 13 or 14 [able to attend], and our guys were quite receptive to the whole thing."

Both estimate that about 30 former players will attend along with former Edgewood head coach Art Betts.

Montour coach Bob Phillips died in 2000. All of the Montour coaches are deceased, Mr. Kriger said.

Edgewood assistant George Rodgers, who is experiencing some health issues, will not be able to attend.

Mr. Phillips had a profound effect on his players' lives, Mr. Kriger said.

"He is probably responsible for a lot of people being the type of people they are today," he said. "He was concerned about more than just football."

Mr. Betts' innovative skills are present today under a different name, Mr. Kriger said.

"He coached the single wing," he said. "Here it is, 52 years later, and they are running the Wildcat, but it is [the same as] the single wing. Art Betts was so far ahead of his time."

Mr. Kriger said he and Mr. Brown will introduce the players -- who are now as old as 70. The event will be captured on video and a commemorative DVD will be mailed out to each attendee.

"I don't think this has been done [before]," Mr. Kriger said of the festivities. "You could go back in the WPIAL playoffs, and no [opposing] teams have ever gotten together for a reunion."

Playoff football was much different in 1958. There were just three classes in the WPIAL: AA, A and B. And unlike today's many levels of playoff and statewide competition, only two teams met in postseason play in each WPIAL class, and that was for the championship.

The statewide playoffs, a staple of Pennsylvania high school football, did not begin until 1988. For teams outside the city of Pittsburgh that were not members of the Pittsburgh Catholic League, a WPIAL title was the highest honor a team could earn in the 1950s.

For Montour, a title run was not unfamiliar ground. The Ramblers (the team's nickname until the 1959 season) had shared the 1957 Class B title with Avella when the title game ended in a 7-7 tie. The 1958 season would be Montour's last as a Class B school. The school was taking in students from Kennedy, lifting enrollment figures into Class A.

"We knew this was our opportunity [to win a title]," said Mr. Kriger, who went on to play at North Carolina State University. "We were a big Class B school -- not quite Class A -- and we had some players back. We also had some players come in from Kennedy [who moved over from Stowe High School]. If we kept our heads screwed on right, we knew we could be a contender for the Class B title."

As big as the game was for Montour, Mr. Brown acknowledged, it was just as big a moment for Edgewood, which is now part of the Woodland Hills School District.

"It was huge for Edgewood as it was the only time in the history of the school that we played in the [football] playoffs," he said. "Montour was moving up to Class A [in 1959], and in talking to Bill, it was apparent it was a big game for them."

Mr. Brown said the more he and Mr. Kriger talked, the more the teams seemed to have much in common.

"I wanted to meet Bill, and as he told me about members of their team, it was apparent to me that we were more alike than anyone ever suspected," Mr. Brown said.

Interest was huge -- 7,000 fans watched the championship game at Dormont Memorial Stadium on Nov. 14, 1958.

The teams were evenly matched. Montour had scored 322 points against eight opponents, an average of 40.25 per game. The Ramblers shut out five opponents and yielded 27 points, an average of 3.375.

Edgewood was almost as prolific offensively, scoring 318 points against nine opponents, an average of 35.33. The Vikings gave up just 18 points, an average of 2.0, and blanked six opponents, four of them in a row.

At halftime, the game was tied, 7-7. Then Montour scored 13 third-quarter points, including a 40-yard touchdown run by Mr. Kriger, to put the game out of reach.

"Watching the film hammered home the fact this was the hardest-fought football game I ever played in," said Mr. Brown, who went on to play at Lafayette College. "It was a clean game, but it was very hard fought."

Saturday's luncheon likely will be the only formal gathering of the two squads. Mr. Kriger and Mr. Brown believe friendships will be forged from a 52-year-old rivalry.

"It most likely will be a one-time event," Mr. Brown said. "But there will be residual friendships that will continue."

Mr. Kriger echoed his one-time opponent.

"Communication will be there," he said. "Our players will communicate with the Edgewood players, but this could be the first -- and last -- hurrah."

Joe Koch, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

First published on November 11, 2010 at 5:49 am