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<\/a>Coach Vidunas would be more amazed today, as six more coaches from this small conference have joined them, Clyde Conti \u2013 Class of 2005 (Clarion-Limestone, also Slippery Rock and Butler), Larry Wiser \u2013 Class of 2011 (Clarion, also Central Clarion Wildcats), Ray Reckner \u2013 Class of 2013 (Brockway), Norm Zwald \u2013 Class of 2013 (Clarion, also Ridgway and Bluefield State [WV] College), Terry Henry \u2013 Class of 2017 (East Brady, also coached at Seneca Valley) and Dave Moore \u2013 Class of 2019 (Redbank Valley, also coached at Zuni High School [the Zuni Indian Reservation School] New Mexico). And there are at least three more, (who other than things like not being out of coaching long enough etc.), have met eligibility standards, Ed Conto (A-C Valley, Karns City), Chris Dworek (Brookville, St. Marys) and Ed Wasilowski (Redbank Valley).<\/p>\n With that background, I will now let the coaches who are still with us as well as Coach Vidunas’ son Paul and Coach Zwald\u2019s son Drew and Nick Hoffman share some of their reminiscences. Through reading this, I hope you get a real feel for the great rivalries, the great respect, camaraderie and friendships these “fraternity” brothers have for each other a true legacy of the Little7-12\/KSAC. They have set the bar high. And also. please note the love and respect for their players, those involved with their communities, their families and vis versa.<\/p>\n (The quotes are in no particular order.)<\/p>\n Redbank Valley Coach Dave Moore:\u00a0<\/strong>During my coaching career I competed against five future Hall of Famers just from our little conference. These men all had the same agenda.\u00a0 All loved the game and players they coached.\u00a0 All coached with heart and never mentioned salary or long hours coaching required.\u00a0I had to work my butt off to compete against these former coaches and future Hall of Famers.<\/p>\n These men made me a better coach and are the reason I was later inducted into Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n I will forever be grateful.<\/p>\n Back in the first ever Redbank Little 12 Championship win on a field goal at the end of game in 1985, I will always remember what icon Rich Vidunas said to me shaking my hand congratulating me. “Well young fellow you just retired me.” He was the man I tried to emulate. I will never forget that moment in his last coaching appearance.<\/p>\n Clarion Area and Central Clarion Coach Larry Wiser:<\/strong> I have been blessed:<\/p>\n 1) To have a wife ANN, children Ryan and Morgan that have supported me. Clarion-Limestone, Slippery Rock and Butler Coach Clyde Conti:<\/strong>\u00a0The athletes I was privileged to coach at C-L remain very special to me.\u00a0 In my coaching experience, any honor I received was simply a reflection of the accomplishments of the players. The game belonged to them, those in the arena of competition. Our players gave far more to me, than I could ever give back to them.<\/p>\n I was also blessed to have high quality men as assistants. Jim Williamson was an outstanding coach. Rick Beggs, Bill Black, Dave Schirmer, Pat Aaron, Mark Jones, Pete Jansen, Todd Smith and a host of others helped to build and\/or sustain our program. Our younger athletes learned from the positive work ethic and brotherhood of our older athletes.<\/p>\n Coach Vidunas\u00a0 and others like Red Bevevino set the bar for how to be a successful coach. Terry Henry’s teams at East Brady were powerful, and Terry went on in 1989 to lead Seneca Valley into the WPIAL Championship game against Aliquippa.<\/p>\n Ray Reckner, Floyd Taylor, Bud Stanley, Larry Wiser, Joe Latess, Jackie Quinn, all worked the Jim Kelly Football Camps, which brought several of us together.<\/p>\n Larry’s career at Clarion was phenomenal. I smile when I consider what a combo of Clarion and C-L football players competing together would have been like in yesteryear.<\/p>\n Dave Moore had so many terrific teams at Redbank Valley.<\/p>\n Ed Conto at A-C Valley and Karns City not only had dominating teams, but he is such a terrific human being.<\/p>\n Thank you C-L for the opportunity to teach and coach!<\/p>\n Brockway Coach Ray Reckner:\u00a0<\/strong>You asked me what it is like being in the HOF.\u00a0 It was an honor, but this was a result of the efforts of so many. First of all, the support of my family. My wife, Pam, and children Krista and Mitch were always there for me, and never complained about late meals, lack of family time and vacations.\u00a0 I coached wrestling and baseball also which means I was busy all year.<\/p>\n Next The Brockway School District. I was fortunate to work in a district that recognized the value of sports in the total development of the student athletes. The district provided all that was needed to have a successful program. Example: they provided a weight room.<\/p>\n Coaches: notice I did not refer to them as assistant coaches because I looked upon them as equals. I had many excellent coaches over the years and too many to mention now but would like to mention a few. Charles Zaffutto who hired me to coach, also a member of the HOF, my first varsity staff, Fred Waldeck, Paul Keller, and Tom Pisarchick, who helped get the program going in the right direction record in the first three years 25-3-2. Also, John DeSantis who was with me for 22 years. I would like to thank all the coaches because this honor belongs to them also.<\/p>\n Finally the athletes: We had good players who bought into our program. Things like interchangeable parts and do what is best for the team.\u00a0 Example: I had a player who as a sophomore was a fullback. His junior year I had a talk with him and explained that if we were going to have a successful year he had to move to tight end. You guessed it his senior year another talk and I explained that we needed a guard and he agreed to play guard.<\/p>\n We had 3 rules which I obtained from a motivational tape by Lou Holtz.<\/p>\n 1) Do the right thing. I have been lucky to have had a successful coaching career but all the people above had a lot to do with it and I am grateful.<\/p>\n East Brady and Seneca Valley Coach Terry Henry:<\/strong>\u00a0I really enjoyed my 12 years of coaching at East Brady as a youth, junior high and varsity coach from 1972 to 1983. Being a few years older than my players, I established many lasting friendships.<\/p>\n I was the only applicant for the job in East Brady in 1973, the head coach retired, and his assistant went back to Kittanning to coach leaving me as the only candidate. I was so inexperienced that I shortchanged the 1973 and 74 teams, since I had to learn on the run.<\/p>\n For years the Western Division Champion was decided by the last game of the year with Rich Vidunas’s Golden Knights. They were well coached by Coach Vidunas and his longtime assistants John Harris, Bill Eustice and Dan Lewis. We were very lucky to win many of those close games.<\/p>\n I know I am superstitious, regarding my routine during the season, and I have been told that Coach Vidunas, as a passenger in a car, would close his eyes at the top of Brady hill and not open them until he crossed the East Brady bridge.<\/p>\n After we both retired from coaching, I had a chance to speak to Coach Vidunas and he asked me what it was like coaching at a larger school in the WPIAL.\u00a0I told him the athletes are all the same; we just had more to choose from. I had 76 players on my last team at Seneca Valley. We played a 10-game regular season for varsity, a 9-game season for junior varsity and an 7-8 game season for 10th\u00a0graders. I had 6 paid assistants and 3-4 booster paid volunteers all coached for 10-12 grades. Nothing like East Brady when we had to half line at times to get ready for opponents.<\/p>\n We always hear about the WPIAL winner coming into the playoffs. For years the WPIAL has had a tremendous playoff system. The boundaries stretch from Interstate 422 to the southern Pennsylvania boarder, from the Ohio boarder to Indiana. It is a large area, and the playoff system brings out one winner from all of the schools.<\/p>\n Karns City always had outstanding athletes. Coaching against Coach Mel Semenko was always fun. Actually, I student taught at Karns City in 1970 and Coach Semenko gave me my first opportunity to coach which started my coaching career.<\/p>\n Coach Conti was one of the best coaches in the Little 12 during my time at East Brady. He always had a good game plan prepared for his team.<\/p>\n I didn’t realize that I would leave East Brady until I received a phone call from the former Redbank Valley Superintendent of Schools, Ron Snyder. I didn’t know Dr. Snyder at the time. He asked if I would apply for the Head Football Coaching position at Seneca Valley a team that went 4-36 in the previous four seasons. I went from a coaching position, in which I coached from August to November, to a program that became a 12-month job. My staff attended winter clinics, visited universities, supervised the weight room, and attended camps to compete with the other schools.<\/p>\n I really didn’t realize how much football dominated my life until I retired in 1995. I saved money since I was always at the school seven days a week during the season. I scheduled my summer vacation around the\u00a0(football program)<\/p>\n Games I remember: A Win \u2013 Union 6-0\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Union fumbled on the 5-yard line at the end of the game. This was 1978 when we had a devastating neck injury that eventually took the life of Carl Stimac. We went on to win the Little 12. A Tie \u2013 Clarion-Limestone tied us in 13-13 in the Little 12 Championship in 1976,\u00a0after we beat them during the regular season.\u00a0\u00a0Win \u2013 21-20 \u2013 we beat a strong Karns City team at home in 1982 or 83 to go the Championship game.\u00a0The 1977 team was undefeated and rated number 1 in the state for Classification A.<\/p>\n Paul Vidunas on his father, Coach Rich Vidunas:<\/strong><\/p>\n Here are some memories about Dad<\/p>\n Union has always been a poor school and I remember stories of Dad bringing home uniforms for Mom to stitch holes from the prior week\u2019s game.\u00a0 Union had just onr game uniform same for home and away. New uniforms were purchased about every 7-10 years.<\/p>\n The candy sales twice a year (Char-val), spaghetti dinners at the Catholic Church, and I suspect anonymous gifts for equipment from George Davis (Archway Cookies), helped keep the team on the field.<\/p>\n My Dad had a way of convincing players that they were better players than they were. Made them feel special! Every year at the first “pep rally” each player was introduced to the student body by way of a Limerick or short poem. He carried a pencil and paper with him all of the time and would jot down notes about unique or embarrassing facts about his players (usually who was caught with a girl) as he would hear them and announced this, in a playful way, to the student body.<\/p>\n Drew Zwald on his father, Coach Norm Zwald:<\/strong>\u00a0Dad would have been very honored to be in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n He would have recognized and thanked my mother for all her love and support. She would often attend practices and every game and ask Dad questions at dinner.<\/p>\n Dad would have recognized each of his assistant coaches for all their support, contributions, and successes. He felt very fortunate to have such a great coaching staff.<\/p>\n Union, led by Coach Vidunas, was our big rival. However, Brockway was the only team that beat us in 1968. Dad always spoke about how competitive and well coached the teams in our conference were. On a regular basis, Dad, his staff, other coaches in the conference, and coaches at the college, would conduct a coach’s clinic and share ideas.<\/p>\n He would have congratulated and supported each of the coaches from the conference in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n Nick Hoffman (Chairman of the Frank Varischetti All-Star Game and longtime writer for the Courier Express) on Coaches Ray Reckner and Charlie Zoffuto:<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ve known Ray since he came to Brockway as a teacher when I was in fifth\u00a0grade, which would have been circa 1970-71.<\/p>\n He’s about as low-key and down to earth as a person can be, which is why he was such a respected coach. He got as much out of most of his players as they could give.<\/p>\n Nick Hoffman (Chairman of the Frank Varischetti All-Star Game and longtime writer for the Courier Express) on Coaches Ray Reckner and Charlie Zoffuto: I’ve known Ray since he came to Brockway as a teacher when I was in fifth grade, which would have been circa 1970-71. In fact, when Ray Reckner came to Brockway to teach, for the first year or two or three that he was here, he rented a room on the second floor of Charlie Zoffuto\u2019s house on 8th Avenue in Brockway. Small world \u2026 and they\u2019re both hall of famers!<\/p>\n It’s hard to believe, but Charlie Zoffuto died in 2000 at the age of 85. His last football season was 1977. The Rovers won the Little 12 East and squared off against Terry Henry, Jim Kelly and East Brady in the L12 title game at Redbank. Kelly & Co. won, 27-6 if my memory is accurate. That was my junior year, and I was already writing for the newspaper (I would have just turned 16 a week or so before the game was played). I got to interview Kelly in the locker room after the game.<\/p>\n Charlie Zoffuto was the coach who reached out to me and started the process of “socializing” me in high school. The chapter “Xs and Os” in my book is about Coach.\u00a0(Note: Nick’s book is “He Was There All the Time” \u2013 Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan.)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n2) Growing up in a family of coaches. Father Jerry Wiser and brother Steve. Support from my mother June.
\n3) To have been coached by legendary coaches. Joe Humphrey, Al Wilson, Bob Bubb.
\n4) To have coached in one school Clarion Area my entire career. Positive support from the Clarion community and Clarion Area School District.
\n5) To work for Clarion head coaches: John Reisch for the opportunity to coach, and Ray Austin for the opportunity to be his defensive coordinator.
\n6) Great assistant coaches and school administrators over the past almost five full decades.
\n7)\u00a0Support Clarion Area boosters and the many people over the years that volunteered to help support the team in a big way.
\n8) To have competed against many great coaches and programs in District Nine.
\n9) To have competed and learned from many of the PA HOF COACHES IN District Nine.
\n10) Most importantly, I have been blessed to be part of many players\u2019 journey in high school football. They are the reason why I have been fortunate to be in the HOF.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n2) Always do your best.
\n3) Treat people like you would like to be treated. Good rules for our team and for the rest of their lives. Example: after a tough playoff loss we were getting on the bus and there was a bus stuck in the mud. Right thing to do get off our bus and push the other bus out of the mud and that is what we did.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>