When Tom Giotto learned the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame would be inducting the 1971 Kiski Area football team, he started calling his former teammates.
One of the players on that WPIAL Class AAA championship squad responded to the news with a bit of exasperation.
“He said: ‘What took them so long?’ ” said Giotto, who starred at quarterback and safety for the Cavaliers.
Giotto explained that the A-K Hall started honoring teams only last year. As a result, the ’71 Cavaliers will join the 1948 Ford City basketball squad as just the second pair of teams selected for enshrinement. They will be recognized, along with eight individual inductees, at the 54th awards ceremony Saturday at the Pittsburgh Shriners Center in Harmar.
1971 Kiski Area Cavaliers
Legendary Cavaliers coach Dick Dilts planted the seed for the 1971 championship in the wake of a devastating loss to end the previous season.
After Mt. Lebanon beat Kiski Area, 35-12, in the 1970 WPIAL final at Three Rivers Stadium, Dilts told the underclassmen on that team to look around the locker room because they would never see it again.
“That comment stayed with us,” Giotto said. “When we won the (1971) WPIAL championship, we reminded Mr. Dilts of what he said, and he just smirked. He was doing it to motivate us, and it worked.”
Kiski Area came into the 1971 season needing to replace 20 of 22 starters. But the Cavaliers quickly reloaded under the guidance of Dilts and a veteran coaching staff including Frank Morea, Tony Nicholas and Bill Halli.
“At that time, Kiski was historically a senior-dominated program,” said Giotto, a Mt. Lebanon resident. “All of the guys on the coaching staff were incredible, and we were the beneficiary of the system they put in place.”
The Cavaliers averaged more than 38 points per game while winning their first six games.
“We started out of the gate pretty quickly and built from there,” Giotto said.
In Week 7, Kiski Area hosted Hempfield in a battle of unbeatens. The Foothill Conference showdown drew some 9,500 fans, widely believed to be the largest crowd in Davis Field history.
Joe Stone and Mike Hansen scored touchdowns as the Cavaliers edged the Spartans, 13-8.
Kiski Area rounded out the conference schedule with victories over Wilkinsburg and Greensburg Salem. The Cavaliers then set a school record for points scored in a game by thrashing Highlands, 56-7, to clinch an undefeated regular season.
For the first time, the WPIAL allowed all undefeated and untied teams in a classification to participate in the playoffs. Kiski Area, Penn Hills and Thomas Jefferson qualified in Class AAA, which was then the largest classification.
With TJ receiving a bye, Kiski Area and Penn Hills met in the first sub-championship playoff game in WPIAL history.
“I remember it was cold as hell, and we played at Latrobe Stadium,” Giotto said. “It really was a battle until the very end when Joe Stone kicked a field goal to win it for us.”
The 9-6 victory set up a championship match with TJ at Pitt Stadium, rather than Three Rivers.
In the Class AAA final, the Cavaliers built a 10-0 lead behind Steve Kanas’ TD and Stone’s field goal and extra point.
Thomas Jefferson cut the deficit to 10-8, then missed a go-ahead field goal with about three minutes left in the game.
Giotto provided an insurance touchdown on a 45-yard scamper to close out a 16-8 victory.
“When you think of all of the great players who came out of the A-K Valley, how many had the opportunity to play on a WPIAL championship team,” said Giotto, who went on to play at Penn State and was inducted into the A-K Hall on an individual basis in 2003.
Kiski Area became the first WPIAL team to win 12 games in a season.
The Cavaliers finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 5 in the country. There were no PIAA football playoffs at that time.
“We had a great team and made some great memories,” said Giotto, an attorney with Cozen O’Connor in Pittsburgh. “The whole community was behind us, and everyone supported us in a positive way.”
1948 Ford City Glassers
Bill Englert Sr. still follows basketball intently, nearly eight decades after helping Ford City to the WPIAL championship and a state-runner-up finish.
“I watch every game,” the 95-year-old Englert said. “The game is so much different these days. I can’t believe the accuracy in the shooting. We weren’t allowed to shoot one-handed, except under the rim.”
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Englert is set to attend the A-K Hall ceremony as the last living member of the ’48 team.
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “It’s hard to image it was 77 years ago.”
In 1948, Ford City was known as the “Glassers,” a shout out to the bustling glass-producing industry in the Allegheny River town.
Under coach Hube Rupert, Ford City played a tough non-league schedule, highlighted by victories over Farrell and McKeesport. The Glassers then rolled through section play, clinching the title with a 48-30 victory over Arnold.
Joining Englert in the starting lineup were John Portasik, Ed Halas, John Gurski and Archie Brumbaugh. Late in the season, Howard Zerick became a starter after Brumbaugh was ruled ineligible for playing for the Ford City Armory Company C team.
“The Class of ‘48 was a close-knit group,” said Englert, who has been married to Sylvia, 94, for 68 years.
Ford City recorded playoff victories over Brentwood and Wilkinsburg before knocking off McKeesport, 41-30, to capture the WPIAL title.
In the state tournament, the Glassers defeated Conemaugh and Pittsburgh City League champ Westinghouse to earn a spot in the PIAA final against Norristown at the Penn Palestra in Philadelphia.
Before a packed crowd of 8,200 fans, Ford City led 18-16 after three quarters. However, Norristown dominated the final period to secure a 30-23 victory and the state crown.
Englert recalled that the championship game was televised.
“But in April 1948, no one in Ford City had a television,” he said.
Eventually, Ford City fans were able to watch a movie reel of the game at a local theater.
The Englerts live with a daughter, Melinda, in New Kensington. A son, Bill Jr., will accept induction on behalf of the ’48 Glassers.
“This was a team from a small town of about 5,000 people who took on big city teams and went to the state final,” Bill Jr. said. “They were depression-era kids who didn’t own tennis shoes or a basketball. These kids came from nothing and were able to go on to do something great.”