Bellefonte, P-O teams given football history lesson

Guy Cipriano

Somewhere along the Rogers Stadium gravel track tonight, more than likely between the home and visiting bleachers, Bill Luther Jr. will watch an event on the endangered rivalry list.

CDT photo/Guy Cipriano

Bill Luther Jr., center, poses with Bellefonte team captains Jake Mueller (33), Ben Codner (6), Zach Tressler (85) and Ernie Jenkins (73), Philipsburg-Osceola captains Zack Czap (6), Cody Pepperday (55) and Steve Rusnak (7) and Bellefonte coach Zac Wynkoop, back left, and P-O’s Jeff Vroman, back right, during the annual team dinner Wednesday. Luther is the son of the late Bill Luther, Sr., whose name is on the trophy given to the winner of the annual Centre County football clash.

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It’s one of the must anticipated events in Centre County football. It’s also one named for Luther’s father, Bill Luther Sr., an Osceola Mills High School graduate who coached Bellefonte to a 107-80-7 record from 1952-72.

Luther Sr. died in 1995. Bellefonte and P-O created a trophy to honor his legacy the following year and part of the game’s appeal includes the camaraderie between both sides.

“He would love it,” Bill Luther Jr. said.

But tonight’s game is different than the 13 previous Luther Trophy contests. The trophy, which the booster clubs combined to purchase, could be ready to collect dust.

Tentative Mountain League schedules for 2010-11 don’t include Bellefonte vs. Philipsburg- Osceola games.

Bellefonte will play in the big-school Allegheny Division and P-O will play in the small-school Nittany Division. Teams play five division and three crossover games. The Luther Trophy Game didn’t make the crossover list. Both sides were stunned upon learning they might not play again until 2012.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” Bellefonte coach Zac Wynkoop said. “I’m still hoping there’s some way we can work things out because rivalry games are fun.”

P-O coach Jeff Vroman didn’t sound optimistic about the prospects of 2010 and 2011 meetings.

“Right now we have a 10-game schedule and it’s filled,” he said. “I don’t foresee anything changing.”

The possibility of two seasons without the Luther Trophy Game dominated banter during Wednesday night’s dinner at Philipsburg- Osceola. Players on both sides, along with the Luther family, were aware of the event’s shaky future before being served barbequed chicken, pulled pork and baked beans.

“It’s like anything else, nothing lasts forever,” Luther said. “With the realignment and schedules, I guess they are trying to get the AAs with the AAAs and make traveling easier. It will be nice if they did get it back. I would think they would if the opportunity comes about.”

The game has entered a crossroads despite a move to preserve its history.

Looking expand the rivalry’s allure, Vroman and Bud O’Brien, a well-known former radio personailty, follower of P-O athletics and close friend of Bill Luther Sr., visited the Osceola Mills Historical Society last winter to research older football jerseys. The duo came across blue and yellow jerseys worn in 1944, the final year Luther played for Osceola Mills.

Vroman said cost shaped jersey selection during the 1940s, with Osceola Mills once wearing white and black tops resembling prison uniforms to save money. Times have changed, but Vroman wanted players to develop an appreciation for community history. P-O purchased blue and yellow jerseys to honor Osceola Mills, where Luther was an all-state tailback as a junior and senior. The jersey’s colors resemble the tops once worn by the Los Angeles Rams.

“Too many times over my eight years of being here Osceola Mills is never mentioned,” Vroman said. “This is one way of us looking back at history.”

Vroman planned on unveiling the jerseys shortly before tonight’s game, but he changed his mind after learning the teams weren’t scheduled to play the next two years. The Mounties wore the jerseys to Wednesday’s dinner.

“It means a lot to our community wearing the old jerseys,” senior fullback/ linebacker Steve Rusnak said. “A lot of people don’t know that’s what the color of jerseys were. Some people thought they were red and white. This is big for our town and hopefully it gets everybody excited for the game.”

The rivalry has featured some outstanding games — Bellefonte holds a 48-40-2 all-time edge and 7-6 advantage since the Luther Trophy’s inception in 1996 — but bitterness between the schools is nonexistent. Wynkoop happily agreed to Bellefonte wearing its away white tonight so the Mounties could sport the throwback jerseys.

“I thought it was a great idea and great way to increase the history of the game,” Wynkoop said.

Both coaches talk passionately about preserving the history associated with the high school football. Wynkoop, a history teacher at Bellefonte, called it a coach’s duty to make players aware of their predecessors. The players are slowly learning.

Bellefonte senior lineman Ernie Jenkins said he knew nothing about the Luther Trophy until appearing in the 2007 game at Rogers Stadium. Jenkins’ appreciation for the trophy increased last year when the Red Raiders reclaimed it with a 33-13 victory.

“It’s like the coaches said, ‘There’s nothing like high school football at all,’” Jenkins said. “We will never experience this again. It’s huge for us.”

Both schools’ seniors have claimed the trophy once. P-O produced a thrilling 13-10 victory in 2007. Vroman and Wynkoop envision tonight’s game sparking turnarounds. Both teams are 1-3 and trying to recover from lopsided losses.

“Every Friday is important, but it’s obviously an important game for both teams,” Wynkoop said. “Both teams have been hit with some rough times and looking to rebound. I’m excited because both teams are going to be hungry to hit the gridiron and get after it.”

The passion would excite Bill Luther Sr., a member of the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame who filled his post-coaching schedule with speaking engagements and banquets. But, according to Bill Luther Jr., no week challenged his father more than this one.

“It was a tough week for him because a lot of his family and friends were from Osceola Mills and Philipsburg,” Luther said. “They would say, ‘We are going to get you this week.’ He was really nervous about the game.”

Those involved with tonight’s game hope Bellefonte and P-O players receive future opportunities to develop similar jitters.

“It’s a great rivalry game between us,” Rusnak said. “It’s a good, tough, hard-hitting game. It’s going to be missed the next few seasons.”

Guy Cipriano can be reached at 231-4643.