FOOTBALL

Guthoff's hands full in changing Lewistown's football culture

Guy Cipriano

If there's a bigger rebuilding job in Pennsylvania high school football than the one Steve Guthoff willingly undertook last January, it must be floating along another river.

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Because along the Juniata, there’s a school called Lewistown with enough capable athletes to produce winning teams in every other major boys’ sport.

But on a football field, the Panthers, well, have sunk to astounding depths the past three decades.

Lewistown hasn’t compiled a winning record since finishing 7-3 in ... pause ...guess ...1975. ... Sigh. The school has gone through 11 head coaches during the ensuing 24 years before Guthoff left his position as Tyrone’s defensive coordinator to become No. 12.

Guthoff was raised in Queens, N.Y., 10 minutes from Shea Stadium. The stubborn New Yorker in Guthoff, a State College resident and former Philipsburg-Osceola and Bellefonte head coach, showed when he applied for the Lewistown position.

“Probably the best word I heard was that it was a coaching graveyard,” Guthoff said.

Lewistown has been marred by bad football. The Panthers, according to records preserved by Mifflin County sports historian Bob Hower, are 71-271-7 since 1975. The stretch includes six different losing streaks of 13 games or more.

What matters now is the Panthers enter Friday’s home game against Penns Valley on a one-game winning streak. Lewistown snapped a 19-game losing skid by defeating Philipsburg-Osceola 19- 16 last Friday.

The victory might have stunned some, but not Guthoff.

Lewistown fell to Juniata 7-0 and St. Marys 25-0 to begin the season. The Panthers lost the same games 58-7 and 36-0 last year.

“It’s difficult to explain,” Guthoff said. “I felt we were on the verge of becoming a pretty decent team. We could have won the first two games that we played, but we just lacked the confidence that comes from winning games.”

Changing Lewistown’s football culture represents Guthoff’s biggest challenge. The process started this summer when the Panthers embarked on a rigorous conditioning program before two-a- days opened Aug. 17.

Guthoff said more than 70 prospective players attended informative meetings this past spring. Keeping that many players into the summer seemed unrealistic, so Guthoff was pleased when 52 athletes endured two weeks of quarter-miles, gassers, jingle-jangles and sprints.

“Right there I noticed players were serious,” Guthoff said. “They were in much better condition than I expected.”

Working with legendary Tyrone coach John Franco from 2001-08 molded Guthoff’s views toward preseason work.

Guthoff figures factors such as officiating and ball bounces are beyond players’ control, but players can control their physical and mental preparation. Guthoff’s fascination with the mental side of Lewistown football started before January, and persuaded him to apply for the job formerly held by Allen Muir.

“I have been watching those guys on film since 2001 and there was something about me that felt bad for them,” he said. “It stirred up maybe some anger. A lot of the things they were doing were not real sound. It seemed to be gimmicky.

“I noticed they had numbers and it looked like they had quality athletes. It was the right time to go for a personal challenge. Even though I didn’t know the community, I felt like I had an obligation to it.”

So Guthoff, a guidance counselor at State College High School, now travels Route 322 East daily.

Some days are more challenging than others. Players quickly took to Guthoff’s shifty, swarming defense, but offensive struggles against Juniata and St. Marys forced Guthoff to scrap the option for a spread attack, a system he believes fits Lewistown’s athletes. The Panthers made the change in four days.

A group of cooperative players is aiding Guthoff’s transition. The Panthers elected three captains before the season, but Guthoff said six different seniors received substantial vote totals.

Lewistown’s sophomore class, which went 8-1 in junior high, is beginning to make varsity contributions. Three sophomores started on the offensive line against Juniata. The number was trimmed to two because Guthoff moved one to the defensive line.

Guthoff learns more about his players and new school daily. Living in State College shields him from public perceptions.

“When things aren’t going well, I don’t have to go into Sheetz and Giant and answer questions all the time,” he said. “From everything I have heard I think the community recognizes there’s a difference with this team. We’re playing hard and we’re competitive.”

Guthoff envisions a day when Lewistown reloads instead of rebuilds.

“I’m not sure why we can’t become as successful in football as Tyrone,” he said. “Kids in Tyrone grow up wanting to play football just like kids at Bald Eagle Area grow up wanting to wrestle.

“Kids in Lewistown grow up wanting to play basketball and baseball. We also want them to become football players.”

No more MAFC

The Mountain Athletic Football Conference ends after this season, leaving us with the Mountain League. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

The all-sport conference created in 2008 is adding football in 2010. Teams will play five division and three crossover games.

Schools will be aligned into two divisions, with District 3 Juniata and District 9 Clearfield joining the league permanently.

The big schools — Bellefonte, Central Mountain, Clearfield, Indian Valley, Juniata and Lewistown — will play in the Allegheny Division. Bald Eagle Area, Penns Valley, Philipsburg- Osceola, Central, Huntingdon and Tyrone will comprise the Nittany Division.

Juniata is a Class AA school, but the Indians elected to play in the Allegheny Division to ensure geographic rivalries with Indian Valley and Lewistown.

The MAFC was established in 2004 preceded by the Big Eight Football Conference from 1973-2003. Bellefonte, BEA, P-O, Central, Huntingdon, Indian Valley, Lewistown and Tyrone are Big Eight holdovers.

The MAFC was scheduled to lose Hollidaysburg, DuBois and St. Marys after this season. The Golden Tigers are joining the WPIAL, DuBois will play a District 10 schedule and St. Marys will move to the Keystone Athletic Conference.

State College will also play in an altered conference as the Mid-Penn moves to a four-division alignment beginning in 2010. Carlisle, Central Dauphin, Central Dauphin East, Chambers-burg, Cumberland Valley and Harrisburg join the Little Lions in Division I.

Back again

State College senior Micah Porter spent last fall away from football.

It didn’t appear that way last Friday against Central Dauphin.

Porter, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound defensive lineman, helped the Little Lions creep back into last week’s 24-22 loss by playing a part in five tackles for losses.

Porter sacked quarterback Lewis Correale twice during the half. The second one dropped the Rams back 10 yards.

“He’s a good football player,” State College coach Al Wolski said. “He’s fast. He’s not the biggest guy, but he’s getting better every game and that’s something we like. He’s one of our few guys not going both ways. It’s nice in that regard. He’s going to continue to get better and our defense will get stronger.”

Porter is part of a rebuilt defensive line that also includes Colby Way, Ryan Harpster, Dustin Gates, Vinh Voung and Jack DeBoef.

“They are starting to play well together,” Wolski said.

Guy Cipriano can be reached at 231-4643.