All Ranger Team

[The Ancient Enemy]

Chuck Sponsky as in the Chuck Sponsky that was the assistant coach in "All the Right Moves"? Haha.

Had a chance to work with Alex Toth aka Punch. Great guy, very funny, very personable. I'll never forget working with him.

I am a little curious about the nickname "Highway Lew".

Who took over the head duties after Sponsky?

[OC caddy]

Sponsky was replaced by none other than Mr. Don Bailey. Don's senior year as a player also had some
quality players. Anyone remember Billy Matsko? To this day I've always said that of any QB at FH he was the
most rounded.He could throw,run the option if needed,and was very good passer.Others at that time
Mike Valko (Shane's dad) who was the center, Ray Danel played wideout and was very effective!Of course,
as previously mentioned John Hostetler, John "JD" Jones, Art Moss, and Alex Toth's younger brother was
pretty good although his name I can't remember.However, getting back to that first year's defense,they
would scrimmage every day at practice sometimes till darkness.Asst principle Sam Plummer or Principle
Joe Madigan would come out to the field and scream at Sponsky because the busses were sitting out front
waiting to take the kids home.Nights before a game the team would put on the game uniforms,full pads
and live blocking.You could say they were battle tested! Alot of people didn't like Chuck Sponsky but I
thought he was ahead of his time. His playbook looked like the New York City phonebook.Chuck always
appreciated the committent and to this day when I see him he always reminds us what a special talented
group that first year was. I guess we planted the first seeds but my goodness there have been so many
quality players that came later.It is nice, though, that they all think so highly of that first team.

[El-Moldo]

What's amazing about that first FH team was, you have to remember that Adams-Summerhill and Triangle were BITTER rivals in sports. This carried back many years to the days of Adams and South Fork-Croyle. When the FH jointure formed, I'm sure there was no love lost between the kids from each school. Sure, everyone knew each other, but that's how rivalries are. The first head coach had to BLEND everyone together to make that team work. I believe Terry Wingard and Lou Cornell had some heated battles for QB? The point is though, there was a mental aspect and physical aspect to get ready for in that first season.

[NB Coach PO]

Reading the last few posts brought tears to my eyes. It's good to know that many of you still remember those days back in the late sixty's and early 70's. Highway Lew's nick name was a new one to me too. Someone will have to fill me in. He was my hero when I was in jr. hi.

Here's a quick link to some info from PO's Peek that some of you might be interested in reading.

For Coach Fred Vespa : http://www.pos-peek.com/viewtopic.php?t=332

To read about Don Bailey: http://www.pos-peek.com/viewtopic.php?t=77

To read about chuck sponsky: http://www.pos-peek.com/viewtopic.php?t=80

Jude Basile: http://www.pos-peek.com/viewtopic.php?t=13

there are other stories there too - about Adams-summerhill, my dad playing football at wilmore high school pre WWII, a tribute to Auggie Kelp, etc.,
I wouldn't mind learning who you guys are - some of you have some recollections of the past, that I could use in future stories. dp FH - '70

[The Ancient Enemy]

I know this has been discussed before but can someone explain what schools combined to form FH, and WHY did the schools combine?

How long were the other schools around? I'm talking Adams, South Fork, etc.

And I know this came up before as well but who is Triangle?

One more question. Did Forest Hills always play football at the same location?

[knightrider]

What is PO site? This is funny seeing names of older players and noticing the their sons were studs as well for FH.

[NB Coach PO]

Forest Hills formed from two schools back when the state was trying to consolidate schools to save money. The Last year for Adams- Summerhill was the graduating class of '66. (it was made up of course from Adams twp., and from Summerhill, just outside of Southfork.

Same with Triangle Area - their last class was spring of '66 too - which was a fairly new school to begin with, made up (of a geographical triangle) between, South Fork, Beaverdale, and Wilmore.

Together, they became FH, in the fall of '66.

The site they are referring to is http://www.pos-peek.com and we run a look at the nostalgic good old days, both in sports and outside sports too - please join us - our forum is closed for now, but may reopen one of these days. There's plenty of other items to see and hear on the site. Invite your friends too. NB coach po

[The Ancient Enemy]

What were the mascots? I know someone was the Rockets. What about the colors?

[El-Moldo]

In the mid-60's, the state mandated that certain districts would consolidate schools with neighbors. In our area, several districts were formed because of this:
Forest Hills from the jointure of Adams-Summerhill (Hornets) and Triangle Area (Rockets)
Conemaugh Valley from Franklin Blue Jays and East Conemaugh Iron Horses
Penn Cambria from Cresson Indians(?) and Lilly-Washington Red Raiders
Blacklick Valley from the Nanty Glo-Vintondale Vikings and Twin Rocks
North Star from Forbes Jets and Jenner-Boswell Bears (?)
I'm sure there are some I have forgotten. Because of the close proximity of the schools which joined, most of them had tremendous rivalries with each other.
The story of Triangle Area was a little different. Not sure of the reason, but 3 school districts (South Fork-Croyle Falcons, Wilmore Pirates, and Beaverdale Beavers) decided in the early '60's to join together. Their high school was the present day FH middle school. Their colors were red and black. The school only existed for 5 years before becoming part of FH. The 1st 7th grade class at Triangle was the first senior class at FH.
The Hornets and the Rockets only met 3 times in football, in 1963, 1964 and 1965. Triangle won the first 2 games, Adams won big in 1965. I think all games were played at Adams' field (G.H. Miller Stadium). And yes, I think the same lights are being used there today. In 1963, the last game of that season for both teams, Triangle won 14-0. The game started out normal weather-wise, but early in the 1st half, a pea-soup thick fog rolled in and NO ONE could see anything the rest of the game. I remember as a kid watching from the old wooden bleachers. The only time you could see a player was when one of them came rolling out of bounds. Bob Clifford scored the first TD for the Rockets. I thinK a Harrigal kid from Beaverdale scored the other one. Gary Mehall was Triangle's QB I believe. Don't remember game #2. Finally, in 1965, Adams destroyed the Rockets, thanks to the running of Sam Pinkas. The next year, everyone played on the same team, the first Ranger team.

[GrapeApe]

I'm not a Ranger fan, but that's some pretty cool info right there.