Cal U gridders from past gather to recall glory days

California University of Pennsylvania's football program opened its home season last evening and remembered three teams from its successful past. While Cal U's recent football struggles have been well documented, the Vulcans' more distant past was highlighted by many fine seasons with many area players having significant roles.

Before and during Cal U's nonconference game with Fairmont State University (W.Va.), Cal U honored its PSAC championship teams from 1948, 1958 and 1968, commemorating their 55-, 45- and 35-year anniversaries.

Second-year Head Coach John Luckhardt and his staff face the daunting challenge of returning the Vulcans of the 2000s back to the consistent success Cal U football enjoyed prior to the 1970s. Three different men served as head coach of those title teams from yesteryear. Earle Bruce, 1946-49, owns the school's finest career coaching percentage at .818 with a 27-6 cumulative record. Ted Nemeth, 1950-61, is one of three coaches in school history to guide the Vulcans for 12-year runs along with Bill Steers, 1929-40, and Jeff Petrucci, 1981-1992. Nemeth compiled a 55-37-2 (.596) cumulative record. Bill Hepner, 1962-69, enjoyed the next longest coaching tenure and a 35-26-4 (.569) eight-year mark. The only other Cal U coach to enjoy a winning career mark along with Bruce, Nemeth and Hepner was P.S. Allison who ranks second behind Bruce with a 27-14-2 (.651) record.

Cal U's 1948 team was part of what statistically was the school's most dominant era ever. The Vulcans, because of World War II, did not play football from 1942 through 1945 and had won just two of 18 games from 1939 through 1949. After a school-best 9-0 showing in 1946 followed by a 5-4 season in 1947, Cal U's 1948 team rolled to a 6-1 overall record and would go 13-2 combined in 1948-49. The 1946 Vulcans outscored its opponents by a 31.6-3.8 per-game margin while limiting their opponents to a nation-lowest 92.4 offensive yards per game. Incredibly, that team produced three shutouts and never allowed more than seven points a game. The closest margin of victory wins were 19-7 and 18-6 over conference rivals Indiana and Clarion respectively.

Several of the more lopsided scores included 54-0 over Salem, W.Va., West Virginia Tech, 38-2, and Lock Haven, 61-6. The '48 Vulcans were not as dominant but did shut out conference foes Edinboro, 19-0, and Slippery Rock, 27-0. They also won tense games from Indiana, 14-12, and Clarion, 21-20. They closed the year with one-sided triumphs over Shippensburg, 20-8, and Millersville, 31-13.

The following year, Cal U held three opponents to seven points and blanked Slippery Rock, 7-0, and Bethany, 65-0. Cal U's only losses in 1948-49 came to West Liberty.

Several of many stars from the juggernaut teams of the late 1940s included fullback Francis Rogell, quarterback-kicker Paul Mignogna, center/defensive standout Charles Beatty, tackles Don Cullings and Bob Ross, tailback Clarence Hummel, and end Dalton Rumberger. All of these players except the versatile Mignogna were selected to the Associated Press All-Pennsylvania team.

Cal U's 1958 squad, one of just two undefeated teams in school history, returned the Vulcans to prominence after the program had struggled since its 1951 Pythian Bowl team led by Elmo Natali, Roy Mains, Duke O'Hara, Les Nagg and Steve Tselepis to name a few, went 7-2 overall. From 1952 through 1957, Cal U football's cumulative record was just 19-27-1 but the 1958 team evened that mark by going a perfect 8-0, with a per-game scoring advantage of 25.9-3.9.

Four of the eight victories were shutouts and the closest victories were 13-0 wins over Indiana and Edinboro. Five times Cal U scored 20 or more points a game and the Vulcans concluded the season with a 46-6 drubbing of Washington & Jefferson College, the last time these nearby schools played each other in football. Quarterback Gene Leposki relied on an explosive backfield of Carl Trimber and Phil Clifford and other skilled position players such as John D'Arrigo, Tony Soukovich and Don Skupinsky. Helping the team's impenetrable defensive immovable offensive front were well-known area football names such as Pete Petroff, Dick Fields, Frank Bernadowski Jack Scarvel, Adam Vlanich, Curt Calamari, Fleming Mosely, Dave Lewis, John Morgan and Mike Hardoby.

Ten years later a potent passing attack supplanted the previous run-oriented style of the 1948 and 1958 championship teams as Cal U's 1968 squad outscored its opponents by an average of 28-19. The 1968 Vulcans finished with a 6-2-1 overall and tied East Stroudsburg 28-28 in a wild PSAC State Game played at California's Booster Field. The Vulcans overcame a 14-point second half deficit, denying the favored Warriors a third outright conference crown in five years.

The PSAC played a state championship game between the western and eastern division winners from 1960 through 1987. Five times Cal U would score 26 or more points a game and quarterback Jeff Petrucci led the entire NAIA in total offense for the second straight year, compiling 2,944 yards. Pete Gialames, George Carlock and tight end Jim Trombetta were among Petrucci's favorite targets while Paul Zolak handled the kicking and Ken Chenger churned rushing yardage.

The 1968 team's opportunistic defense forced 14 interceptions in five conference victories. Causing havoc on the defensive front were Bob Jeanmenne, Bill Wilson, Larry Randle, Bob Callaway, Tom Restivo and Jerry Valencik. Comprising the linebacking corps were John Haught, Don Roberts and Dave Davis. Two-time all-conference performer Vern Phillips led a secondary that also featured Barry Anthony, Denny Petcovic and Terry Hammons, who scored a 52-yard touchdown on an interception return for Cal U's first score in the championship draw.

The good

Cal U's 1948, 1958 and 1968 championship teams were three jewels that symbolize a most successful 23-year stretch of Vulcans football since play resumed after WWII from 1946 through 1968 -- producing 16 winning seasons, three nonlosing seasons and a cumulative record of 117-69-6 (.625).

Nine Vulcans from these great teams are members of the Cal U Hall of Fame -- Bernadowski, Carlock, Clifford, Fields, Gialames, Petrucci, Phillips, Randall and Scarvel. Petrucci coached the Vulcans to their last PSAC championship in 1984 and his 1968 total offensive yard total is still a school record while his 517 yards against Edinboro in 1968 is still fifth-best in PSAC history.

Gialames' 13-reception, 226-yard effort against Shippensburg remains a school standard despite the modern, wide-open passing attacks. D'Arrigo's 21 career touchdowns and Carlock's 14 career touchdowns and 165 receiving yards against Shippensburg can still be found in the school record books. Natali, with 19 touchdowns, remains Cal U's only other 1,000-yard rusher in school history besides Wesley Cates, 1998-2001, and Bernadowski's 19 career receptions remains a school and conference record.

The not-so-good

Since 1971, Cal U football has not been as formidable. Over the past 32 years, the Vulcans have a cumulative record of 110-208-4 (.348) and PSAC-West record of 48-143-1 (.253). From 1971 through 1980, the Vulcans suffered through a 19-71-1 (.220) stretch with an 8-51-1 (.142) divisional mark. Another rough 10-year period of football futility was a 26-77-2 (.235) mark from 1988 through 1997 and Cal U has won just 12 of its last 72 divisional (.167) games since 1991.

The future

Past greatness or recent struggles will have no bearing on the 2003 or any future Vulcans teams. However, any team's history and the efforts of the many individuals who contributed to that past, good or bad, should not be forgotten.