Former Heisman winner Hart played for Turtle Creek

When former Steelers center and NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster died on Sept. 24, it obscured the fact that a former Heisman Trophy winner from Western Pennsylvania died the same day.

Leon Hart, who won college football's highest honor in 1949, played for Turtle Creek High School before gaining national recognition at Notre Dame. Hart, an end, was the last player from his position to earn the coveted honor until Notre Dame's Tim Brown won the 1987 award.

Hart was a rival in his high school days against former Highlands coach Fran Rogel, who played for North Braddock High School before moving on to Penn State. Rogel also died earlier this year.

The other players with WPIAL ties to win the Heisman Trophy was Connellsville's Johnny Lujack, who won the Heisman in 1946 at Notre Dame, and Hopewell's Tony Dorsett, awarded in 1976 when he was a member of Pitt's national championship team.

But how many fans realize the player for whom the trophy is named played for Titusville High School• John Heisman played for Titusville from 1894-96 when scholastic football in western Pennsylvania was in its infancy.

The award was originiated by New York City's Downtown Athletic Club in 1934. Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago was the first Heisman winner.

Riverview sports continues

Even though the Riverview School District teachers are on strike, athletics will continue under an amended PIAA regulation.

Aticle XII, Section 6 of the PIAA by-laws was amended at the May 11 PIAA board of directors meeting. A school that is closed may continue athletics at the direction of the local school board having jurisdiction over the school.

Normal practice sessions are permitted under the new regulation, again, at the choice of the local board. Those practice, however, cannot exceed that which would be normal if the school were in session.

In other words, the football or soccer teams couldn't resume two-a-days or three-a-days like it did during pre-season when school is not in session.

Contests may be rescheduled at the discretion of the competing schools. But the inability to reschedule an athletic contest would result in a forfeiture.

It was first feared when the strike began that the football team's eight-year streak of making the WPIAL would end with forfeitures, but last Saturday's game at Serra Catholic went on as scheduled. The Raiders, one game out of first place in the Eastern Conference, have a key game slated Friday at Brentwood.

Keino Fitzpatrick is handling the head coaching duties for the Raiders in head coac Joe Rossi's absence.

Conti at Slippery Rock

Former Freeport football standout Clyde Conti is off to a 4-2 start as Slippery Rock High School's new coach.9-1 mark, but that wasn't good enough as the school board ousted him.

In the off-season, Conti was hired at Slippery Rock. He still lives in the Clarion area and makes a 110-mile round trip to Slippery Rock each day.

It would be difficult for anyvbody to question the dedication of high school football coaches, especially making a daily commute like Conti.

Kiski-Hollywood connection

Several weeks ago, Kiski Area honored its 1971 WPIAL championship team.

Those returning for the reunion were given a superb commemorative booklet recounting the magical season. Retired assistant coach Frank Morea dropped by with a copy of the program, which included an article written after the season outlining a ranking of the top high school teams in the country by National Sports Service of Minneapolis.

Kiski Area was ranked fifth in the country with a 12-0 mark. Tied for second was T. C. Williams High School of Arlington, Va..

If the name sounds familiar, it should. The 1971 T.C. Williams team was the subject of the recent movie "Remember the Titans,''starring Denzel Washington.

The movie chronicaled the real-life experinces of the team that was racilally integrated for the first time and how the football team brought the fractured community together.