A highly successful season for Monessen High School’s football team and first-year head coach Joe Fischer ended with a tough 14-6 loss to defending WPIAL and PIAA Class A champion Rochester in a WPIAL quarterfinal game contested at Belle Vernon. The loss was the first and only for Monessen in 11 games this season. An explosive Greyhounds offense was limited to just six first downs and 163 yards of total offense as Rochester’s mammoth and dominant offensive and defensive fronts proved the difference. The never-say-die Greyhounds rebounded from a 14-0 halftime deficit when Shawn Martin returned the second-half kickoff 75 yards for Monessen’s lone score. Rochester rolled up 248 rushing yards but only 36 passing yards. FAST FINISH FOR CATES Although the 2001 PSAC West six-game season proved unkind for California University of Pennsylvania’s football team, the season marked more improvement for the Vulcans and another extraordinary season for All-American senior running back Wesley Cates Jr. After losing five straight divisional games following a promising 4-0 start, Cal U concluded the all-too-quick football season with a 68-12 victory at PSAC East rival Cheyney. Cal U’s 5-5 overall record gives the Vulcans its first non-losing football season since 1987. This was also the first time since 1961-63 that Cal U has won five or more football games in three consecutive seasons. For the record, Vulcans football teams won five or more games in the first seven years under lifelong Charleroi resident Jeff Petrucci, who guided the Vulcans from 1981 through 1992. Cal’s records during Petrucci’s first seven years were 5-5, 4-5-1, 7-3, 8-3, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-5. Cates opened the 2001 season by bettering his own single-game rushing school record by 1 yard after burning Geneva for 287 yards in a 28-6 Vulcan win. The Ohio native concluded his unprecedented Cal U career by gaining a school-record 307 yards on 29 carries with five touchdowns at Cheyney. The fast finish gave Cates a third-straight PSAC rushing title. He finished 2001 with 1,673 rushing yards on 277 attempts with 21 rushing yards. The elusive Cates averaged 6 yards per carry and more than 167 yards per game. He also caught a touchdown pass and scored a 2-point conversion. From a career standpoint, Cates finished with a PSAC-best 5,647 yards, 63 rushing touchdowns and 386 points. He was second among all PSAC players in career rushing attempts with 937. Cates finished as the eighth-leading rusher in the history of NCAA Division II football and 13th all-time in career scoring. He owns three of the school’s four 1,000-yard rushing records. His 1,935-rushing yard output in 1999 is the third-best in PSAC history. The only other Vulcan to surpass the 1,000-yard rushing plateau is Elmo Natali, who gained 1,035 yards in 1951 while leading Cal U to a 7-2 overall record and an appearance in the Pythian Bowl. Cal U lost that game by a 13-7 score to heavily favored Lenoir-Rhyne. Cal U’s 68-point outburst against Cheyney was the Vulcans’ highest single game scoring total since producing 88 points in a shutout win over the Pitt Collegians in 1920. Cal U scored 65 points against Bethany in 1949 and Clarion in 1923. Cal U scored 61 points against Lock Haven in 1946. The last time the California team surpassed 60 points in a single football game was a 63-14 win at Lock Haven in 1983. “It was certainly a nice way to finish,” said Cal U fifth-year head coach Mike Kolakowski. “We’ve improved each year but we still have to find a way to do better in the conference games. Our inability to get over the hump and finish a few teams off in our division was undoubtedly frustrating. But we’re getting there.” The season did end a nasty 13-year stretch of losing seasons for the Vulcans. Cates’ contribution and plethora of school and conference records will not soon be forgotten.

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