Football memories from several generations were prominent Saturday night at the Leechburg Football Alumni reunion.
Nearly 100 Blue Devils alumni from seven decades celebrated their football tradition at the Marconi Lodge.
Representatives from outstanding past teams were on hand, including coaches Frank Cignetti and Don Olshansky.
Between 1962 and 1981, Leechburg had 14 winning seasons and only three losing seasons in football.
While Leechburg football mainly has struggled in the past two decades, the alumni organizing committee, to its credit, invited 13 seniors from the 2013 team.
“We wanted to have the seniors here to make a generational connection,” said Frank Diani, a 1974 graduate who was one of the organizers.
A number of the alumni on hand played for the 1965 WPIAL Class A champs and the following year when the Blue Devils dropped to Class B. Those classifications are known now as Classes AA and A
During the 1965-66 offseason, Cignetti left and was replaced by Bob Costello.
But the one commonality between the seasons was Olshansky, an assistant who later became head coach.
“Coach Olshansky was the glue that stuck everything together,” said Jim Girardi, a running back on the twin championship teams. “He was offensive coordinator, running backs coach, and he supported and helped out on defense.”
Girardi missed nearly half the 1966 regular season with a concussion.
He was pulled backward by a Peabody tackler at Leechburg Veterans Stadium. Girardi landed on a drainage grate and was out of the lineup.
But Girardi felt one of the strengths was depth.
“They worked us so hard, and we were taught different positions,” Girardi recalled. “When someone was hurt, another athlete could jump in freely at the position.”
“Don Olshansky was ahead of his time,” Frank Sulava said. “We were running a true triple option, and we were running it to perfection.”
Cignetti later became head coach at West Virginia following Bobby Bowden's departure for Florida State. He later had a successful tenure at Indiana (Pa.), where Curt Cignetti is now in command.
Paul Noonan, a quarterback who played just before the two-time title teams, knew Cignetti would go on to bigger and better things in the coaching world.
“We didn't exactly know what the future held, but we knew Frank was a tremendous motivator and coach. We still keep in touch.”
Noonan went on to assist coaches like Olshansky, Joe Mucci at Jeannette and Art Tragesser at Jeannette and Penn-Trafford.
The Sulava effect
Another ingredient to Leechburg's string of success was brothers from large families.
Freeport had the Huths, Tarentum and Highlands had the Sypulas, Springdale had the Drehers — and Leechburg had the Sulavas.
There were seven Sulava brothers who played for Leechburg from 1966-84. Dennis, Frank, Joe, Mike, Jim, Paul and Greg wore the blue and silver. Frank was inducted into the Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame recently.
“We were like David playing Goliath — we were the smallest school around,” Frank Sulava said. “When we were growing up, we looked to the Leechburg players as pros. We were chomping at the bit waiting for our chance.”
One person who had the good fortune to play on two of the Alle-Kiski Valley's greatest teams is Ray Voyten. Voyten transferred from some championship-caliber teams at Kiski Area just in time to help the Blue Devils to an 8-2 season as a senior in 1973.
Voyten is now president of the football alumni, Noonan is vice president and Diani is secretary-treasurer.
Also helping out on the committee are current head coach Mark George, Girardi, Ray Bartha and Jeff Cortileso.
The next alumni event will be in conjunction with the Leechburg-Springdale game Sept. 5.
Next year when Kittanning and Ford City are merged, the Leechburg-Springdale rivalry will become the oldest in the A-K Valley, dating to 1928.
George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.
