Lilly-Washington Red Raiders 60 years later: We were a very small school, but we made life difficult for most teams in 1966

Red Raiders Players 60 years later

Seated: George Klayko, Romie Robine, Frank Kawtoski

Back: Larry Summerville, Joe Stauski, Tim Panek, Hugh Conrad, Bruce Wheeler

Sometimes, those games that could have been wins never leave a player’s mind. That was evident in discussions of our 1966 football team, and we discussed it during our 60th Class Reunion on Sept. 19.

Ultimately, we had to face the truth. When your school has just 140 students in grades 9 through 12, fielding competitive teams can be challenging. For the Lilly-Washington Red Raiders in 1966, that meant only 23 players were on the football team, with four of them freshmen.

However, we battled much larger schools in confrontations that could have gone either way. In fact, we were very close to a winning record, but some things went against us in games that came down to the wire. In one game, it was a controversial call by an official that could have cost us the winning touchdown. Another was an injury that hurt our offensive effort and allowed a comeback.

Out final record was strange, 3-4-2, a weird one to say the least. Included in one of those losses was a battle against undefeated Williamsburg, but we had three games that we could have won.

And that still hurts.

The amusing conversation

One of the more interesting talks I heard during our 60th was between two of our offensive linemen: Joe Stauski and Larry Summerville. Joe insisted to Larry that Larry had played right guard and he was left guard. Joe had played right guard, so that was true. But, Larry insisted that he was the right tackle and that Bill Klayko was the right guard. He was right on that. Joe finally conceded when both George Klayko and I agreed that Larry was a tackle. It was such fun listening to that discussion.

Here was our starting offense that year:

Ends Danny Bender, Norm Thrower.

Tackles: Larry Summerville and Paul (Butch) Erzal

Guards: Joe Stauski and Bill Klayko

Center: Jim Sloan

Quarterback: Kelly Campagna

Running Backs: George Klayko, Tim Panek, Hugh Conrad

Close games

We ended up in a tie against Gallitzin despite being deep in the red zone and ready to score when an official’s flag destroyed the drive. I never heard or saw our two coaches — Mike Talko and Art Martynuska — so angry. Art was on the field ripping the official the call was so bad.

Our fans yelled “homer” to the official — I have no doubt that cost us the game because we were inside the ten yard line and moving. I should remember who that official was because I never forgave him, but time does not allow me to get into details.

The game that we thought we had won was against Laurel Valley. We had a 14-0 lead and were rolling when out QB was hurt. That was costly and a few mistakes gave LV the chance to come back, and they did in the final part of the fourth quarter.

The other game that we had a chance to win was against Juniata Valley, which also ended in a tie. We were again deep in the red zone but a bad call on our part cost us deeply. There was always a debate about who had called the play, which coach, but in any event, it did not work and the game ended in a tie.

With three wins there, we would have been 6-2-1. A major difference.

However, those are the challenges for a small school team that had only 23 or 24 players. Today, that number is common because of the low turnout of players and the general downturn in high school age population.

Not in those days. Many of the teams we played had 35 to 40 players. If everyone was healthy, we had 23 or 24.

My recollection, not happy

I try to forget the season: While I talked about the season with my teammates, I have tried for more than five decades to forget the season.

Why?

I had a good reason: I limped my way through the year, fighting injuries as I had so often in my playing days.

We were practicing two days before our first scrimmage with Cresson when a teammate came after me when we were going half-speed and placed his helmet on my hip, just above the pad.

The result was a hip pointer, and I missed our first two scrimmages. I was declared okay for our first game, but I was out of shape.

This was frustrating because I had worked so hard to condition myself for the season. No one spent more hours in the weight room that summer — and I was usually alone.

I came into the season in fabulous shape, and was doing well in the preseason before the injury.

So, when I started practicing again, it was just a few days before our first game and I was not in great condition.

However, what happened was that I was hit and twisted my ankle and went down again. That forced me to miss most of that game and I literally limped through the season. I was not able to practice during the week, and then the first time I was hit, the ankle went out again.

I was happy when the season ended, but on the one outstanding play that I made that year, it was called back because of a penalty.

We were playing undefeated Williamsburg and were losing by a few touchdowns when I picked off a pass in the flat and scored a big TD to bring us closer.

However, a penalty flag was dropped about 20 yards behind the play. My teammate had clipped a defender even though I was out in the clear, and it came back.

Such was the season.

The next link will be for our basketball battles that year.