When you cover high school sports in the same area long enough, sometimes things run together.
You remember great players and great teams, recall games you were at and reminisce about the people you met and lost along the way, but sometimes the dates and years are a blur.
There are things that felt like they happened just yesterday, but in reality, occurred 10 years ago.
Football Friday is one example.
When I became sports editor at The Republican-Herald in 2002, I started looking for a way to enhance our high school football coverage and at the same time clear space for coverage of the other fall sports like soccer, volleyball and cross country that had become so prominent.
It took a couple of years, but I think we got it right.
Taking some ideas from other papers and publications and adding our own insight, we developed Football Friday. The first edition debuted Friday, Sept. 1, 2006, and featured Rick Geist on the cover.
Entitled “Back to the Future,” the main story detailed Geist’s return to North Schuylkill after spending six seasons as the head coach at Cardinal Brennan. The Spartans made their Anthracite Football League debut that night, taking on a Shenandoah Valley squad that would go on to win the 2006 District 11 Class A championship.
Ten seasons later, Football Friday is still going strong.
There have been a lot of things that have changed on the local gridirons since Football Friday was born.
Cardinal Brennan, which decided not to field a team in that 2006 season, officially closed, and Lourdes dropped its program. Long-time local rival Pius X also closed.
Blue Mountain, Lehighton and Pottsville joined the Anthracite Football League, with the Eagles and Crimson Tide leaving the Berks League.
Several local teams made long postseason runs, with Pottsville reaching the Class AAA final in Hershey for the second straight season in 2006. Several other teams have gotten close, but the Tide still remain the last local team to play for a state football championship.
Schuylkill Haven’s Zach Barket re-wrote the state single-season rushing and touchdown records in 2008, and there have been a bevy of head coaching changes. Some coaches, like Mike Brennan, Cory Mabry and Wally Hall, changed jobs more than once.
And sitting on the horizon is the biggest change, the PIAA’s switch to six classifications for 2016.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the dedication and commitment of The Republican-Herald sports staff to provide the best and most in-depth coverage of our local student-athletes as possible.
As we put the wraps on the 10th season of Football Friday, we’d like to thank everyone who has helped along the way:
• The coaches and players who took the time to be interviewed or fill out questionnaires for the weekly profile;
• The advertisers, who without them, there wouldn’t be a Football Friday;
• Our photographers, who take the great action shots you see on a weekly basis;
• And you, the reader, who have made Football Friday one of the most-read publications on a Friday in Eastern Pennsylvania.
The Republican-Herald’s football coverage will continue in the daily newspaper as long as we have a local team remaining.
Good luck to those local teams as they continue their quest for a PIAA state championship.
SCFCA All-Star Game
set for Nov. 25
The Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association will hold its annual North-South Senior All-Star Game on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 7 p.m. at Schuylkill Haven’s Rotary Field.
Pine Grove’s Jeff Sampson will coach Team Ortho (South), which is sponsored by Phillips and Brayford Orthopedic. Lehighton’s Tom McCarroll will guide Team Jungle (North), which is sponsored by BRB Specialties.
At halftime, the SCFCA will induct four new members into its Coaches Hall of Fame: Bob Moyer (North Schuylkill), Jim Shields (Blue Mountain), Tom Renninger (Pine Grove) and Walter Farquhar (Pottsville).
Rosters for both teams will appear in the regular paper sometime over the weekend.
Last year, bad weather forced the game to be postponed several times before being held in May.
Let’s hope for better weather this time around.
Player of the Week
Tegan Durishin
Lehighton
Durishin, a senior wide receiver/defensive back, played a key role in the Indians’ 27-7 victory over Blue Mountain in the District 11 Class AAA semifinal.
Defensively, Durishin had two interceptions and a fumble recovery, helping the Lehighton defense force six Blue Mountain turnovers.
Offensively, he hauled in four passes for 67 yards, including a 21-yard TD reception in the second half.
Honorable Mention: K.J. Snerr, Marian; Kyle Karycki, Mount Carmel; Tyler Lucas, Tri-Valley; Mason Ryan, Mahanoy Area
(Boyer is sports editor and covers H.S. football for The Republican-Herald. Follow him on Twitter @pubsportsboss)