Lehighton All-Stater Gets It Done On and Off The Field

Lehighton's Kyle Brong won the 2006 Scholar-Athlete Award at the 46th annual National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Lehigh Valley Chapter awards dinner Sunday night. Brong, who has a 3.8 grade point average, will play his college ball at Dartmouth.

To read more on the award from The Morning Call, please click on The High School Football Headline "Lehighton All-Stater Gets It Done On and Off The Field".

Pennsylvania and Ohio Name Big 33 Coaches

Mark Schmidt, head coach of Neshaminy High School, has been named head coach of the 2006 PNC Big 33 Football Classic’s Pennsylvania Team. The head coach of the Ohio Team will be Paul Farrah of Louisville High School.

Schmidt, selected by the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association (PFSCA), will be assisted by Scott Heinauer of Mars Area HS in Pittsburgh, Craig Sponsky of Bishop Carroll HS, Bob Flaus of Peabody HS, Mike Brennan of Mount Carmel Area JSHS, and Kevin Keating of Pottsville Area HS.

Farrah’s assistants will be Kevin Siple of Indian Hill HS, Bob Spaite of Columbiana HS, Brian White of Hilliard Davidson HS, Greg Dempsey of Toledo Central Catholic and Ed Terwilliger of Olentangy HS.

The 49th Annual Big 33 Football Classic will be held Saturday night, June 17th at Hersheypark Stadium. Bill Fralic, former Atlanta Falcon lineman and former Pittsburgh Panther is this year’s honorary chairman.

The PSFCA also announced the coaching staffs for its 6th Annual East-West All-Star Game, which will be played Saturday night, June 24th in Altoona.

Heading the East squad will be Jim Algeo of Lansdale Catholic HS. He will be assisted by Danny Algeo of Cardinal O’Hara HS, Rob Klock of Lower Dauphin HS, Rob Deibler of Steel High HS, Mike Matta of Downingtown East and Mike Milano of Downingtown West HS.
The head coach of the West squad will be Tim Janocko of Clearfield HS. His assistants will be Terry Smith of Gateway HS, Gene Matsook of Rochester HS, Jim Wells of General McClain, Tom Gravish of Bellefonte HS, and Brad Livingston of Central York.

Tickets for the Big 33 Football Classic can be ordered by calling 717-774-3303 or visiting www.big33.org. Tickets for the East West Game can be ordered by calling 1-800-842-5866.

Scagliotta Heading Back To The Slate Belt

On Tuesday night the Bangor Area School Board will vote on bringing back native son Frank Scagliotta to turn around the school's football program.

Scagliotta, who's won one of the top NCAA basketball referees, is quoted in the Express-Times saying he's been offered the job at his alma mater. He's spent the last three years trying to turn around the Southern Lehigh program, however, he struggled to a 6-24 record.

It's the first time that Scagliotta hasn't been able to produce winning results. He turned Pocono Mountain into a District XI champ in the 80's and then moved on to to Pius X (Roseto), where the Royals became state contenders in 1A.

Bangor has struggled over the last six season going 16-45.

To read more from the Express-Times, please click on The High School Football Huddle's headline "Scagliotta Heading Back To The Slate Belt".

Northern Lehigh Taps Tout To Lead Bulldogs

Ten year after graduating from Panther Valley High School, Joe Tout is taking over his first high school football program.

The 29-year old Tout has been hired to replace Jim Tkach at Northern Lehigh. Tout has spent five years on Tkach's Bulldog staff. During that time Tkach & Company turned the Slatington school into a 2A power, including an appearance in the 2A State Championship game in 2003.

To read more about Tout's hiring in the Express-Times, please click on The High School Football Huddle's headline "Northern Lehigh Taps Tout To Lead Bulldogs".

Berwick Goes Outside The Program For New Head Football Coach

In George Curry's incredible reign at Berwick, the Bulldogs not only captured the community's imagination, but the nation's. Even Ted Koppel's Nightline put the Bulldogs in the spotlight after six Pennsylvania state championships, three USA Today mythical national championships and 362 wins in Curry's 35-years.

So it stands to reason that when Curry stepped down, coaches around the nation would be drawn to the tiny town of 10,000 rabid high school football fans. It also stands to reason that the community would be looking inside the program toward former stars, who could keep the tradition rolling.

In the end, it was a guy from of all places...Masschusetts...that won out over a former Bulldog star quarterback.

Gary Campbell, Jr. who led Wahconah Regional High School to two Massachusetts Division 2 Super Bowl wins in ten years, has been named the Dawgs new coach. Campbell beat out Dave Robbins, who's been on Curry's staff for three years, but has no head coaching experience.

It will be interesting to see if the fans are give Campbell more slack because he's an outsider or whether they'll be constantly second-guessing whether the hiring should have come from within. Either way, Campbell will be constantly under the microscope.

To read more about Campbell in the Berkshire Eagle, please click on The High School Football Huddle's headline "Berwick (PA) Gets First News Head Coach In 35 Years".

Four From Lehigh Valley Sign Division I-A Scholarships

Three Lehigh Valley high school football stars will get a chance to see each other at the next level thanks to signing National Letters of Intent with schools in the Big East.

Ty Tkach (Northern Lehigh) is heading to Pittsburgh, Andres Morales (Liberty) goes to the Garden State to play for Rutgers and Chris Neild (Stroudsburg) goes to Big East champ West Virginia.

To read more on these four players, plus other signings in the Lehigh Valley from the Morning Call newspaper, please click on The High School Football Huddle's Headline "Four From Lehigh Valley Sign Division I-A Scholarships".