Bulldog brethren
EAST BRADY — Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog.
Those words were printed for all to see on T-shirts last Saturday night at the East Brady fire hall.
Also on hand were Little 12 championship jackets, orange and black jerseys, game programs, team photos, newspaper articles, game films and video highlights.
For one glorious night, East Brady High School football came back to life.
More than 200 former Bulldog players were on hand to re-tell stories and renew acquaintances.
“This whole thing got started in the lunch room at Kittanning High School back in February,” former East Brady coach Bud Stanley said. “I'm a teacher there now and so is Dan Wolfe, who played quarterback for me.
“Dan and I were talking about organizing a potential reunion and Katie King, another teacher, overheard the conversation. She said her father would be interested in that as well. Then the ball got rolling.”
Jim King is an East Brady alumnus and former president of the Quarterback Club.
“There was a lot of pride in that program,” said King, running back for East Brady from 1964-66. “Word spread about this quickly.
“We figured we'd have it during Riverfest weekend, when a lot of people would be back in town.”
The East Brady midget football team used the sale of tickets to the reunion as a fundraiser.
“We wanted to bring them into it since they're the only official East Brady team left,” King said. “They definitely made some money from this.”
An East Brady Football Reunion banner was donated by the family of Jeff Kusick, a member of the 1988 East Brady team — the only Bulldog squad to win a state playoff game — who was killed in an automobile accident in 1995.
“It's a nice way for Jeff to be a part of all this,” Stanley said.
East Brady football began in 1924 and was played every year until 1940. Discontinued at that point because of the war, football returned to the school in 1954 and was played until 1990. East Brady became part of the Armstrong Central consolidation in 1991.
The Bulldogs featured numerous standout quarterbacks, including eventual Clarion University passing record-setter Chris Weibel, Wolfe, eventual Karns City girls basketball coach Dave Kerschbaumer, Buffalo Bills quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, along with Ed and Ray Kelly.All were at the reunion.“There's a lot of tradition here,” Wolfe said. “We didn't have great numbers in 1988, maybe 30 guys, but we had a great team.“I threw for over 1,000 yards, Matt Roofner ran for over 1,000, and we had other guys with 500 yards rushing or so.”East Brady played its home games at 1 p.m. on Saturdays at Graham Field.“The community shut down ... I mean, everyone came to those games,” said Sam Swick, public address announcer for East Brady football from 1968-90. “People stood all around the field and filled the stands.“There was no locker room facility there. Our players used to walk the five blocks to and from the school, before and after every game and practice. At halftime, the two teams sat in the grass at opposite ends of the field.”Former Bulldog coach Terry Henry remembered those days.“They would all walk together. It was a team unity thing,” Henry said. “On Halloween, the boys stopped at houses along the way and used their helmets to do trick or treating.“My most enjoyable years of coaching were at East Brady. Those kids played with so much heart. They loved the game.”Henry coached the Bulldogs from 1973-80 and in 1982-83.“I could see their numbers getting smaller, but I never thought they would close it,” he said of the school.When news of the impending school consolidation came out, “the mood was very dark, very somber,” Swick said. “People didn't care for that at all.“There was a real groundswell movement to allow the East Brady boys to go to Karns City instead of Armstrong, to remain a close-knit community. The state allowed that in 1994.”Tight end Jason McElravy, who scored East Brady's last-ever touchdown on a 13-yard catch in a 35-7 Little 12 title game win over Clarion-Limestone, moved in with his grandmother so he could attend Karns City once East Brady closed.“I could dunk the ball over the goalpost and swore I would do that if I scored in that last game,” McElravy said. “We had good wide receivers and I was being left wide open in the middle of the field.“Our coach said I could dunk the ball over the goalpost if we were winning by four touchdowns. I caught that pass over the middle, had permission to dunk the ball ... and didn't.“To this day, I regret not doing that.”Jim Bernard was the oldest former player at the reunion. The 92-year-old played for the Bulldogs in 1939.“I only live 100 yards from here,” he said. “My two sons played for East Brady, my grandson played ... Football was big here. I have a son who is a referee now.”The East Brady High Bulldogs were housed at the school, but belonged to the community.“That's the difference with a smaller school,” Henry said. “There's a sense of community, of oneness. That town embraced that team, year after year, win or lose.”“If you didn't get to the game early, you didn't get a parking space,” Swick said. “East Brady football on a Saturday afternoon was the place to be.”
Here are a few notes concerning the 54-year history of East Brady High School football:• The Bulldogs were 247-209-23 overall.• The program was 17-2 against A-C Valley, 27-9-2 against Keystone, 24-19 against Karns City, 16-28-5 against Redbank Valey, 22-27-4 against Union, 21-25 against Clarion.• East Brady's final team (1990) won the Little 12 championship game, defeating Clarion-Limestone 35-7 in its final contest.• Jason McElravy caught a 13-yard pass for East Brady's final touchdown.• East Brady's most lopsided win was 83-0 over Knox in 1932.• Its most lopsided loss was 58-0 to Brockway in 1970.• East Brady enjoyed six undefeated seasons, including two under quarterback Jim Kelly (1976-77).• The Bulldogs were 25-3-1 in Kelly's three years as starting quarterback.• East Brady was 0-7 in its first season (1924) and 9-1 in its last (1990).
