FREEPORT — Joe Ridgeley never forgot where he came from. That’s why he’s humbled to be inducted into the Armstrong County Hall of Fame.

Ridgeley, a 1975 graduate of Freeport High School, will be one of 10 inductees into this year’s class, which will be honored at 4 p.m. April 29 at Laube Hall.

“I found out around Christmas,” said Ridgeley, 54, of Ebensburg. “It was just fantastic. I think of all the people in that area that were successful and did well.”

Ridgeley certainly had a strong resume, both as a two-way lineman at Freeport and as a guard at Clarion University.

Ridgeley was a member of two Yellowjackets squads that reached the WPIAL Class AA championship finals during the 1972 and 1974 seasons — his sophomore and senior campaigns — but didn’t come away with the elusive titles.

“That was unfortunate because we had some really good teams,” Ridgeley said. “My sophomore year we played Beaver at Pitt Stadium and my senior year we played at Latrobe against Albert Gallatin.

“The first game was close (20-14), but we got killed in the other (41-6).

“It was disappointing, but it was all about how important football was in Freeport and being part of the team,” Ridgeley added.

Ridgeley was a captain and was named to the all-AIC and all-WPIAL teams his senior year before moving on to Clarion.

“Basically, I was not real mature in high school,” Ridgeley said. “I was only 17 when I started at Clarion. Coach (Don) Earley and Coach (Gary) Kepple got me ready for college.”

Ridgeley earned several conference and district awards, including being named NAIA all-district first-team guard and PSAC second team guard as a junior, then was first-team all-PSAC as a senior.

Ridgeley graduated from Clarion in 1980 with a degree in secondary education and social studies, then taught and coached football at Elyria (Ohio) High School.

“From there, things were going downhill with the population and the economy and I went to Central Cambria for 32 years,” said Ridgeley, who teaches American history.

He would serve as a defensive coordinator for his entire tenure there and served as the boys track and field coach for 16 years. He compiled a 149-21-1 record and was a four-year Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Coach of the year.

His wife, Donna, was the girls track and field coach.

He stepped away from both positions this past year, but is hopeful of coaching again sometime down the line.

The idea of coaching as a career started back as a senior at Clarion.

“I really enjoyed playing and I began to think about wanting to do something along with teaching,” Ridgeley said.

The Ridgeleys have two children: daughter Brooke, who recently graduated from Bloomsburg University, where she ran cross country and track, and Ben, a 4.0 GPA student at Robert Morris University and a member of the Colonials’ football team.

Notes: Each year, the Hall of Fame honors two student-athletes from each school in the Armstrong County area. This year’s Freeport honorees are Lynsey Gugino and Jon Turner and Karns City’s honorees are Erin McCue and Justin Ryan ... The hall will also honor two Vietnam War veterans in a new category (Special Awards Military).For tickets to the Hall of Fame banquet, call Dennis Wolfe at 724-882-3557.