Ex-'Jackets tapped for Armstrong Hall
FREEPORT — Jody White and Andy Crocker never shared the same field as members of the Freeport football team.
But the two former Yellowjackets will enter the Armstrong County Hall of Fame together at 5 p.m. May 1 at Laube Hall.
White was a 1990 graduate who was a senior when Crocker was a freshman. Crocker graduated in 1993.
Both were thrilled at joining the illustrious club.
“I was just humbled by it,” said White, a major in the U.S. Marine Corps. “You see all of the folks on it before and now you're put in there with them.”
“It's a great honor, especially being a former lineman. Usually linemen are not in the headlines,” said Crocker, an executive with II-VI in Saxonburg
White, 39, lettered in football and basketball for three years and track and field for four, earning WPIAL and PIAA accolades for all, but his best sport was football.
White, who resides in Stafford, Va., was a Butler County first-team all-star his junior and senior campaigns after being second-team as a sophomore.
He was the Butler County Player of the Year and led the county in rushing yards. He was a three-time 1,000-yard rusher, a WPIAL first-team selection and guided the Yellowjackets to the WPIAL championship game.
White earned a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, where he lettered four years and was a three-year starter at outside linebacker and served as a team captain.
From there, he turned his attention to the military.
“It was something that came along as the opportunity arose,” White said. “I saw the Marine Corps as the elite of the elite military forces. I wanted to be a part of that.
“I was a little older at the time. I had a sense of duty. I wanted to serve my country. That was in 1995 and there was nothing really going on then,” White added.
In 1997, White served a tour of duty in Haiti, then in Kosovo in 1999. After handling some recruiting duties in Pittsburgh, he was deployed in 2004 to Afghanistan and in 2005 to IraqAfter one more tour of duty in 2006-07, White returned stateside for good. He and his wife, Jen, have five children: Sydney (18), Brandon (12), Searra (10), Bryce (8) and Mikaela (5).Crocker lettered three years for the Yellowjackets and was a first-team all-conference center and second team at nose guard his junior season.As a senior, Crocker was first-team all-conference at nose guard, first-team academic all-conference and was an honorable mention all-state selection.“We made the playoffs all three years,” said Crocker, 39. “We were real solid, a good group of guys — Ron DiJidas. Brian Kurn. We were always good.”Crocker received a scholarship from Duquesne.“Coming out of high school, I was only 235 pounds,” Crocker said. “I had a growth spurt late and I put on about 40 pounds in college.”Crocker played nose guard at Duquesne and was second-team all-MAAC as a freshman and all-ECAC as a sophomore.He also was a two-time Duquesne University Males Student Athlete of the Year.With his degree in accounting, Crocker went straight to work at Cutler-Hammer in Moon Township as a general accountant, then moved to Texas and North Carolina for work.He eventually returned to the area, earning a master's degree at Robert Morris University in 2006 and working at II-VI.Crocker resides in Saxonburg with his wife and two daughters, ages 5 and 2,. Both, however, are a little young to understand the idea of the hall of fame.“My older daughter, she just knows that I used to play football,” Crocker said.<B>Notes:</B> Other inductees include Apollo-Ridge's Joseph Woods (football), Ford City's Robert Trenchik (basketball, deceased), Kittanning's Steven Rood (wrestling), Leechburg's Stacey Pastava-Lagace (softball) and Eugene Yajiko (football), Worthington's Scott Patterson (hockey) and Shannock Valley's Adam Doverspike (football) and Deidre Shaffer (special award) and John Brochetti (special award) ... Among the Student-Athlete honors for this year's Hall of fame class are Freeport's Anna Christy and Jake Campbell and Karns City's Kara Yasika and Ethan McGarvey ... Tickets are available by calling Dennis Wolfe at 724-882-3557 or from Banco Insurance Agency in Leechburg.
