Football Notes: A milestone for Bob Wolfrum, rooting for ‘other’ Eagles, three grand & more
It seems as though Wyomissing’s Bob Wolfrum passes another coaching milestone every time he pulls on his headphones.
A win Saturday over West Perry in the District 3 Class 3A championship game will be No. 349 in his 36-year career, making him the winningest football coach in District 3 history.
He’ll also be alone in sixth place on Pennsylvania’s all-time wins list and No. 2 among active coaches behind only Southern Columbia’s Jim Roth, according to figures on easternpafootball.com.
Wolfrum’s winning percentage — boosted considerably by going 47-3 the past three seasons — is also among the best of the best.
| 300-game winners (ranked by pct.) | |
| Mike Pettine, Central Bucks West | .8817 |
| Jim Roth, Southern Columbia | .8815 |
| Bill Cherpak, Thomas Jefferson | .850 |
| Mike Williams, Manheim Central | .820 |
| George Curry, Berwick+ | .818 |
| Bob Wolfrum, Wyomissing | .801 |
| John Hayes, Bellwood-Antis | .757 |
| Don Bailey, Forest Hills | .753 |
| Tim Rimpfel, Cumberland Valley# | .752 |
| Jim Render, Upper St. Clair@ | .739 |
#Includes results from Trinity, Bishop McDevitt.
@ Includes results from Carrolton, Uniontown.
Of the 21 Pennsylvania coaches who have won 300 or more games Wolfrum’s .801 winning percentage ranks sixth.
He was bumped down a spot last week when Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak won his 300th game; Cherpak’s winning percentage is an incredible .850, surpassed only by Roth (.8175) and Mike Pettine (.8817) of Central Bucks West.
Roth had been No. 1 on that list but is not having the greatest of seasons (by his standards); the Tigers are 9-3 heading into Friday’s District 2 Class 2A championship against Mount Carmel.
Wilson’s Doug Dahms is unlikely to get to 300 wins — that would mean coaching into his mid 80’s — but if he did he’d rank high on the winning percentage list. His Berks-record .824 percentage would be fourth behind Pettine, Roth and Cherpak.
Wolfrum is among six active Pennsylvania football coaches with 300-plus wins. Clearfield’s Tim Janocko reached that milestone early this season.
Right on Wolfrum’s heels is Kevin Clancy of Strath-Haven, who is 12-0 this season and has 344 wins, which is tied for eighth all-time in PA.
Roth entered the season ranked third among active football coaches in the nation. J.T. Curtis of John Curtis Christian in River Ridge, La., had 603 wins over 53 seasons. Robert Hyland of St. Mary’s Springs, Fond du Lac, Wis., had 492 in 51 seasons. Roth is in his 39th season.
Wolfrum was among the top 50 in all-time wins.
Rooting for the (other) Eagles
Will seniors Lucas Palange, Joey Schlaffer, Kyle Lash and their Exeter teammates be able to play for a district championship on their home field?
With District 3 now playing all games at the site of the higher-seeded team the No. 2 Eagles have a chance.
They’ll need to beat No. 11 Northern Friday at Don Thomas Stadium and see the No. 12 Cocalico Eagles knock off top-seeded Solanco.
The latter’s not as much of a long shot as it might seem by the seeding. Cocalico, which squeezed into the final spot of the 12-team field by beating Conrad Weiser in Week 10, is a hot team that seems to have found a winning formula after an uncharacteristic 3-4 start.
The Eagles have won five straight, including an impressive 42-2 shellacking of fifth-seeded and high-scoring Elizabethtown in the opening round. The Bears had been averaging 37.1 points before seeing their offense — which had been ranked No. 1 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League during the regular season — was shut down.
Solanco is unbeaten and the Section 2 champ but it has been far from dominant. The Mules own a five-point win over Lampeter-Strasburg, a three-point win over Penn Manor, a seven-point win over Twin Valley and a three-point win over Elizabethtown; they held off No. 8 Shippensburg 42-35 in the quarterfinals.
For what it’s worth Cocalico has an 80.7 rating on the Born Power Index, second-best in District 3 Class 5A to Exeter (88.7). Solanco is third at 73.6.
Civil war
Nine Lancaster-Lebanon League teams will be playing in District 3 semifinals or championships this week; three are certain to lose.
That’s because of three head-to-head match-ups: Hempfield vs. Manheim Township in Class 6A, Cocalico vs. Solanco in 5A and Manhein Central vs. Lampeter-Strasburg in 4A.
That also means there will be at least one L-L team in five of the six championship games. The only one that won’t include an L-L team is Class 1A, in which Steel-High beat Fairfield
Nine of the 14 teams playing in District 3 semifinals and finals this weekend are from the Lancaster-Lebanon League — that’s better than 64 percent.
The L-L’s 37 teams constitute 40 percent of the 92 schools playing football in District 3.
Lights out performance
The scoreboard at Twin Valley Stadium was not operational for the Raiders’ playoff win over Milton Hershey. Fitting, said Raiders coach Brett Myers.
The Raiders let a 29-15 halftime lead slip away but didn’t blink, responding to a tie game by scoring the final two touchdowns and holding the Trojans scoreless over the final 17 minutes.
“The scoreboard doesn’t dictate who we are,” said Myers. “I honestly don’t think they were worried about the score (at that point), they just wanted to play the next play. It’s really about the effort they give and the way they represent their community.”
Three grand
Solanco has a chance see three running backs finish the season with 1,000 rushing yards, an interesting factoid pointed out by Jeff Reinhart of Lancasteronline.com.
In fact it could happen in the same game, which would be rather incredible and likely unprecedented in Pennsylvania football.
Entering their District 3 Class 5A semifinal against Cocalico, Josiah Forren has rushed for 979 yards, Cole Harris 968 and quarterback Brody Mellinger for 835.
It’s also possible that none of the three reach that milestone because Cocalico’s defense is very, very good.
The Eagles are ranked No. 2 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League in rush defense, allowing 91 yards per game; only Exeter has allowed fewer.
Cocalico limited Gettysburg to 13 yards on 16 attempts last week in 23-13 win. A week earlier Elizabethtown was held to minus-20 yards on 23 attempts.
Wyomissing could also finish the season with three 1,000-yard rushers but it would likely take a return to the PIAA championship game — and some good fortune.
Entering Saturday’s game Charlie McIntyre has rushed for 781 yards, Matt Kramer 754 and Drew Eisenhower 650. If they fall short of that milestone it’s because those three rarely get second-half carries; the Spartans have salted away most of their games by halftime.
Stars come out
The Lancaster-Lebanon League will announce all-league teams for each of the five sections at its annual coaches banquet Nov. 29.
Each section will have a full first and second team, plus honorable mentions, a Coach of the Year, Outstanding Back of the Year, Outstanding Lineman and other specialty awards.
The Berks County Coaches Football Association will also select an All-Berks team that considers players from the 14 Lancaster-Lebanon League entries plus Boyertown. That team will be announced in mid-December.