Published: October 04, 2008 12:26 am            

CORY ISENBERG | Johnstown celebrating 1958 team

Greater Johnstown High School will recognize one of the best gridiron squads in the school’s history this weekend.

The Trojans are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1958 team with special celebrations Friday and tonight prior to Johnstown’s 7 p.m. game with Bishop Carroll at Trojan Stadium.

The 1958 team finished with an 11-0 record, capped by a 3-0 victory over Clairton in the WPIAL Class AA championship game played in front of a huge crowd of 11,911 fans at the former Pitt Stadium.

Coach Dave Hart and assistant Blackie Mihalic set high standards for that 1958 team, the last Johnstown team to win a WPIALchampionship game.

“Our coaching staff was really fantastic,” said Woody Barnette, a sophomore left halfback on the 1958 squad who went on to play ball at Southern Methodist University.

“They were really ahead of their time as far as the techniques and the strategy they implemented that high schools just weren’t using at that time.”

In addition to the shutout in the season finale, Johnstown blanked five other squads, including a 41-0 win over Johnstown Catholic, now Bishop McCort.

The other wins for those Trojans came against: Redstone, now in the Brownsville school district, German Township (Albert Gallatin), New Kensington (Valley), Windber, Duquesne, McKeesport, Monessen, Altoona and Har-brack (Highlands).

Did the athletes themselves have any idea of what was awaiting them when the season began?

“There was a lot of anticipation about that team even before we went to camp,” Barnette said. “The town had high expectations and that came about because Johnstown had a history of being an exceptional football team. We had so many seniors on that team who were excellent athletes, including all of our interior line coming back. When we did get to camp, it was impressive how mature and unselfish they were.”

Not only was that 1958 team blessed with some outstanding athletes, team members played side by side on the field of competition, and were also great friends away from the field, establishing relationships that have lasted throughout the years.

“That’s actually one of the things that I am most looking forward to,” Barnette said. “This group has gotten together several times, for the Cambria County Hall of Fame and Johnstown’s 1,000th game. Every time we get together, I usually see someone else that I haven’t seen for a long time.

“There was just so much camaraderie with this group of guys. We were really a team that was very closely-knit.”



Cory Isenberg is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.

        

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