Schuylkill Haven to celebrate 100th football season
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Schuylkill Haven’s football program has hit the century mark.
This season marks the 100th in Schuylkill Haven’s long and storied history, one that began in 1925 and has consisted of 1,035 games.
The school plans to celebrate the milestone with an alumni reunion Friday, Sept. 6, when the Hurricanes host Shenandoah Valley at 7:30 p.m. at Rotary Field. More details on the celebration will be released by the school district at a later date.
The Hurricanes enter the 2024 season just four wins shy of 600 all-time, compiling a 596-412-27 overall record (.589 winning percentage). Among area programs, only state-leader Mount Carmel (899), Pottsville (719), Shamokin (627) and Minersville (613) have more victories. In District 11, Schuylkill Haven trails only Easton (875), Pottsville, Minersville, Catasauqua (603) and Nazareth (602).
Schuylkill Haven assistant coach/team historian Mike Tracey and statistician Kerry Barket have compiled a bevy of information regarding the program’s history. Tracey, who has been an assistant coach for 46 seasons, compiled a book entitled “The History of Schuylkill Haven Football 1925-2000” that was printed in 2001, then published a Volume II in 2017 that covered the years 2001-16.
Here are some historical tidbits taken from those two books and a statistical packet Barket and Tracey put together for the upcoming season:
A program is born
Scholastic football began in the Schuylkill County area in 1893 when Pottsville, Mount Carmel and Shamokin fielded teams. Minersville started its program in 1894, followed by Shenandoah (1898), Mahanoy City (1899) and Tamaqua (1901).
Schuylkill Haven’s first true high school season came in 1925, although at least five games were played prior to 1925, according to Pennsylvania football historian Roger Saylor. One game occurred in 1912 against Pottsville, another in 1914 against Minersville, two in 1915 against Orwigsburg and one in 1916 against Frackville. Those five games were considered as “pick-up” games played by “town teams” and are not included in Schuylkill Haven’s historical records.
Schuylkill Haven’s first official high school football game came in September 1925 at Orwigsburg, a 13-0 loss. Haven compiled a 2-5 record that season, losing to Saint Clair 19-6, beating Llewellyn 6-0, losing to Pottsville 31-0, losing to Saint Clair 20-6, beating Orwigsburg 13-0 and losing to Minersville 7-0.
Harvey Kline was Haven’s first head coach. Members of the original team included William Moyer, Robert Peel, Edward Burkert, Hiram Fisher, Luther Shadel, Paul Bowen, Leroy Lutz, Wellington Hartman, Charles Stauffer, Fred Reed, Lester Deibert, Jack Stanton, Quentin Hainley, William Harner, Stewart Goas, Elmer Noll, Russell Bubeck, George Pettis, Luther Troutman and David Baker.
Schuylkill Haven played its home games for the first few seasons on many different fields. Games were played mostly on the Island (today it’s called Island Park) and at Connor’s Crossing (the site of the Cressona Mall today).
“The High School Playground” was the name given to an area behind the former high school, which today is the Schuylkill Haven Area Middle School. That area eventually became Rotary Field, which was built and first used in 1930.
Portable lights were first used at Rotary Field in 1937, with permanent lights installed in 1946. Artificial turf was installed at Rotary Field in 2006, with a new turf surface installed in 2020.
Over the years, Schuylkill Haven’s football teams have had the following nicknames: Blue and Gold, Havenites, Yellow Jackets and Hurricanes. There were also a few seasons when the team didn’t have a nickname.
Schuylkill Haven has played games against 95 different opponents. Games in the 1920s versus Minersville, in the 1930s against Pine Grove and from 1935-42 against Cressona were played on Thanksgiving Day morning.
Coaches
Schuylkill Haven has had just 11 head coaches in its 100-year history.
Kline coached the first season, with Harry McInroy going 6-8-2 in 1926-27. McInroy guided Haven to its first winning season with a 4-3 mark in 1926. He was followed by Philip Snider, who directed Haven to a 4-5-1 record in 1928.
Bill Stauffer took over the program in 1929 and coached Haven for 27 seasons, compiling a 151-76-15 record (.655) over 242 games from 1929-55. His 1953 club won the Eastern Conference championship with a 28-6 victory over Scranton Prep. His 1954 squad finished the season 10-0 but was edged by unbeaten Mount Carmel in the rating system and did not make the EC playoffs.
At the time, the Eastern Conference playoffs were just one class, broken into the Northern and Southern Divisions. The top team in each division advanced to the championship game.
Schuylkill Haven struggled after Stauffer’s departure, going a combined 37-103-5 from 1956-70 under Harry Hummel (20-26), Pat Droskinis (13-34-3), Dick Rohrer (1-17-1) and Jack Kubeika (3-26-1), with just three winning seasons.
Fred Porrino took over the Haven program in 1971 and built it into a consistent winner. The Hurricanes went 86-35-2 (.703) in 11 seasons under Porrino, with nine straight winning seasons. Under Porrino, Haven made the Eastern Conference playoffs in 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1981, winning it all in 1978 and 1979.
His 1978 squad finished 13-0 and was ranked the No. 1 Class B team in Pennsylvania according to the Saylor System — in an era before the PIAA playoffs were created. Porrino’s final team in 1981 went 12-1, falling to Central Columbia in the EC Class C title game.
John Davis, a long-time assistant coach under Porrino, took over the program for the 1982 season and went 180-88-2 (.670) in 270 games over 23 seasons before passing away just prior to the start of the 2005 season.
Current head coach Mike Farr, who was the quarterback of Davis’ 1982 team that won the Eastern Conference Class C crown, took over the program in 2005 and has compiled a 130-92 record (.586) in 222 games over 19 seasons.
Postseason glory
While Porrino built the Hurricanes into a consistent winner, Davis and Farr made Schuylkill Haven a postseason power.
Schuylkill Haven played just eight postseason games in its first 57 seasons from 1925-81, going 6-2. Under Davis and Farr, Haven has competed in 63 playoff games, going 40-23.
Davis’ squads went 18-11 in the playoffs, winning Eastern Conference championships in 1982 and 1991 and District 11 Class A titles in 1994, 1998 and 2002. Schuylkill Haven’s 1991 team finished 15-0, downing Southern Columbia 29-8 and Rochester 28-18 to win the PIAA Class A state championship.
Farr has compiled a 22-12 postseason record, with District 11 titles in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018; and Eastern Conference crowns in 2012 and 2015. Haven’s 2008 team, which featured state rushing leader Zach Barket, reached the PIAA Class A state semifinals before falling 20-9 to Steel-High.
In all, the Hurricanes have won seven Eastern Conference titles, 14 EC division titles, 10 District 11 championships and the 1991 state crown.
Odds and Ends
Some other random facts provided by Tracey and Barket:
** Of Haven’s 11 head coaches, three are Haven graduates: Stauffer, Hummel and Farr.
** The program has had 92 different assistant coaches and 3,146 players.
** Haven’s last two tie games occurred on back-to-back weeks in 1986 to Lourdes and Minersville.
** Public health concerns caused games to be either canceled or postponed in 1941 (polio), 1957 (influenza epidemic) and 2020 (COVID-19).
** Donald Houck was Haven’s public address announcer for home games from 1961-2007. A banner with his iconic line, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Here Come the Hurricanes,” adorns the front of the Rotary Field press box.
