Whitehall High School - Whitehall Yearbook (Whitehall, PA)

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FOOTBALL Joe Gerencser, new head coach, leads Zephyrs to unbeaten season. By Lori Groller While football at the professional and collegiate ranks battled for improved attendance and money, Whitehall’s gridiron program fought for recognition. New personnel coupled with little experience by most players left the media to predict only a .500 season for the gridders in the newly formed East Penn Conference. But to the surprise of everyone but themselves, the Zephyrs completed an unbeaten campaign and earned the praise they felt was rightly deserved A banner year was also noted off the field as attendance soared and gross receipts for the sport totaled over $30,000. Overshadowed by the varsity’s success, underclassman gridders suffered bitter inductions into the new league. “Super was the way Joseph Gerencser, first-year head coach, described his unbeaten Zephyr football team. “1 had a lot of fine teams and outstanding individuals at Parkland.” commented coach Gerencser, but 1 feel this is my best team overall. It was a fresh start for the 14-year veteran coach of Parkland and his 40 varsity candidates alike as there were only five starters returning from last year's squad. “The talent was there, though, replied Mr. Gerencser. “All the kids needed was someone to direct them.” By virtue of their clean 10-0 EPC slate, the gridders were termed the best team in Eastern Pennsylvania and second best in the state. Aided by his assistants. Stan Luckcnbill, Randy Rice, and John Bendekovits, coach Gerencser incorporated his highly successful philosophy of an unrelenting running attack and a grueling defense into the Zephyr game plan. The results were rewarding as the Zephyr machine churned out 2,266 yards on the ground while allowing its opponents a mere 429. The biggest win of the season was undoubtedly a 13-7 victory over Phillipsburg that clinched the EPC crown. A fired-up Stateliner defense had bottled up the Whitehall offense for three and one-half periods before quarterback Bob Cole found Willie Roman slanting continued Left: Under the watchful eye of the referee. Bob Cole 12) unleashes another perfect pass. Top Insert: Halfback Paul Ztegenfuss craw ls over a wall of blockers to score one of his two Turkey Pay TPs against Emmaus Bottom Insert: Zephyr tacklers Ernie Ruch 163) and Gary Fetter 1411 move in to help drop a Pieruff ballcarrier for a loss. 2

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FOOTBALL continued over the middle for a 77-yard touchdown pass. Still down by a point, the gridders went for the win but failed to execute the two-point conversion. Whitehall's defense hung tough and forced P-Burg to punt on its next possession. Cole then executed a 70-yard drive that ended with halfback Paul Ziegenfuss scoring from six inches out with only 23 seconds remaining in the game. Termed the “Super Bowl of the 1976 Lehigh Valley season, the Dieruff clash, between the conference’s two most evenly balanced teams set out to prove who was really No. 1. The Huskies, rumored to be the best team in the area at the start of the season, admirably lived up to their billing by coming into the Whitehall showdown with five consecutive shutouts in their pocket. But the Zephyr defense showed it could work both ways and turned five Dieruff errors into as many scores to prove the difference in a solid 33-0 thrashing of the Huskies. The gridders rallied from a slow start and brought the nearly 10,000 Homecoming Game fans to their feet with two quick scores just before the half. Andy Millen’s first interception of the game set up a one-yard scamper by Ed Podorsky while Bob Hetz’s fumble recovery resulted in a one-yard dive by fullback Joe Gerencser Jr. VARSITY WHITEHALL OPPONENTS 19 Lehighton 3 29 Bethlehem Catholic 7 55 Northampton 6 24 Liberty 8 55 William Allen 7 27 Parkland 8 33 Dieruff 0 55 Central Catholic 3 13 Phillipsburg 7 21 Emmaus Won 10 Lost 0 14 Placekicker Phil Nemeth warms up his valuable fool Defensive tackle Bob Helz struggles to throw off With no where to go but straight ahead, running back during pre-game activities. Nemeth booted 24 extra the block of his Emmaus opponent. Hell pre- Paul Ziegenfuss puts his head down and charges points, second best in the area viously played football in Germany onward despite the pursuing William Allen defend-