Dick Bagnall receives his Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame plaque from Susquehanna County Transcript sports writer Tom Robinson. Seated are fellow inductee Kevin Keating and his son and presenter Kevin Keating Jr. (Submitted Photo)
HARRISBURG – Susquehanna's Dick Bagnall was among five retired coaches who were honored Saturday at the Best Western Premier with induction into the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The honorees received plaques and Hall of Fame rings as part of the induction ceremony in the afternoon, then were brought to midfield and introduced to the crowd at halftime of the Big 33 Football Classic that night.
Bagnall was inducted along with John Barr, Kevin Keating, Brad Livingston and John Wiley.
Created in 1986, the hall has recognized the coaching careers of 267 men. This is the third straight year and the sixth time in seven years that a former District 2 coach was honored.
Bagnall follows Stan Kucharski (2017) from Wallenpaupack, Scranton Prep and Mid Valley; Nick Donato (2016) from Scranton Prep and North Pocono; Joe DeAntona (2014) from West Scranton and Line Mountain; Ted Jackson (2013) from Dallas; and Alex Kopacz (2012) from Hanover Area.
Blakely's John "Papa Bear" Henzes Sr. and Old Forge's Elio Ghigiarelli were among the first class of 10 and West Scranton's Sam Donato followed a year later.
Other District 2 coaches to be honored were Mickey Gorham from Meyers; Jim Fennell from Kingston, Wyoming Valley West and Bishop Hoban; Jack Henzes Jr. from Dunmore and Wyoming Area; Frank Pazzaglia from Valley View; Allen "Butch" Keller from Honesdale, Western Wayne and Bishop O'Hara; and Paul Marranca from Wyoming Area, Nanticoke and Hazleton Area. The inductees also include George Chaump, John Petercuskie and Jim Cantafio, who all have ties for northeastern Pennsylvania.
Bagnall is the first to receive the honor after coaching in Susquehanna County.
"To all the student-athletes that I have coached, to all my assistant coaches, past administrations and the Tri-Boros of Susquehanna, Oakland and Lanesboro, I thank you for being part of my coaching years," Bagnall said during his acceptance speech.
Bagnall also spoke about what he shared in common with the other inductees.
"To coach for so many years and mold the minds of young men has finally brought them, and me, here for this honor," he said. " … We have experienced highs and lows in our programs. Winning seasons, losing seasons, championship season and so-so seasons come and go, but it was our perseverance through the good times, and especially the not so good times, that counted. Knowing how to "right the ship" was most important.
"On behalf of Susquehanna, Pa. and the Susquehanna High School football program, I humbly accept this wonderful honor of being part of the Hall of Fame."
Father-and-son relationships were a big part of the Father's Day weekend ceremony.
Bagnall's late father, Bev Bagnall, was a state championship high school coach in Mississippi in 1948.
Barr, Keating and Wiley were all presented for induction by sons who have coached with them.
Barr coached Downingtown to the 1996 state Class 4A title and also coached at Upper Dublin, Glen Mills, Cheltenham and Coatesville.
Keating coached at Pottsville, winning 166 games and 3 Eastern Conference titles.
Wiley was a head coach at Clearfield, Danville and Titusville and is currently offensive coordinator under his son T.J. Wiley, the head coach at Vincentian Academy in Pittsburgh.
Livingston coached Central York to a York County record 211 wins and is currently serving as assistant coach at Northern York.
Bagnall went 169-129-3 in two stints at Susquehanna, covering 28 seasons. He led the Sabers to the 1994 state Class A semifinals – and a number-two state ranking in the final Harrisburg Patriot-News poll in Class A that season – followed by a state quarterfinal appearance in 1995.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Rule changes to allow zone coverage for the defenses may have had more impact than desired when the 61st annual Big 33 Football Classic was played Saturday night at Central Dauphin East High School.
Neither team scored a touchdown and a Maryland field goal accounted for both the only scoring of the second half and the winning margin in a 9-6 victory.
The game came down to special teams and rules interpretations. Pennsylvania ran a blocked field goal back for an apparent touchdown in the second quarter, but after a review, the touchdown was reversed on "illegal procedure" for a violation of the alignment teams could use when trying to block kicks.
Hollidaysburg kicker Vlad Hilling, who plans to walk on at Penn State this summer, set a Big 33 record with a 56-yard field goal for Pennsylvania. He broke the record held by Robbie Gould, an NFL kicker and Penn State alum.
A total of six Penn State recruits participated in the game. Among them, Charlie Katshir blocked a field goal and Jahan Dotson threw a 46-yard pass on a trick play for Pennsylvania.
In Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association high school playoffs, two District 2 teams reached state championship games at Penn State University before settling for second-place finishes.
Valley View had plenty of threats, but dropped a 6-4 decision to Ringgold in Class 4A baseball Thursday. Ringgold had a pair of one-run wins in the three rounds on the way to the final.
District 2 also had softball teams fall the state final and semifinal.
Holy Redeemer fell short of a third state title in four years when it lost in the Class 3A championship, 8-3, to Philipsburg-Osceola Thursday. The champions scored 38 runs in four state tournament games.
Nanticoke was eliminated in the Class 4A semifinals when it lost to Bethlehem Catholic, 11-0.
The baseball and softball state finals concluded the high school sports year in Pennsylvania.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The sixth annual Field of Dreams games will be held Sunday at PNC Field.
The all-star contest for graduating District 2 high school baseball players will be split into a doubleheader for the first time this year with separate games for Small School and Big School players.
Susquehanna County players are part of the Lackawanna League team that will take on the Wyoming Valley Conference in the 1:30 p.m. Small School opener to the doubleheader.
Montrose is tied for the most players on the Lackawanna League Small School team with three.
Catcher Keith Ely, pitcher Romey Washo and center fielder Bryden Jerauld will represent the Meteors.
Forest City pitchers Kyle Shema and Dakota Knehr-Cook are also on the team.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
ALLGAIER OUTDUELS BELL FOR XFINITY WIN
Justin Allgaier Gets Iowa Xfinity Win
NEWTON, Iowa.--Justin Algaier held off a hard-charging Christopher Bell for his second Xfinity Series win of the year. Allgaier led 182 laps of the 250-lap race, but Bell was right on his rear bumper for the last 100 laps.
Bell was briefly able to get by Allgaier twice, but each time Allgaier was able to regain the lead. The race's last caution came out on lap 132. None of the leaders pitted, and on the restart, Allgaier chose the outside lane, giving Bell the low side of the track.
When the green flag was given, Allgaier took the lead, with Bell less than a couple car-lengths back. It appeared that Bell was prepared to try a pass on the leader just before the white flag was given, signifying one more lap. But the rear end of Bells car slipped and he brushed the outside wall coming out of turn-4. This slip up allowed Allgaier a little more space, and he crossed the finish line .074 seconds ahead of Bell.
"Oh man, it was incredible the way the team gave me such a great car all day," said Allgaier. "It was a great setup. There were times I thought he (Bell) might have a chance, but each time we found a little more."
Allgaier also won both stages of the race.
"We raced as hard as we could," said Bell. "The car was very fast, but it wouldn't stay in the corners. I have to hand it to Justin, he drove a great race today. I think if we could have ever gotten out front near the end, we could have held him off. But his handling was so good off the corners that we couldn't make a pass and hold it."
The remaining top-10 finishers: 3. Daniel Hemric, 4. Cole Custer, 5. Brandon Jones, 6. Riley Herbst, 7. Ty Majeski, 8. Tyler Reddick, 9. Matt Tifft, 10. Kaz Grala.
Garrett Smithley brought out the race's first caution during lap 5. He had a left front tire go down and scraped the outside wall.
Chad Finchum had the same problem on lap 198.
The race's oldest driver, Morgan Shepherd at age 76, was only able to complete 28 laps after a brake failure.
Top-10 leaders after 14 of 33: 1. Sadler-504, 2. Custer-500, 3. Hemric-497, 4. Reddick-473, 5. Bell-471, 6. Allgaier-453, 7. Br. Jones-431, 8. R. Truex-408, 9. Tifft-379, 10. Reed-354.
MOFFITT HOLDS ON FOR IOWA TRUCK WIN
Brett Moffitt held off a last-lap charge by Noah Gragson to pick up his second Truck Series win of the season.
Gragson was second, followed by Harrison Burton, David Gilliland, Johnny Sauter, Jason Little, Cody Coughlin, Christian Eckes, Stewart Friesen, and Myatt Snider.
Top-10 leaders after 9 of 23: 1. Sauter-419, 2. Gragson-348, 3. Moffitt-334, 4. Friesen-308, 5. Enfinger-308, 6. Crafton-300, 7. Rhodes-291, 8. Haley-278, 9. Snider-247, 10. Sargeant-239.
Note: The Cup Series was idle this past weekend.
CAN BOWYER KEEP ON WINNING
Clint Bowyer now has two Cup Series wins, the last one coming at Michigan. This week the series takes on its first road course of the season, and Bowyer is all pumped up.
He said it isn't out of the question for his No. 14 Ford and his Stewart Haas Racing teammates to put on a repeat performance similar to Michigan at the first of the Cup Series' two road-course races in 2018.
"I don't want to jinx myself, but Sonoma is my favorite racetrack," said Bowyer, who has scored six top-five finishes in the last 10 races in California Wine Country. That's two more top-five finishes than the next-closest driver Kurt Busch, his SHR teammate, who owns four.
"I love that weekend," Bowyer continued. "It's a vacation for everybody involved. It's a challenging racetrack. I'm good at it. You always look forward to going to tracks you're good at. We've gotten this wave of confidence going at the moment. Hopefully, we can ride off to Sonoma and enjoy some success there, as well."
Bowyer said he was aware how well he and his teammates were racing at Michigan and throughout the season. All four SHR Fords were in the top-five on the opening lap at Michigan. SHR's four Fords have led 1,530 of 4,595 laps – 33.2 percent – in 2018 on their way to winning seven Cup Series points races plus the NASCAR All-Star Race. Each driver would be in the NASCAR playoffs were they to start now.
"That's the coolest thing about it," Bowyer said. "You're up there looking in the mirror, even when I was running second, I said to myself, 'Gosh, this is a moment.' We're running 1-2-3 at a track that is an aero track, that's a horsepower track, it's a demanding racetrack on your equipment.
"Then, to be able to get there and give each other hugs, be happy, truly, genuinely happy for one another, that's what it takes. That's what it takes to push you to another level – working together, the communication, pushing each other each week. It's not just the drivers. It's our teams, our crew chiefs, our pit crews, everybody who raises the bar for everybody involved. It's cool to see."
Bowyer finished just .754 seconds behind SHR's Kevin Harvick in 2017 at Sonoma, making it a 1-2 sweep for the team. Busch, the 2011 race winner at Sonoma, and SHR newcomer Aric Almirola are likely to join the Harvick-Bowyer party at the front of the field on the 10-turn, 1.99-mile track.
BK RACING TO BE SOLD BY TRUSTEE
The trustee of bankrupt BK Racing is in negotiations to sell the team — the assets and the charter — that would allow it to continue operating and racing under different ownership. The court would have to approve any sale, and no deadline was set for approval of a sale during a hearing Tuesday.
Trustee Matthew Smith did not say who would buy the team. Smith: "It's a sale of a race team — a living, breathing race team. ... We're not intending this to be a liquidation sale or an asset disposition like an auction.
"So the charter is the largest asset in this case but it's not the only asset. This is a viable race team and we're trying to prove that each and every week. We're meeting obligations of NASCAR by showing up and competing in good faith."
Gray Gaulding has driven the team's No. 23 car all season. He finished 31st Sunday at Michigan. The team is 35th in the car owner standings and ranks ahead of only one other team that has a charter.
Racing Joke: Kurt Busch has his car full of penguins. He drives past a policeman, but the policeman stops him. He says. "Hey, you! Yeah, you! You should take those penguins to the zoo!"
Busch does just that.
The next day in the same spot, Busch still has the penguins. Once again he drives past the policeman."Hey, I thought I told you to take those penguins to the zoo!"
"I did," replies Busch. "We had so much fun that we're going to the beach today!"
Weekend Racing: The Cup teams are at Sonoma, California for the season's first road course race. The Truck Series is at the 1.25-mile Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, which is located just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. The Xfinity teams have an off week.
Sat., June 23; Truck Series race 10 of 23; Starting time: 8:30 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.
Sun., June 24; Cup Series race 16 of 36; Starting time: 3 pm ET; TV: FoxSports1.
Racing Trivia Question: When was the first Truck Series race held at Gateway?
Last Week's Question. Which former Cup Series driver helped design the Iowa Speedway? Answer. Rusty Wallace.
Gerald Hodges is a syndicated NASCAR photojournalist and author. You may contact him by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
