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Block party: Communities come together under Friday night lights

Communities come together under Friday night lights

By John Hartsock 13 min read

On Friday nights in small, close-knit towns across America, and particularly in western Pennsylvania, high school football games are more than just athletic contests.

They're community events.

And that is fitting, because it takes an entire community backing and supporting a scholastic football program to ensure its success. Booster clubs, parents, grandparents, business leaders, alumni and lifetime devoted fans all band together to help keep football programs on track.

That is certainly the case with long-standing and tradition-rich high school football programs such as Hollidaysburg, Bishop Guilfoyle Academy, Altoona and Central.

"Football is about Friday nights in small communities like ours, or even smaller," said Homer DeLattre, who is in his 14th season as the head football coach at Hollidaysburg, and is also the school's athletic director. "It's a big deal. It's a great thing for the community, and a lot of times, if your football team has a good year, it's going to be a pretty good year for the community too."

Hollidaysburg has fielded a varsity football program since the 1920s, and in the very recent past, the Golden Tigers have enjoyed great success -- winning the District 6 Class 5A championship and advancing to the quarterfinal round of the PIAA state playoffs in both of the past two seasons.

"I think so," DeLattre said when asked if the program's recent success has generated increased community interest. "Attendance-wise, our reserve seating section for home games is nearly sold out, and over the past couple of years in particular, it has really been something.

"People want to come out and see the games, and, knowing that our place is packed on Friday nights, they want reserved seats. The community and the parents are very supportive of our players, our cheerleaders and our band. Everybody who shows up at the games on Friday nights has a lot to do with that."

DeLattre, who has had two sons go through the football program and graduate from Hollidaysburg, and another son who is currently playing varsity football, is a member of the Hollidaysburg Football Booster Club's board.

Matt McKillop and his wife Molly serve as Booster Club presidents. Their son Adam is a senior on this year's team.

Molly McKillop said that the support for the team from the community, area businesses and other parents who help with the Booster Club's various functions, has been outstanding.

"Every year, we have a group of people who just seem to step up and do what needs to be done," Molly McKillop said.

Among the Booster Club's projects is a Cash Bash event held in August in which a 50/50 ticket drawing and gift basket raffles from football parents and other members of the community are among the fundraisers supporting the football program.

The Golden Tigers' football players also participate in an annual fan pledge in which the players call friends, family members and school alumni for pledge donations, and many area restaurants have agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds on a given night back to the football program.

Among the generous area participating restaurants and food businesses are the Outback Steakhouse, Chipotle and the Milky Way. Other area restaurants, including Jethro's, Imler's Poultry and Outback, have donated pre-game meals for the players.

"That's been really nice, because we have to feed almost 100 players and coaches on those Fridays, and those businesses giving us those meals has been just awesome," Molly McKillop said.

She said that the Prime Sirloin Buffet has generously donated food for the players to consume after they participate in their double practice sessions during the summer, and the Sheetz company has donated plenty of drinks like Gatorade and Powerade, as well as protein bars, to help the players get through their two-a-day workouts.

The Best-Way Pizza company has donated pizza for the players during their fan pledges.

The parents of the players have been overwhelmingly cooperative in volunteering their time, doing work like manning concession stands at the games, or serving the players' meals.

"Everything has really been great this year, the community support, the parents' support," Molly McKillop said. "I will sometimes send out a sign-up sheet for the parents to participate, and the sign-up sheets are often full before some parents can register to help."

A similar esprit de corps exists at Central and Bishop Guilfoyle, as well as, to a certain degree, at Altoona.

Football big in the Cove

Third-year Central coach Jerry Albright has a long-standing affiliation with the Cove community and its football program. He was a starting center on the school's football team during his high school days, graduating in 1991.

Albright served nearly three decades as either an assistant varsity coach or as a coach with the Spring Cove Junior High football program, so he has a great pulse on how important football is to the community, and vice versa.

"Absolutely, it hasn't mattered if we (had a) 1-9 (season record) or were 9-1, the community was always there to support us," Albright said.

The pride in and devotion to the Scarlet Dragons' football program have been passed down through several generations.

"A lot of the grandfathers and fathers of the current players played football at Central," Albright said. "It's just a building of the community pride within. The people in the community are always there to provide support -- not just for football, but for all of the school's sports programs."

That support was never more evident than over the past decade, when fans traveled in droves to watch a Central football program that reached the semifinal round of the PIAA Class 3A football tournament four times and fell just one victory of a berth in the state championship game all four years.

"We had a full set of bleachers at Slippery Rock for our (quarterfinal) game with Hickory (in 2023) and (in the semifinal game in 2021) at Central Valley, we had more fans there in the bleachers at kickoff than Central Valley did," Albright said.

The community support extends to financial generosity for the Central High School football program, which started back in 1960.

Albright said that the football program's biggest community backers have included area businesses Frederick's Meat Market and Ritchey's Dairy.

"The owner of Frederick's Meat Market, Mitch Frederick, went to Spring Cove and Central High School, and he provides food and financial support for the program, along with paying out of his own pocket to get the games aired on Public Access TV and radio for older fans who can no longer make it to the games themselves, or who are interested in the team but who live out of the area now," Albright said.

Mitch Frederick has two now adult sons, Mitchell and Adam, who participated in the Central program during their high school days.

"Football has always been a big thing in the Cove," Mitch Frederick said. "I've always had a lot of respect for the way that the coaches at Central have coached the boys. It has always been all about the team, all about leadership, and good values."

Mitch Frederick and his wife, Beth Ann, got involved with the school's Quarterback Club during their sons' playing days, and that enabled Mitch and his wife to see needs that they could meet.

"I saw a lot of behind-the-scenes needs as a fan, like feeding the players after the games and fundraising for equipment," Mitch Frederick said. "We found a niche there, and we've supported all the school's programs, not just football. It's been our way to give back to the community because without the support of the community, Frederick's Meat Markets isn't anything."

Albright said that Ritchey's Dairy and owner, Andrew Ritchey, have also been very supportive of the Scarlet Dragons' football program over the years.

"He has provided us with a billboard to support our players that the community can see when the people are entering and exiting the field," Albright said. "He has provided us with an unlimited amount of juices, milk and stuff like that. Andrew was in my (1991) graduating class at Central, and his business has provided every scoreboard in the (Spring Cove Area School) District for a couple of years.

"He supports everything that happens with the high school, not just football -- the other sports, the band, the drama club. It's amazing what he does."

Central also has a Football Booster Club led by current President Karla Myers, whose son, Bronson, is a senior on this year's football team.

"She puts in a ton of hours in preparation for the season, with things like fundraising, meals and apparel," Albright said. "The past presidents have done the same thing. The Booster Club has been great."

So has the school spirit for sports, including football, at Central.

"The cheerleaders, players and band come together as one on the field after the games, win or lose, and the band plays the school's alma mater," Albright said.

"I think that slowly, the school spirit is getting much better because of that."

Championship tradition at BG

Bishop Guilfoyle Academy has a bond between its sports programs and its alumni, community, local businesses, the school students and administration that is as tight-knit as any in the state.

The Marauders' championship tradition in football has had much to do with that.

Since 2014, the BG football program -- which began back in the 1920s when the school was known as Altoona Catholic High School -- has appeared in seven PIAA Class 1A state championship games and has won five of them.

The Marauders won consecutive PIAA championships from 2014-16, and won two titles in 2021 and 2024.

BG was a state runner-up team in both 2019 and 2025, and the Marauders have an excellent chance to punch another berth in the 2026 state title game this December.

Pre-game tailgate parties with fans, parents and alumni adorned in purple and gold are weekly sightings at the Marauders' home football games at Mansion Park, and also when the team plays on the road.

The legion of Marauders fans are as devoted as any around, as well as the area businesses and graduates that so faithfully support the athletic programs, and the family-type backing of the school's student body and administration.

Jordan Settle, the president of Bishop Guilfoyle's Athletics Booster Club that supports every one of the school's sports, knows how vital that the backing of the community is to the student-athletes.

"Support from local companies and individuals is essential to the success of our athletic programs in the school," Settle said. "Our sports programs are fortunate to be supported by so many companies and individuals within our local community.

"Our success can be directly attributed (to) the support of our school, our alumni and our local businesses," Settle said. "These companies and individual supporters are giving our student-athletes the opportunity to achieve their academic and athletic goals."

Along with the state championships and title game appearances, the 16-year coaching reign of BG football coach Justin Wheeler also included a 47-game winning streak for the program from 2014-16.

Altoona glory days remembered

Under the late, legendary head coach Earl Strohm, the Altoona Area High School football program enjoyed a vintage run in the 1960s.

While turning out future National Football League players Ed Flanagan, Mike Reid and John Ebersole during the era, Altoona put itself on the national high school football map in 1966 by traveling to Massillon, Ohio, and pulling off a 20-14 upset victory over the national powerhouse Massillon team.

Vince Nedimyer Sr. -- a star lineman on that 1966 Altoona team who went on to play major college football at Wake Forest -- may have a better pulse on the history of the Altoona football program than anybody in or out of the area.

Nedimyer served as the Mountain Lions head coach for several seasons in the 1980s, and also became the high school's long-time athletic director. His son, Vince Nedimyer Jr., is currently the head football coach at Altoona, and his grandson, Vince, is a sophomore player on this season's Mountain Lions team.

Vince Nedimyer Sr. remembers the glory days of Altoona High School football and admits that things are different for the Mountain Lions' program today, for various reasons.

"To be honest, it's very difficult (today)," Nedimyer Sr. said. "There are so many different things that have been thrown into play. First of all, Altoona had a population of about 75,000 people then (compared to just over 42,000 today). Our high school had 3,000 kids in three grades -- 10 through 12, and we had only football, basketball and wrestling, and girls basketball was just starting.

"Now we have 20-plus sports and only 1,700 or 1,800 kids in four grades from 9 through 12," Nedimyer said. "That in itself is a detriment to what (the football program) is trying to do today."

Mansion Park was the place to be on fall Friday nights when the Mountain Lions were playing home games there back in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 1962 Altoona team was unbeaten, and even after Strohm retired, Altoona continued to produce two more NFL standouts in brothers Brad and Troy Benson.

"The Friday night football games used to be the thing to do around here," Nedimyer Sr. said. "Now, not so much. Things have changed so much."

It was customary and expected for 10,000 people or more to pack Mansion Park for Mountain Lions' home games back in the program's heyday era.

"There were a lot of people who had season tickets, but there were a lot of season ticket holders on the visitors side, too," Nedimyer Sr. said, noting that games with Massillon and some of Pennsylvania's top high school football programs like McKeesport, Easton, Neshimany and, at that time, Johnstown, drew crowds of up to 15,000 and required the Altoona Area School District to install portable bleachers at the scoreboard end of the stadium to accommodate the overflow of fans.

While the Mountain Lions' annual rivalry game with Hollidaysburg today still brings in 10,000 fans, the Mountain Lions' other home games against Mid-Penn Conference opponents from the Harrisburg area bring in only a nominal contingent of supporters of the visiting teams.

More than 3,000 fans traveled from Altoona to Massillon by train, charter bus or their own private automobiles for the 1966 game that was arguably the biggest victory in Altoona football history.

That kind of following would be unheard of today, and logistics are a big reason why.

People who don't have sons or grandsons playing for the football team are unwilling to, or are uninterested in, traveling two hours each way to watch a two-hour high school football game.

"That just isn't happening," Nedimyer Sr. said.

The Altoona High football program began in the late 1800s as the Maroons before changing its name to the Mountain Lions in 1935.

While support for the Altoona football program still exists in the school and in the community today, that support pales in comparison to what Nedimyer Sr. saw as a high school football player six decades ago.

There's still the Altoona "Big A" Booster Club that serves the school's athletes in all 20-plus sports, and there was a Meet the Lions Night for the school's fall sports athletes held in the high school gymnasium in early September that Nedimyer Sr. said was very well-received, largely by the school's student body.

"But, times today are much different now than they were in the 1960s," he said

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