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By Buck Frank
bfrank@altoonamirror.com
Mansion Park Stadium will be the site of three PIAA football semifinal games this weekend, and the first of those three will feature a local connection.
Victor Ridenour, a 1995 Claysburg-Kimmel High School graduate, is the head coach of Lampeter-Strasburg, which will face Thomas Jefferson in a Class 4A semifinal clash at 1 p.m. Friday at Mansion Park.
Ridenour's Pioneers -- from Lancaster -- enter the game with a 13-0 mark after edging Wyomissing, 30-27 in overtime, in the District 3 championship game last Friday.
"It will bring back a lot of nostalgia,'' Ridenour said during a phone interview Monday night. "It will be neat to come back. I have a lot of family and friends in the area. My parents (Victor Sr. and Judy) live in Altoona, in Mill Run, and some of my best friends are there, like Aaron Burket and Gabe Walter.''
Ridenour was the starting quarterback for Claysburg during his senior season of 1994 and praised his then head coach, Jeff Lingenfelter, for helping to instill the values of hard work and determination while making his players mentally tough.
Lingenfelter, who was the head coach at Claysburg for nearly 20 years, said he has followed Ridenour's coaching career and messages him from time to time.
"He was a hard worker and good player,'' Lingenfelter said. "He might not have been the most gifted athlete, but he worked hard at it and was a good leader and teammate. He was also one of the nicest young men I've been around.''
Ridenour earned a degree in speech pathology from Penn State University and was hired as a speech therapist at Lampeter-Strasburg in 2001. He started coaching at the lower levels before eventually working his way onto John Manion's varsity staff.
When Manion stepped down after the 2020 season, Ridenour took over as the head coach and has gone 42-8 over the last four seasons.
"I knew in 10th grade that I wanted to get into coaching,'' Ridenour said. "I loved practice more than the games. I was always fascinated on how game plans would come together. On Tuesday, things might look a little muddy, but by Thursday, you know what you're doing.''
Ridenour has his hands full with this week's game plan. Not only does he have to deal with a holiday on Thursday and an early kickoff on Friday, his team is facing one of the top programs in the state in 14-0 Thomas Jefferson, the WPIAL champion that has won five state titles.
Lampeter-Strasburg has never made it to a state final in football and has lost three previous times in the state semifinals, once to Thomas Jefferson in 2019.
"Thomas Jefferson has been the gold standard for 4A public schools for a long time,'' Ridenour said. "They're always physical, always tough. They don't apologize; they come right at you and do a great job on offense and defense. It will be a test for us, for sure.''
Two Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth Division teams that compete against Altoona will play in the other two games at Mansion Park this weekend.
In the 5A semifinals, District 3 champ Bishop McDevitt will play WPIAL champ Pine-Richland at 7 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, in a 6A semifinal game, District 3 champ Harrisburg faces WPIAL champ Central Catholic at 1 p.m.