TribLive HSSN ranks the top 7 quarterbacks in WPIAL history — No. 1

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 24, 2018 | 7:33 PM

Did you ever wonder how you would rank the top high school football players in WPIAL history?

So did the staff at the TribLive High School Sports Network.

Trib HSSN will rank the top 7 high school football players in WPIAL history by position based on their performance during their scholastic careers.

We will announce the players in reverse order each day, starting Saturday. The top player will be released each Friday morning.

We encourage you to tell us through social media if you agree, or if we have missed the mark with our rankings.

There are no perfect rankings, but it’s something to discuss and debate each week.

Have fun with them and hopefully your – or your father’s – favorite player made the lists.

Here’s a look at the Trib 7 all-time great quarterbacks:

No. 1 — Joe Namath, Beaver Falls

Namath led Beaver Falls (9-0) to the WPIAL Class AAA (the the largest school class) title in 1960. Since the Tigers were the only undefeated and untied team, they were declared champions without a playoff.

Namath came along as a junior in 1959, taking over as quarterback. His first serious test in 1960 came against perennial powerhouse New Castle. Beaver Falls routed the Red Hurricanes, 39-0.

Namath might be best known for “guaranteeing” a New York Jets win over Baltimore in Super Bowl III, but brash predictions were part of the Namath persona in high school.

The night before the New Castle game, Tigers coach Larry Bruno was concerned about Namath punting with a sore ankle.

Namath said: “Don’t worry coach, we won’t have to punt.” And Beaver Falls didn’t punt.

Beaver Falls had to also get past Beaver County rivals Aliquippa and previously-undefeated Ambridge.

Another major hurdle was undefeated Butler late in the season, but Namath and the Tigers breezed to a 26-6 victory.

In the season’s finale, Beaver Falls secured the WPIAL title with a 26-0 win over Ellwood City.

Many forget Namath also was a standout baseball player. He started as an outfielder in the 1961 state American Legion all-star game.

Namath had thought about professional baseball, but his parents wanted him to go to college, and it was off to Alabama and coach Bear Bryant before embarking on his Hall of Fame NFL career.

No. 2 — Terrelle Pryor, Jeannette

Pryor was the first player in state history to accumulate 4,000 career yards in both passing and rushing. He had 4,832 rushing yards and 4,340 passing yards for Jeannette.

He led Jeannette to back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2006 and ’07 as the Jayhawks defeated Greensburg Central Catholic and Beaver Falls, respectively.

After losing the 2006 PIAA title game to Wilson, Pryor capped his high school career with a win over Dunmore, 49-21, to bring Jeannette its first state title.

As a quarterback, Pryor had a 12-3 record in postseason games.

Pryor’s high school accomplishments include being the two-time Pennsylvania Player of the Year, the 2007 Associated Press Class AA Offensive Player of the Year and the MVP of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Pryor was named to the Parade All-America football team for the 2007 season and was selected as the Parade National Player of the Year.

As a basketball player, Pryor was named a fourth-team Parade All-American in 2008 as Jeannette defeated Strawberry Mansion, 76-72, in overtime for the PIAA title.

After being the nation’s top college prospect, he went to Ohio State, where he was the starting quarterback from 2008-10. He was picked by the Raiders in the third round of the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft.

A quarterback in his early professional career and now a wide receiver, he has spent time with the Raiders, Seahawks, Chiefs, Bengals and Redskins and signed in the offseason with the Jets.

No. 3 — Joe Montana, Ringgold

Known for his comeback efforts as a college and pro quarterback, Montana took over as Ringgold’s quarterback as a junior in 1972.

In a game against Monessen, he passed for 223 yards, but a late Greyhounds touchdown spoiled the Rams’ hope for an upset. Monessen eventually went to the WPIAL semifinals.

In 1973, the WPIAL changed its playoff qualification rules and admitted conference champions to the postseason. Before, only undefeated and untied teams were in the title conversation.

Montana and Ringgold took advantage of the new rule and went 8-1, with the lone Mon Valley Conference loss coming to Thomas Jefferson. The Rams, however, lost the first WPIAL playoff game in school history, 20-0, to Mt. Lebanon.

Montana was named a second-team all-state quarterback in 1973 by both the Associated Press and United Press International.

Montana was, perhaps, better known for basketball at Ringgold. The Rams won the 1973 WPIAL title, but lost in the PIAA playoffs to neighboring General Braddock. Montana was named to the all-state basketball team.

No. 4 — Dan Marino, Central Catholic

After growing up in Pittsburgh’s South Oakland neighborhood, Marino became nationally known for his quarterbacking abilities with Central Catholic’s breakthrough 1978 season.

The Vikings, with Marino throwing for nearly 1,600 yards in an era where most schools had a run-first mentality, won the West Penn Conference title with a 9-1 record.

Central had gone just 4-4 and 6-4 in the two previous seasons.

In that era, only the conference champions were admitted to the WPIAL playoffs. In Marino’s only WPIAL playoff game, the Vikings lost to eventual-champion Penn Hills, 14-0, in the opening round at New Kensington’s Valley Memorial Stadium.

Still, Marino was named a first-team, all-state quarterback by the Associated Press and the United Press International.

While Marino had signed with his hometown team, the Pitt Panthers, he had also made his mark as a shortstop/pitcher in baseball. The Vikings made it to the 1979 PIAA semifinals before losing to eventual-champion State College. He was picked in the fourth round by the Kansas City Royals, but a hall of fame football career beckoned.

Marino took over at Pitt midway through his freshman season and played 15 record-breaking seasons in the NFL with the Dolphins.

No. 5 — Phil Jurkovec, Pine-Richland

In Jurkovec’s remarkable 2017 season, he set a state record for single-season yardage (5,180), passing for 3,969 yards and 39 touchdowns and rushing for 1,211 yards and 24 scores.

His career passing yardage total of 8,202 yards is fourth in WPIAL history. Jurkovec started the season 40th in WPIAL passing annals and shot up to No. 4 by the time Pine-Richland finished a 16-0 season with a state title game victory over St. Joseph’s Prep.

The 2017 Rams scored 755 points, averaging 47 points per outing. Pine-Richland beat every opponent by at least 20 points.

Keep in mind, Jurkovec missed six games of his junior season with a thumb injury.

With Jurkovec as a starter, the Rams went 31-4 overall.

On the basketball court, he finished as the second-leading scorer in Pine-Richland history with 1,656 career points as the Rams made it to the state semifinals.

He was named 2017-18 Athlete of the Year by the Tribune-Review.

Now a freshman at Notre Dame, Jurkovec said in a radio interview Thursday that he wasn’t on the Fighting Irish depth chart at the moment; but many feel that won’t last for long.

No. 6 — Tyler Palko, West Allegheny

Palko led the Indians to three consecutive WPIAL titles from 1999-2001, and three straight appearances in PIAA title games, with West Allegheny winning the 2001 state title 28-13 over Strath-Haven, ending that school’s 44-game winning streak.

His record in WPIAL playoffs games was 11-1, losing only in the 1998 opener at Highlands.

Palko finished his career with 5,553 passing yards (fourth in WPIAL at the time) and 1,681 rushing yards. His defense is often forgotten — he made 80 tackles as a safety in ’01.

Palko was named first-team all-state three consecutive years and was the 2001 Associated Press Pennsylvania Big School Player of the Year. He also was a member of the USA Today All-America Team (second team).

In his senior year, he was named a 2002 YMCA Tribune-Review Scholar-Athlete honoree and was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

After a successful career at Pitt, Palko was not drafted into the NFL in 2007, but made the Saints squad and had several subsequent pro stops.

No. 7 — Eric Kasperowicz, North Hills

After his last season in 1994, Kasperowicz was the all-time WPIAL passing leader with 5,595 yards.

He guided North Hills to the 1993 WPIAL Class 4A title with a 21-13 victory over Upper St. Clair at Three Rivers Stadium.

But the signature play of his Indians career came in the PIAA title game at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona. With 25 seconds left in the game against Central Bucks West, North Hills was losing 14-7 and facing a fourth-and-goal from the 28.

Kasperowicz threw a touchdown pass to Chris Feola, who later became his roommate at Pitt. It set up the final dramatic moments. Instead of kicking an extra point and going into overtime, coach Jack McCurry went for the two-point conversion, and Kasperowicz scored on an option keeper to win, 15-14.

Now coaching at Pine-Richland, he is a member of an elite group that has both played and coached in a WPIAL title game. The group includes Pete Antimarino and Bill Cherpak.

After playing defensive back for Pitt, Kasperowicz is still in the business of upsetting Philly area powerhouses. Last season, his Rams knocked off one of the nation’s top teams — St. Joseph’s Prep — to win the state 6A title, 41-21.

George Guido is a freelance writer.