New Wilmington was wounded by last Saturday’s setback to Greensburg Central Catholic in the PIAA Class AA western regional championship game.
But during the ensuing days the Greyhound gridders and entire community can be comforted by this much: There are several hundred clubs across the commonwealth who gladly would have traded places with their counterparts from the counties that intersect along the Mercer/Lawrence line.
Led by veteran mentor Terry Verrelli, the Greyhounds’ grid program is on a par with any in area annals — male or female, regardless of sport. In the last 4 years Wilmington won 55 games, a commonwealth crown, 4 regional championship game berths, and 4 District 10 titles.
“Four years with these guys, and they played their hearts out all four years. They’ve gotta be proud of what they’ve accomplished,” related Verrelli regarding his senior class. “ ... That was a heckava football team (GCC), and (the Greyhounds) hung right with them. We had our opportunities; it just didn’t happen.
“ ... They hung in there, and I think that’s what experience in the playoffs and going deep in the playoffs will do, you know?” Verrelli rhetorically asked. “Especially winning a (state) championship. It really doesn’t matter how good the (opposing) team is; (the Greyhounds) believe that they can get out there and win, and I think that was the case (against GCC), too.”
“It’s a tremendous group of kids, especially those seniors, to go to four western finals. But, hey,” Verrelli reasoned, “you play the game, you do your best, and whatever happens, happens. (Saturday), we fell a little short.”
The public perception — or, perhaps, misconception — of Wilmington’s school district and the quaint community is interesting. It surfaced a year ago in Hershey on the statewide stage by the multitude of media, unfamiliar and uninformed though it was, and was revisited Saturday by smug suburban Pittsburgh print and broadcast types.
However, not by Greensburg Central Catholic head coach Muzzy Colosimo, who, a la Yogi Berra, normally never utters a phrase he cannot fracture. But Muzzy didn’t mince words when he said regarding the Greyhounds,
“I’m just glad I don’t have to play ’em again! They’re physical, they play hard, they go after it all the time. I’d heard a lot about them coming into this, (but) never played ’em.
“When (he, his players and assistant coaches) were walking out at the half, their fans were just abusing the heck outta us, saying, ‘ ... Hillbillies? ...” I don’t know who called them ‘Hillbillies,’ but they don’t play like a bunch of ‘Hillbillies.’ They’ve got a great tradition, great pride, they hit you ... they don’t quit ... I’m probably gonna need about five or six blood-pressure pills ... ”
Normally, success such as that experienced by Wilmington’s winning ways creates pressure in the form of exaggerated expectations. However Hounds headmaster Verrelli said regarding Greyhound Nation,
“They follow us no matter where we go, and they’re just tremendous supporters of the football program. They’re part of the program, just like the band, cheerleaders, everyone else. No one talks about it, but it has to mean a lot to these kids to have a following like that.”
For his part, Verrelli does not take for granted his Greyhounds’ great recent run.
“I think it’s very difficult to even win it,” he said, reflecting on the pressure of advancing to the Final Four following last season’s state title. “You have to have luck on your side, you’ve gotta stay injury-free — I couldn’t pinpoint why, but very, very few injuries we have had in the last ten years as we’ve gotten into the playoffs. You have to have all those things, or there’s no way you’re gonna compete with the great teams that you run into when you get to this level.”
While the Hounds had to yield their year-long reign atop the PIAA pedestal, the sense of pride Wilmington’s football program has provided the community can’t be mounted on a mantel; neither will it ever tarnish like a trophy. It’s real — and never will be relinquished.
Ed Farrell is assistant sports editor for The Herald
