Apr 9, 2020 4 min read

In today’s “When Sports Were Played,” we travel back to December of 2001. A little white lie plays a big part in Washington’s PIAA title hopes.

HERSHEY – Washington coach Guy Montecalvo has learned a lot of tricks during his 22 seasons as football coach.

But what he resorted to during halftime of the Little Prexies’ PIAA Class AA championship game against Pen Argyl Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium was a first.

“I ran out of things to yell and scream about so I told them this was my last game,” Montecalvo said. “And I told them I didn’t want to go out like this. The coaches were crying and I had to tell them that I was lying.”

Rumors circulated throughout the season that if Wash High won a state championship, Montecalvo would retire. Recently, he said he has no plans to leave. He just wanted to motivate the Little Prexies, who played poorly in the first half.

His fib had the desired effects.

The Green Knight committed the turnovers, Wash High controlled the clock and Montecalvo doesn’t feel so bad about lying to his team following its 19-12 victory.

It’s the first state title for Washington (15-0) and the first ever PIAA crown for a team from Washington and Greene counties.

“It made us feel terrible,” lineman Dan Mozes said of Montecalvo’s halftime speech. “We didn’t want for him to go out like that. The captains, we definitely got up and yelled at everybody after that. We told those guys to go out and do what they were supposed to do.”

That was not something the Little Prexies did during the first half. Three turnovers and some other mistakes helped give Pen Argyl a 12-6 lead after two quarters.

Well, thanks to that halftime, which including a team chastising by Mozes, Justin Gregula and Vontey Johnson, the seniors helped ensure Washington’s perfect season.

“This is very sweet,” Montecalvo said. “There are 21 seniors on this team that worked inordinately hard to get to this point. It would have been difficult for me to deal with them losing.”

Putting the first half behind them, Washington came out and took the finesse out of its offense against an extremely game Pen Argyl (14-1).

“We came out fired up after halftime,” fullback J.R. Ward said. “We just couldn’t back down. We had to come out and show what kind of football team we could be.”

Not only did the Little Prexies show how good they are, they also displayed the resiliency and determination it takes to be a champion.

Of course, so did Pen Argyl.

“We weren’t even supposed to be in this game,” Green Knight coach Roy Cortez said. “We showed we could play with any team in the state.”

But in the second half, it was Wash High that made the plays.

On the first offensive series of the third quarter, which was set up by a Andy Trapuzzano fumble recovery at the Green Knights’ 26, the Little Prexies established their running game behind Brian Cherry and Travis Thomas. Thomas finished the drive with two carries for 14 yards, the latter being a five-yard touchdown.

Thomas’ carry tied the game 12-12 with 8:39 left in the third, and it looked like Washington would begin to dominate.

Especially after Darnell Barnes intercepted a Jake DeBoer pass two plays later and gave the Little Prexies the ball at their own 43. They drove to the 20 after five straight running plays but turned the ball over on downs at the 20.

Washington stalled one more time deep in Pen Argyl territory late in the third quarter, but the Prexies continued to establish their power game.

“We knew we could stick it to them in the second half,” Mozes said. “Our traps and our power runs were working well, we just had to go out and get it done.”

That happened on Washington’s first series of the fourth quarter. After eight straight running plays, Wash High had a fourth-and-goal inside the 1. Ward punched it in to give the Prexies a 19-12 lead with 6:33 left.

But on a day that saw the teams combine for 10 turnovers, thanks mostly to the wretched conditions, Pen Argyl still had a chance.

After a Cherry fumble, the Green Knights drove down to the Washington 12 before Barnes came up with his second interception, securing the state championship.

“We were sleep-walking through the first half,” Montecalvo said. “I don’t know whether we underestimated them or not. But we got them to do what they were supposed to do. We turned the table on our Achilles heel in the first half.”