When Sports Were Played: Burgettstown bogs down undefeated Wash High
In today’s “When Sports Were Played” we revisit one of the most talked about regular-season football upsets ever in the area, the mud bowl between Washington and Burgettstown that was played Nov. 4, 1983.
BURGETTSTOWN – Mother Nature played right into Burgettstown’s hands Friday night, but nobody could ever imagine the success with which the Blue Devils fashioned here into the biggest victory this side of a mud storm.
Senior fullback Paul Rock and senior quarterback Vito Bovalina found enough footing to run five and 45 yards, respectively, for touchdowns and give Burgettstown a 12-0 victory over previously unbeaten Washington High School, who’s quest for regular-season perfection was buried somewhere in the mud of western Washington County.
“I think Ray Dorsey runs well in the rain, and Paul Rock is a big strong kid. The field was definitely an advantage for the Burgettstown football team,” said Blue Devils head coach Rege Onderick after sloshing through a jubilant Burgettstown locker room. “Washington is more of a finesse team than a straight-ahead team, and the sloppy conditions will have more of an affect on a team like that.”
Those conditions didn’t seem to bother Rock and Dorsey, the Blue Devils sophomore tailback. Dorsey rushed for 81 yards on 24 carries and help set up Rock’s touchdown run, which was all the offense Burgettstown (6-4) needed.
“Most people don’t know it, but Dorsey and Rock are fine runners,” said Onderick. “They complement each other very well. These boys worked hard and they are deserving of everything they got tonight. This is my biggest win probably since I’ve been at Burgettstown.”
It was a difficult loss for the Little Presidents (9-1), who enter the WPIAL playoffs next week as the Section 4-AA champion. Playing without fullback Brian Davis and in conditions ill-suited to its offensive attack, Washington rushed for only 68 yards on the night.
“The field dictated what we could do, and we didn’t run any counter-action plays, which have been our bread-and-butter all season,” Washington coach Guy Montecalvo said. “So many of our successful plays are counter traps, and we just couldn’t do it. Footing, that’s the only thing that gave us any problems.
“The field, I have never seen anything like it in my life. They sure must have had a lot more rain in Burgettstown than they did in Washington. Either that, or it’s poor drainage. It was the most atrocious field I’ve ever seen.”
Friday’s was an emotional game on and off the field, due in large part to Onderick’s claim Washington could not defeat the Blue Devils without Davis, who missed the game with a bruised hip.
“I’m sorry if I ruffled a lot of feathers with my predictions on the game, but that’s how I felt,” Onderick said afterwards. “I try to be a truthful individual.”
Montecalvo admitted, “that upset our kids. They came down here and played their hearts out. I have one thing to say: We are playing next week and they are not.”
Burgettstown took the opening kickoff and marched 55 yards to the Washington 21-yard line after failing to convert a fourth-and-seven play. Dorsey put Washington in a hole by gaining 45 of his 55 yards, and when the Blue Devils linebacker Kevin Torboli recovered a fumbled snap at the Little Presidents’ 25-yard line two plays later, Burgettstown was in striking position.
Rock’s touchdown run came four plays later with 4:22 to play in the first quarter.
Bovalina, who played a solid game on both sides of the ball, iced the victory with the 45-yard option run with just 5:37 remaining in the game.
“I saw them pinching down, so I told him to fake it to the fullback and just keep it around the end,” Onderick said. “I told him just get as much as you can; we were only hoping to get the first down. “
Burgettstown’s 93-yard touchdown drive was kept alive by a fake punt on fourth-and-four at it’s own 39-yard line. Punter Brian Bradley threw 12 yards to tight end Steve Arnold for a first down and Bovalina scored three plays later.