Nov 29, 2020 9 min read

Morgan “Bunny” Denson was one of those athletes a fan or opponent could not take their eyes off.

He made things happen. He excited fans and worried opponents.

Denson was an attention grabber through deed not word.

He is one of Washington High School’s best three-sport athletes.

“Bunny was smooth, under control all the time,” said Guy Montecalvo, a teammate of Denson’s in football and track at Washington High School in 1972 (football) and 1973 (track and field). “His composure while playing sports mirrored his personality.”

Montecalvo and Denson were teammates long before high school, having played on a championship 8- and 9-year-old Peanut League baseball team in Washington Youth Baseball. Montecalvo played second base and Denson played first base.

“He played some on a really good football team in 1972 (Wash High made it to the WPIAL semifinals),” said Montecalvo, a senior standout on that club. “I knew down the road he was going to be a really good player. The next two years, he showed that. I knew he’d have a good career because he was talented, worked hard and had the intangibles and positive personal characteristics.”

As a senior in track, Denson won three WPIAL gold medals. He won the 330-yard intermediate hurdles and was a main cog on the Little Prexies’ 880 and mile relay teams. He teamed with Paul Goin, Mike Bryant and Steve Hull.

He was part of two WPIAL runner-up teams in track in 1974 and 1975, in the highest classification.

Denson was a key member of Wash High’s 1974 Century Conference championship that it shared with Albert Gallatin. Denson played receiver and defensive back. He was named All-WPIAL as a receiver.

As a sophomore, he was a top reserve for Wash High’s Section 14-B basketball championship team – a squad that advanced to the WPIAL title game before losing to a legendary Midland team at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

The Little Prexies won three straight PIAA games before losing to Midland again in the state semifinals – the western championship game.

“He was a great athlete,” said Sam Graham, who was a classmate and teammate of Denson in football and track. “You could count on him in every sport. Bunny just was an exceptional athlete, a great teammate and a great person.”

Th soft-spoken, highly-motivated Denson remains humble and proud.

“I was blessed to have great teammates and coaches,” Denson said. “I was fortunate to play with the likes of George Reihner and Guy Montecalvo on that outstanding ’72 team. That team was loaded – Sid Taylor, Pete Washington and so on.

“In ’74, we had speed and talent. By far, football was the sport for me. But I liked the other ones as well.

“I had so many good coaches,” he continued. “I really grew to have a great relationship with Coach Eric McWilliams. He came out of Clarion and he wore old-time football shoes and always shorts. I trained with him. I credit him for helping to build my body and speed. He was one of my favorites. All my coaches were good men and good to me.”

Drawing attention

In many ways, the 1974 football season was a great one for Denson and the Little Prexies.

They managed to win all but one game and captured a showdown at Albert Gallatin, winning convincingly to tie for the conference title.

But the one loss – a blowout at home to Beth-Center – and a decision by the WPIAL to use the Gardner Point system to break ties in deciding playoff entry ruined it. Prior to the season, conference athletic directors agreed to break head-to-head ties by head-to-head results. The conference was large, and teams did not play the same opponents, which skews the Gardner Point System. Wash High defeated Albert Gallatin by 10 points. They had the same conference record. Yet the Colonials had more Gardner Points.

Bill Connors, Beth-Center’s head coach, said the Bulldogs felt their only chance against Wash High in ’74 was to focus on Denson, using an extra defender to cover him and to put heavy pressure on Wash High’s quarterback, Jamie Pattison, to not give him time to find Denson.

Wash High bounced back from that defeat to set up a showdown with the Colonials.

Denson shined in the season-ending, 23-13, victory over Albert Gallatin. It was the Colonials’ first loss at home since 1969.

Denson caught two touchdown passes from Pattison and also intercepted a Gary Bosnic pass in the first half. He credited his teammates, Terry Strothers, Hull, two-way lineman Jim Wilson and others for producing a great season.

Despite the win, the season ended with a thud on the practice field early the next week when the WPIAL ruled Albert Gallatin would advance to the playoffs. The Colonials won the WPIAL championship.

“One of the best games I remember him playing was against Albert Gallatin,” said Larry Denson, Bunny’s younger brother. “We felt if we won, we’d be in (the playoffs). It wasn’t to be. The hurt on my brother’s face and in his heart was unreal. We all felt his pain. I feel, a lot of people feel, we would have won the WPIAL championship that year.

“Having my brother do what he did is a blessing and an honor. I was never active in sports. He taught me about them. He is an awesome brother.”

The lost opportunity in ’74 was a tough time for Bunny Denson. It impacted him and left him feeling shortchanged.

“We were so jacked up and excited to play that (Albert Gallatin) game,” he said. “We played a great game. We felt we were going to the playoffs. We got the official word on the practice field Tuesday of the next week. We all were devastated. All we could do was pack up and go home. It was a hard pill to swallow.”

Many happy days

Denson’s career clearly define him as one of Wash High’s greatest athletes.

• He was selected to play in the Colt Classic, a collection of the top senior high school basketball players in Western Pennsylvania and was on the runner-up team in that event as he played under legendary Farrell Coach Ed McCluskey. In that tournament, Denson scored a team-high 15 points to lead his South team to victory over the West squad. He added 14 in the South’s loss to the West in the finals.
• Denson was invited to tryout for the Roundball Classic in Pittsburgh.
• In 1974, he was a member of the WPIAL champion 880-relay team and he finished fourth in the 330 intermediate hurdles.

“When I started coaching, he had a growth plate problem in his knees,” McWilliams said. “He was just outstanding. He was a coachable young man, very thin. He could do everything. He could run and was tough as nails.

“Bunny is a credit to his dad, his whole family. He was a gem. He did everything he had to do to be good. He was humble, just like his father who was a sportsman, personable and a no non-sense guy.”

Family mattered

Bunny Denson is a family man, first and foremost.

He resides in Bethel Park with his wife, Jan. The couple have two children: a son, Corey, and a daughter, Sabrina. The Densons have two granddaughters, Isla (Corey and Grace); and Morgan (Sabrina and Mike).

He credits the influence of his father, Dave (Tubby), and mother, Alverta, both deceased, for shaping him as a man.

“My dad drove the sports and my mom drove the education,” Bunny Denson said. “My dad knew all sports. He coached me in football when I was little but after that, he left the coaching to my coaches. They both taught me how to act.”

Montecalvo said community involvement, goodness and kindness typifies the Denson family, which in addition to Bunny and Larry includes their sisters Yvonne Denson, Lorraine Denson Jackson and Jan’et Denson Powell.

“Bunny comes by his good nature honestly,” Montecalvo said. “His dad was a good man. He was beloved at Washington Park for his umpiring. It was all about community service.

“Bunny is some kind of guy, affable, caring about others. That’s the entire Denson family. He could have had his choice of sports in college.”

Denson visited Pitt and Penn State. He fell in love with the University of Indiana in Bloomington. It was his pick. But on the trip home, he felt it was too far from home. He settled on Waynesburg College.

He focused on football and made his mark at wide receiver for the more run-oriented Yellow Jackets offensive attack. He teamed with Dennis Garrett, an outstanding multi-sport standout from Jefferson-Morgan High School, at receiver to give Waynesburg a formidable combination.

“He’d crack you,” Garrett said with a laugh. “We ran an “8 or 9 flip” where he’d come down and hit the inside defender. (Denson) would get him just as our back was turning the corner. He de-cleated (knocked the defender off his feet) every time. He was great at it.

“Bunny was a great athlete. We got to Waynesburg about the same time. We both were going to play basketball. Because we played football, we would have been so far behind for basketball, we decided not to try out for basketball.”

He produced from the start, catching a 16-yard game-winning touchdown against Geneva his freshman year (1975) and helping the Yellow Jackets to a one-loss season in 1976.

“At Wash High, with head coaches like Dave Johnston, Don Clendaniel and John Unice and Doug Masciola, I learned about being competitive, how to be a good teammate and to be unselfish,” Denson said.

“I learned the team concept, to share the wealth. Coach Unice always said, it doesn’t matter if you score two or 20 points. It’s grabbing that one rebound or grabbing that one loose ball that matters and can make the difference. It was just a joy competing and being on a winning team.”