Early agate
ON THIS DATE
Dec. 4
1949 – Rookie running back Bobby Gage scores two touchdowns, including a 97-yard run, in a 44-second span of the fourth quarter as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Chicago Bears 30-21 at Wrigley Field.
1951 – Don O’Hara of California State Teachers College scores seven consecutive points to erase a 50-49 deficit and carry the Vulcans to a 56-53 basketball victory over host Waynesburg. O’Hara scores a game-high 21 points.
1956 – Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung edges Tennessee’s Johnny Majors to win the Heisman Trophy.
1958 – John Guzik, a Pitt guard from Cecil Township, is named to the Associated Press All-America football second team.
1965 – California opens its new Hamer Hall with a 97-62 victory over Lock Haven. Pat Hobart scores 23 points and Rich Kotarsky has 21 to lead the Vulcans.
1969 – Ed Zenewicz scores 22 points and Waynesburg College builds a 15-point halftime lead en route to a 72-61 victory at Slippery Rock. It is the first win for new Yellow Jackets coach Rudy Marisa.
1970 – Don Lounder, who scores a game-high 23 points, converts a three-point play with five seconds left in regulation to force overtime and Burgettstown goes on to defeat Canon-McMillan, 60-58, dealing the Big Macs their first loss of the season.
1973 – Penn State running back John Cappeletti wins the Heisman Trophy.
1978 – Washington High School’s Lisa Main sets a school girls basketball scoring record with 29 points in the Little Prexies’ 66-41 victory over Beth-Center.
1979 -Ray Natili scores 37 points to reach 1,000 for his career and Immaculate Conception defeats previously unbeaten Canon-McMillan 85-57.
1985 – Trinity soccer player Bryan Hammond is one of 55 players named to the National All-America Team.
1998 – Lanfer Simpson wins 8-1 at 189 pounds and heavyweight Kelby Church wins by fall as Waynesburg rallies for a 31-27 win over visiting West Greene.
1999 – Calvin Wilson scores 20 points, powering Jefferson-Morgan to an 87-37 victory over Chartiers-Houston in the Bucs’ season-opening tournament. Wilson becomes J-M’s all-time leading scorer. His 1,251 points eclipses Dennis Garrett’s 1,245. The game is one of two played this day by Chartiers-Houston. The Bucs beat Bentworth 59-41 in an afternoon game before losing to J-M in a night contest.
2004 – The Avella girls basketball team pulls of a rare double play, winning two games in a one day. The Eagles defeat Burgettstown 69-41 and then Bentworth 53-40 to win the Eagles’ tip-off tournament.
2013 – The NFL fines Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin $100,000 for interfering with a play against the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving. In the third quarter of the Ravens’ 22-20 win, Jacoby Jones swerves to avoid colliding with Tomlin and is tackled after a 73-yard return that might have gone for a touchdown if not for the obstruction.
Dec. 5
1927 – Outfielder Paul Waner becomes the first Pittsburgh Pirates player to win the National League Most Valuable Player award.
1952 – Donora High School ends Washington’s 34-game regular season basketball winning streak as Jerry Wunderlich scores 11 points to lead the Dragons to a 36-35 victory. Donora wins despite making only 12 of 31 free throws.
1959 – Bob Abbott returns a fumble 58 yards for a touchdown, Paul Strelick scores on an eight-yard run and Gary Hogan kicks an important extra point as Charleroi edges Aliquippa 13-12 to win the WPIAL Class AA football championship before an estimated 19,000 at Pitt Stadium. The Cougars stop Aliquippa on a pair of conversion tries, each in the fourth quarter.
1974 – The Birmingham Americans beat the Florida Blazers 22-21 in the only championship game for the World Football League. After the game, the Americans have their uniforms repossessed to pay off some of the team’s debts.
1975 – Mickey Davila and Norm Nixon each score 18 points as Duquesne edges Pitt 75-74 in the first round of the 25th Steel Bowl basketball tournament at the Civic Arena.
1975 – Fort Cherry’s Eugene Briggs scores 41 points as the Rangers defeat West Greene, 104-37.
1986 – Monessen’s boys basketball team erases a five-point deficit in the first overtime and overcomes a four-point gap in the second overtime to defeat Washington, 71-70. The Greyhounds’ Jason Gigliotti makes two free throws with eight seconds left to force overtime, hits a 10-foot jumper with two seconds left to force another OT and converts a driving layup at the buzzer for the winning points in the second overtime. The loss snaps Wash High’s 40-game home-court winning streak.
1989 – With the team near the basement of the Patrick Division, the Pittsburgh Penguins fire general manager Tony Esposito and head coach Gene Ubriaco and replace them with Craig Patrick.
1998 – A railing collapses in the stands at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia during the Army-Navy football game, injuring nine cadets and prep school students who fell 15 feet to the ground, leaving one with a broken neck. The game, which Army won 34-30, is suspended for 31 minutes in the fourth quarter as four ambulances drive onto the field.