George Guido: Freeport football celebrating 100 years

By: George Guido
Saturday, October 8, 2022 | 8:13 PM

Happy 100th anniversary to the Freeport football program.

The Alle-Kiski Valley’s most successful legacy will celebrate a century of tradition Friday when the Yellowjackets host Knoch at 7 p.m.

The players will have “100” decals attached to their helmets, and former players have been invited for pregame recognition.

All Freeport football alumni who want to attend the game are asked to report to Freeport Area Stadium at 5:45 p.m. After final instructions, the ex-players will form a tunnel on the field to greet the current players adjacent to the regular tunnel consisting of cheerleaders and marching band members.

Freeport, as most of our readers know, has by far the best record among local schools, sporting a 575-386-46 mark. Freeport has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs 31 times, another local standard.

It all started Oct. 6, 1922, when Freeport played its first football game, a 12-0 loss to Natrona High School. The school later played Natrona again and tied 6-6. Being a new, small school, Freeport grabbed any opponent it could, even if it meant playing some schools twice.

Freeport lost to a 19-6 decision that first year to Clarion Normal, now known as Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

The first victory was over Springdale, 57-0. At the time, Springdale and a number of other small schools were experimenting with the sport and went full-time with football several years later.

It didn’t take long for Freeport to get into winning steadily, posting a 5-3-1 mark in 1925.

The first undefeated season was an 8-0-0 mark in 1931. Freeport’s all-time record went over the .500 mark that season, and the school has never looked back.

Here are some Freeport factoids you might not know:

• Don Earley, by far the winningest Yellowjackets coach, compiled a 159-42-4 record (.741) in 19 seasons. That’s spectacular. But even more so is the fact that if the playoff rules were in effect then — the top four conference teams go to the playoffs — Freeport would have made the WPIAL tournament all 19 years under Earley.

• There used to be a lot of ties in high school football. In 1938, Freeport was 2-2-4 with the stalemates coming against Apollo, Bell Township, Leechburg and Springdale. With overtime these days, ties don’t occur unless there are unusual circumstances. Therefore, Freeport’s last tie was in 1987, 6-6, vs. East Allegheny, the school Freeport played Friday.

• Before state Act 561 of 1961, anyone living outside of Freeport could pay tuition to any high school they wanted. There were usually about 10-12 students from the Lucesco section of Allegheny Township that attended Freeport before Kiski Area High School opened.

• Freeport has made the playoffs at least once in seven straight decades, starting with the 1960s.

• The old high school on Fourth Street cost $125,000 to build. Freeport voters on Election Day, 1922, approved a bond issue by a 615-78 margin.

Tags: Freeport