Paul Kengor: Western Pa.'s other football teams

Football is in the bloodstream of Western Pennsylvania. We bleed black and gold for our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers mania starts early summer with training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe and typically runs into January with a team that makes the playoffs more than just about any other. The roster of Hall of Famers from this area is incredible. Think of quarterbacks: Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Joe Namath, Jim Kelly, George Blanda. Or how about running backs? Take Tony Dorsett and Curtis Martin, both from Pitt.

Indeed, there’s Pitt football. This year isn’t a good one for my alma mater, but Pitt’s history is likewise impressive. Speaking of NFL Hall of Famers, only Notre Dame, USC and Michigan have produced more than Pitt, with Pitt soon poised to pass Michigan when the likes of Larry Fitzgerald and Aaron Donald stroll in.

And let’s not neglect the remarkable history of local Division III powerhouses like Carnegie Mellon, Washington & Jefferson and Westminster College. In fact, once again this year, CMU and W&J were (at one point) nationally ranked.

All of which brings me to a nice football story in my neck of the woods. I live in Grove City in Mercer County, just over the border of Butler County, the county of my hometown, Butler. (Butler’s high school football team also has quite a history, boasting names like onetime Heisman candidate Terry Hanratty, who played for the Steelers.)

Up in these parts, only a 7-mile drive from stadium to stadium, we have some great Western Pennsylvania football stories developing. Slippery Rock University’s football team is undefeated and ranked No. 4 in Division II. That’s a good story, though candidly, not entirely unusual for SRU, which has had some solid teams over the years. Still, kudos to SRU.

What is highly unusual, however, is what’s transpiring in Grove City.

Here at Grove City College (where I teach), our Wolverines for the first time ever are undefeated and heading to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The team is nationally ranked, at No. 21. That’s arguably a bigger feat for a D-III team than a D-I team, given that there are twice as many D-III football programs as D-I.

This year the team won the PAC (Presidents’ Athletic Conference) championship, securing a once-unthinkable trifecta by defeating CMU, W&J and nearby rival Westminster. Even more unthinkable, just a few years ago, the Wolverines went completely winless in three consecutive seasons. The turnabout has been astounding. Some might call it miraculous.

That religious sentiment certainly isn’t unusual here. Grove City College is a committed Christian college. Head Coach Andrew DiDonato (himself a GCC alum) has drilled into his team not just tackling skills and receiving routes but a vision to “glorify God in the pursuit of earning a degree, build lasting relationships and compete for PAC championships.” An inspiring video of DiDonato speaking to his team (recorded without him realizing it) has gone viral on YouTube.

Grove City’s story is an inspiring one. So many D-III stories are just that, even as they don’t get the media attention of schools like Pitt and Penn State. But on so many college campuses here in Western Pennsylvania every fall, special things are happening at smaller programs like CMU and W&J and Westminster and, this year, Slippery Rock and Grove City.