Penn-Trafford grad Gabe Dunlap eager to get back on football field for Grove City after injury-shortened season

As an athlete at Penn-Trafford, Gabe Dunlap was locked into specific roles. For the Warriors football team, Dunlap played almost exclusively at quarterback. With the track and field team, he stuck with long and triple jump.

Since going to Grove City, Dunlap has expanded his repertoire, and he has helped the Wolverines be successful in both sports. Along the way, he has proven to be one of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference’s most versatile — and successful — athletes.

Dunlap, a senior, enters the fast-approaching football season on the heels of a watershed spring. He helped the Wolverines capture the team title at the PAC track and field championships by scoring in five events, earning field MVP in the process.

His coaches, recognizing his athleticism, had encouraged him to try different events for which there were few top-notch competitors, such as pole vault and high jump. That not only helped the Wolverines score more points in the conference meet, it evolved in to Dunlap eventually competing in the decathlon.

The cherry on top was advancing to the NCAA Division III championships in the javelin, an event he had been competing in for less than two full seasons. He placed 10th — he went in seeded 19th — with a throw of 196 feet, 6 inches.

“This (spring) I was given the opportunity by our track coach to compete in the decathlon, which was an awesome experience in itself,” said Dunlap, noting further evidence of his versatility. “After that, I competed in our regional meet in the open javelin as well as the decathlon.

“In the open javelin I (hit a personal record) of 56 meters. Then, the next day, I came out in decathlon javelin, and that was where I qualified (for nationals). Came out of nowhere. … It was very fulfilling just being able to help the team any way I could even if I knew I wasn’t going to be the best guy at it.”

If that wasn’t enough to get him excited about getting back into football mode, missing almost all of the 2022 season with an injury should provide extra motivation.

Because of all the pounding his body took during his sophomore football and track and field seasons, Dunlap developed a stress fracture in his pelvis. The recovery process involved mostly rest and staying off his feet as much as possible.

Dunlap had to stay on crutches for six weeks before slowly working his way back to normal activities. The total process, he was told, was to take about 12 weeks, so in week 13 of his recovery, he attempted to return to the football field. He made it through the Wolverines’ game with Carnegie Mellon, their third of the season, and appeared briefly in the next game against Saint Vincent.

But it was clear his body wasn’t yet ready for football.

“The stress fracture was fully healed, but the muscles weren’t strong enough to handle the workload,” he said.

So Dunlap sat out the remainder of the season. Coach Andrew DiDonato said even though the Wolverines finished 8-3 overall and won an ECAC Bowl game, their defense wasn’t the same without Dunlap. After being in PAC title contention in the early part of the season, the Wolverines dropped two of their final three conference games to finish 5-3.

As a sophomore, Dunlap had three interceptions and nine passes defended in addition to 39 tackles. That’s what the Wolverines missed on defense.

“(Dunlap’s injury) really caused us to move people around, and we certainly were at our best when we had Gabe at corner,” DiDonato said. “Losing Gabe did impact us. It caused us to move people around in a way we preferred not to.”

They also missed his contributions on special teams. He was All-PAC second team as a kick returner in 2021, taking 24 kickoffs for 515 yards and 11 punts for 88 yards.

DiDonato admitted he had given thought to using Dunlap as a three-way player, as in, giving him some snaps on offense, too. But Dunlap’s injury put those ideas on the back burner, and he likely will remain in his roles at corner and kick returner this fall.

“When he got here, he was a kid who easily could play either side of the ball, multiple positions,” said DiDonato, who is heading into his eighth season as GCC’s coach. “He’s just that gifted of an athlete. For us, corner, we feel, our best athletes need to be over there.

“Just a true athlete since I’ve been here at Grove City. Honestly, it would be hard for me to think of someone more versatile than he is.”

Dunlap said his junior football season wasn’t wasted. He remained around the team, helping to give instruction to the younger players who would need to contribute more in his absence. This past spring, DiDonato kept Dunlap out of most football activities so he could focus on track and cut down on some of the wear and tear.

Still, Dunlap came around after track practices to look in on the young defensive backs.

“It was different seeing it from that perspective,” he said. “But it was a great experience to still be part of the team and still being treated the exact same way, even if it was more from a coaching perspective than as a player.”

Dunlap the player will be back at full speed this fall, and he will be part of a defense that returns almost everyone from a group that finished third in the PAC in yards allowed per game (272.2). The Wolverines must replace a few pieces on offense, but Dunlap is confident in his team’s ability to contend for the conference title.

“I’m really excited about the type of guys we’re bringing back,” he said. “I think we have a chance to make a really good push. It’s going to be difficult, but (our) biggest strength is the experience we’re going to be able to have on both sides of the ball, to have the type of guys who have played in those games and aren’t going to shy away from the spotlight.”