Aug 13, 2016 6 min read

Fort Cherry was a football-crazed community in the early 2000s and with good reason.

Alumnus Marty Schottenheimer, who helped the Rangers win the PIAA basketball championship in 1961, recently had completed a highly successful 10-year run as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and was about to embark on a five-year tenure with the San Diego Chargers. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, another Fort Cherry graduate, was then a defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, and his 2000 unit remains one of the NFL’s all-time greats.

Fort Cherry’s proud football tradition also includes former NFL receiver Perry Kemp, former Division I players such as Ray Kemp and Tim Bennett and the WPIAL’s first 7,000-yard career rusher in Mike Vernillo.

Plus, at the time, the Rangers were in the midst of one of the better periods in program history. Playoff appearances were annual and postseason wins frequent.

So, when a talented group of players began the 2001 season 0-2, it was cause for concern outside the Rangers’ locker room.

“We all grew up playing together since we were 7 or 8 years old,” said Perry Ivery, a versatile offensive weapon and defensive back at Fort Cherry who played collegiately at Toledo and California University of Pennsylvania. “We had won championships six years in a row coming up. We knew we had what it takes to be a winning team. We just had to put it together.”

Inside the Rangers’ locker room, coach Jim Garry, who spent 44 years as a head football coach – 43 at Fort Cherry – wouldn’t let his players doubt themselves after season-opening losses to Seton-La Salle and Riverview.

It didn’t matter what was being said by outsiders.

“At first, people were saying, ‘Maybe these guys aren’t who we thought they were,'” said Josh Kemp, a running back/defensive back who also went on to play at Cal U. “But we needed those first two games. We knew we were really good. Coach Garry kept telling us we were really good. … We needed to take those loses. I think they really helped us.”

The good thing for Fort Cherry was both losses came in non-conference play. The Ohio Valley Conference schedule remained, and that’s when the Rangers went to work.

Fort Cherry swept through conference play behind a multi-faceted offense led by the big-play ability of all-state receiver Ivery, Kemp, 1,000-yard rusher Ben Farrell, quarterback Trevor Martinek and something that was a constant at Fort Cherry during Garry’s long tenure as head coach – a big, bruising offensive line. It was up to offensive coordinator Tim Garry to find ways to get those talented skill players touches.

“Tim Garry did a really good job of moving the football around,” Kemp said. “(Farrell) was a freak. Perry and I played running back all our lives but when Ben moved into the school in ninth grade, we became receivers, too. Our running offense was one of the best around.”

The Rangers’ offense, in particular Ivery, garnered headlines, but it was a dominating defense that carried Fort Cherry into the WPIAL Class A playoffs on a seven-game win streak.

Nicknamed “Red Storm,” Fort Cherry’s first-team defense allowed just 52 points during the season. Led by Ohio Valley Conference defensive player of the year Mike Harrington, it was loaded at every position.

“Our defensive line constantly put pressure on the quarterback and with Harrington and Dave Hursh, we had the best linebackers in the WPIAL,” Kemp said.

The secondary was among the best, too, and it featured three future college players in Ivery, Kemp and his twin brother Jeremy Kemp, who led the Rangers in interceptions.

So many athletes gave defensive coordinator Bill Oliverio options, and he got a little help from an old friend in Lewis. According to Josh Kemp, Fort Cherry played nearly every base defense seen in the NFL today.

“Marvin Lewis was with the Ravens at the time, and he helped us out in the playoffs with plays and formations,” Ivery said. “But the thing was Coach Oliverio let us be athletes. He let us be who we were, and it worked.”

Behind Farrell, Fort Cherry blanked Western Beaver, 20-0, in the first round of the playoffs and it set up a contest against Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals.

GCC held a 3-0 lead until the final drive when Ivery caught a long pass from Martinek and capped a 6-3 victory with a touchdown run. It put Fort Cherry into the semifinals against Monaca, the state’s top-ranked Class A team.

“Red Storm” forced seven turnovers, Ivery rushed for 136 yards, Kemp added 100 more and Fort Cherry crushed Monaca, 27-6. After the game, Jim Garry hinted the victory was the best of his coaching career and said he was celebrating the impending WPIAL Class A championship game appearance – Fort Cherry’s first since 1997 – with a cup of tea. Ivery said it was time to rename the Monaca-Rochester bridge after Fort Cherry. Word quickly spread to Rochester.

“I remember saying that like it was yesterday,” said Ivery, who finished the year with 864 yards receiving and 682 rushing. “We had just beat the No. 1 team in the state, and we really took it to them. That’s how we felt at the time. We felt we were the best team in the state.”

Rochester ended Fort Cherry’s 10-game win streak and its postseason run with a 27-19 victory at Heinz Field. Ivery scored all three Fort Cherry touchdowns, but injuries to Jeremy Kemp and Harrington, who spent time in the hospital before the game, leaves the Rangers wondering about what could have been.

“If we beat Rochester, chances are we win the state title,” Josh Kemp said. “But we can’t take anything away from Rochester. They were probably the best competition I ever faced in football.”

After the Rams cruised to the state championship, a number of their players said Fort Cherry was the best team they played in 2001.

Which leads to a popular debate in the McDonald area. Are the 2001 Rangers the best in Fort Cherry history?

The 1997 team also made the WPIAL finals, but the 1999 team included stalwarts such as Adam Moss, Vernillo and Ivery in what was an amazing run of athletes at the small school in McDonald.

“Mike Vernillo and I talked about that. He was on the (1997) team that made the championship game, but we both feel the 1999 team was the best team,” Ivery said. “The 1997 team had a huge offensive line, and they have the advantage there, but I’ll take 2001 between the two. We had the better skill players and the better defense.”

Mike Kovak is assistant night editor at the Observer-Reporter.