Oct 30, 2012 8 min read

Actions always spoke louder than words for A.J. Pagano.His actions 25 years ago, as a senior running back for Washington and Jefferson College, certainly said it all, particularly on a spectacular afternoon in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.It was on that day, Oct. 31, 1987, that Pagano cemented his legend and legacy as a Presidents football icon. For on that sunny afternoon, Pagano rallied W&J from a double-digit halftime deficit for a thrilling, stunning, and glorious, 38-36, victory over Carnegie Mellon University at old Tech Field – a graveyard for countless Presidents football teams.It was W&J’s first victory at CMU since 1971.W&J won the game when freshman John Ivory kicked a 40-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining. It was Ivory’s second game-winning field goal of the season.The victory helped W&J to its first undefeated and untied regular season since the 1921 Rose Bowl team. The Presidents eventually rallied for an overtime win in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs over Allegheny before losing to Emory & Henry in the quarterfinals.While Ivory was the hero late against the Tartans, it was Pagano who captivated everyone who witnessed his performance that day.Pagano’s totals were:n 166 yards rushing on 30 carriesn 133 yards receiving on a game-high six receptionsn 58 yards on two kickoff returns for a total of 357 all-purpose yardsn And, by the way, four touchdowns.The gaudy numbers can’t do justice to what Pagano accomplished that game.”A.J. kicked his game into a gear that was beyond my comprehension,” said Pat Aigner, a junior quarterback on the 1987 team. Said Dennis “Buzz” Scott, a W&J assistant at the time: “All I kept thinking and saying was get the ball to A.J. He put our entire team, the entire program, on his back and led us to victory.”A.J. was one hell of a football player. That day he was the best football player. He was quiet. He played hard. He wasn’t blazing fast. He wasn’t blazing anything. He was a football player. He could catch it, run it and he had no fear. They knew we were going to get him the ball and couldn’t do anything about it.”While it would be easy to get lost in what Pagano did individually that day, the game itself is special to all who witnessed it.The Tartans scorched W&J in the first half, forcing three turnovers and sacking Aigner twice. Behind quarterback Mike Hensel, CMU built a 22-7 halftime lead.The Presidents’ undefeated season and high national ranking was more than in jeopardy.”Hensel played a heck of a game,” recalled then-W&J head coach John Luckhardt. “We played horsefeathers in the first half and they took advantage of that.”The Tartans turned an interception and fumble into second-quarter touchdowns. They scored 15 of their 22 points off turnovers and scored 19 unanswered points to end the first half.Current Monessen High School head coach Andy Pacak, W&J’s tight end, said the Presidents weren’t rattled or lacking for confidence.”The position we were in was different,” Pacak said. “It was unusual. But I think we still thought we could win.”However, it would take Pagano’s best to deliver that outcome.”What I remember most is that A.J. would not be denied,” said Terry Kushner, then an assistant coach for W&J. “He refused to be denied. We still had an air of confidence at halftime. But A.J. put us all on his back.”Scott said that CMU used a three-receiver set to one side of the field quite effectively in the first half. And that formation troubled the Presidents.”We had not game planned for it,” Scott said. “I will never forget preparing for them. They hadn’t showed us that and they hurt us with it.”Honestly, that’s the only adjustment we made at halftime. We gathered ourselves. (Luckhardt) was calm. He was cool.” Rich Lackner, who remains as the Tartans’ coach, said that CMU realized W&J wasn’t out of the game”They had an efficient offense,” Lackner said. “We knew no lead would be safe. Obviously, 22-7 is not insurmountable. But you do feel like you’re in pretty good shape up 15.”

While players and coaches alike say the 15-point deficit didn’t rattle them, Pagano certainly shook something loose in the locker room. No one could have seen it coming.Aigner said on the way to the locker room at halftime, Hensel – speaking to no one in particular – commented that W&J’s undefeated season was coming to an end. Aigner thinks that irritated Pagano. But Pagano does not recall hearing the comment.Something, however, moved him to act out of character and address the team at halftime.”It was much more a rant than an address,” Luckhardt said. “He got everybody’s attention. When A.J. spoke, everybody listened, including the coaches.”Pagano said his motivation in speaking out was he wanted the team to complete an undefeated season.”I didn’t want to lose,” Pagano said. “They kept scoring and scoring and scoring in the first half.”Aigner insists Hensel’s “sarcastic comment” riled Pagano.”You don’t challenge No. 43 (Pagano’s uniform number),” Aigner said. “I believe that stirred him to take his game to a level and a performance I have never seen before or since.”

W&J began its second-half climb with an 11-play, 64-yard drive that culminated when Aigner hit Pacak on a five-yard TD pass. Several minutes later, Pagano scored on a seven-yard run. CMU’s lead had been cut to 22-20.The Tartans answered with a touchdown and held a 29-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.The teams exchanged punts, and then came the play that stopped hearts and changed the game.On a first-and-10 from W&J’s- coincidentally – 43-yard line, Aigner hit Pagano on a short pass. Pagano caught the ball and began a memorable romp that carried him all over the field, seemingly eluding all 11 CMU defenders on his way to a 57-yard TD. Ivory’s extra point made it 29-27.”We were going to get A.J. the football any way we could,” said Bill Dukett, W&J’s athletic director and then the team’s associate head coach and offensive strategist. “It wasn’t nuclear science.”After the score, W&J trapped Hensel and forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Kirk Lago at the CMU five.Two Pagano runs and a two-point conversion from Aigner to – who else? – Pagano made it 35-29 W&J with a tad more than 11 minutes remaining.Two CMU possessions later, the Tartans marched 54 yards in eight plays as Hensel scored on a six-yard run. “Hensel made a heck of a move to score,” Luckhardt said. “We had a good defensive call. He just made a play.”The extra point gave the Tartans a 36-35 lead with, yes, 43 seconds to play.After Ray Ciferno returned the kickoff 21 yards, Aigner hit Pagano for a 34-yard pass to the CMU 36. Completions to Robbie Dombrowski and Pacak followed.Aigner then lofted a pass near the goal line to Pagano, who reached back and nearly made an unthinkable catch. It was the only thing that escaped Pagano that day.Ivory then came on and drilled the field goal with eight seconds remaining. The comeback was complete.”When CMU took the lead back late, A.J. seemed to say, ‘This isn’t ending,'” recalled WJPA Radio’s Bob Gregg, who called the game with Mark Uriah. “The 34-yard pass play was like a statement that this was not going to be a loss. We saw the team rally before (during) that year. And then we saw it again.”Aigner said Pagano’s look that day was uncommon.”He was such a quiet person. When he spoke that day, every one of us paid attention,” Aigner said. “He is the most competitive person I have ever known. The fire in him burns white hot.”Pagano said Ivory’s kick remains indelible in his mind.”Ivory made that kick with everything on the line,” he said.As for his own performance, Pagano summed it up in typical Pagano style.”It was another day at the office,” he recalled. “I didn’t see anything different in my performance. The numbers just happened to add up to be a pretty good day.”After 25 years, Lackner said the game remains a classic.”It was a fantastic game,” he said. “The only thing bad about it was the final score. But they deserved to win. Ivory split the uprights. It was a heck of a kick.”Added Luckhardt: “That was a heck of a group of kids. … They never buckled to disappointment or distress. That’s what the 1987 team represents and that game in particular represented them.”It still took the very best of Pagano to pull it off.”He totally dominated the second half,” Uriah said. “He went nuts. He would not allow W&J to lose that day. It is the best college football game I have ever seen.”