Oct 21, 2014 5 min read

McGuffey and Washington have more in common than proximity and a fondness for high school football. The kids in both areas grew up competing against one another in athletics, many teachers from one school district lived in the other and families shared a common background.

The football teams also have a blue-collar mentality that stretch back to the early 20th century.

When Guy Montecalvo took over as head football coach at his alma mater, Washington High School, he and his counterpart at McGuffey, Frank Sworden, helped cultivate one of the best rivalries in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Montecalvo recalls the close bond the two areas shared. Athletics brought the neighboring communities together, yet separated them when it came to Friday night football.

During the 1980s, many players on McGuffey and Wash High teams had fathers working together at either Washington Steel, Jessop Steel or other local businesses. The annual rivalry game between the Highlanders and Prexies was built up each fall.

The father of a player on the winning team would have bragging rights during the grueling hours in the mill. While one side was usually unhappy with the result of the football game, it was a bond shared by men from two working class areas. They shared a passion for the sport and their teams.

Montecalvo vividly remembers the atmosphere, excitement and intensity of each matchup between Washington and McGuffey from 1980 until the Highlanders moved up to Class AAA in 1990. During that span, Wash High held a 5-3-1 advantage.

Not only were the kids excited to face the opposition, but the parents had something at stake.

“Practice was not an arduous task during McGuffey week,” Montecalvo said. “They were very excited. I can remember 30 years ago that the dads of those kids, so many of them worked together side-by-side in the various industries. It was for bragging rights for the entire year. That’s how big that game was.”

Though the two teams played six times in the early 2000s, none of those games will measure up to this Friday night, when undefeated Wash High (7-0, 8-0) faces McGuffey (6-1, 7-1) in Claysville with the Interstate Conference championship on the line.

Sworden, who guided the Highlanders from 1977 to 2000 and won a WPIAL championship in 1994, has lasting memories from when his teams faced Montecalvo’s.

There was the highly anticipated matchup in 1985 in which both teams entered the Week 6 game with undefeated records in Century Conference play. More than 6,000 fans packed into Wash High Stadium to witness the Prexies defeat the Highlanders, 40-8, behind Richard Bryant’s 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

In 1980, a fight ended the game with 25 seconds remaining, giving McGuffey the 15-point win.

None is more memorable for Sworden and McGuffey fans than 1988. Wash High was heavily favored and held the momentum when fate turned the game.

On fourth down with 20 seconds remaining, McGuffey quarterback Aaron Borello threw a desperation pass toward the end zone that was tipped by a Wash High defensive back. The ball deflected into the air and into the hands of Highlanders receiver Barry Kline for a 50-yard touchdown and a 19-18 victory. Nothing can replicate the emotions Sworden felt after beating Wash High for the first time in six years.

“Over the 25-odd years I was there, we both had some great programs and great teams that competed very well,” Sworden said. “It is a great rivalry and I’m glad it has been renewed. It’s a game we all circled on the schedule. This is really good for local football. It builds enthusiasm in both communities.”

The three games played from 1986 to ’88 were decided by a combined six points. Both teams earned a victory and there was a 14-14 tie in 1986.

“It was very intense. The pep rallies were the loudest we had at McGuffey back then because all the students were into it,” Sworden said. “They were friends, they were neighbors and a lot of the teachers lived in Washington. It became something that built on itself . With us being about 10 miles apart, it was a natural thing.”

When McGuffey left the Century Conference, the two schools had to wait 15 years to meet again. The only memorable moment during the 1990s happened when both appeared in WPIAL title games at Three Rivers Stadium. Wash High won the Class AA title over Riverside (12-7), then McGuffey dropped the following game to Blackhawk (28-0) in the Class AAA final. Though the rivalry returned in 2004, the implications and excitement were not the same with both programs struggling.

“There are a lot of things I can’t remember now that I’m getting older, but I do reflect back at the enormous crowds that were present at Wash High Stadium and McGuffey’s field for those football games because they were very meaningful,” Montecalvo said.

When the WPIAL realigned its conferences last winter, McGuffey was relocated from the Century to the Interstate, joining Wash High. When the schedules were released with the highly anticipated game set for the regular-season finale and both schools expected to field high-caliber teams, the excitement returned.

With both teams headed to the playoffs and playing their best football at the same time, the players, parents and communities will have plenty to talk about again with the first rivalry game since 2009.

“You’re fortunate if you are lucky enough to be in a situation like this where the game is so meaningful,” Montecalvo said. “That’s what creates the lasting memories. It’s hard to get excited when you are 3-3 and the other team is 2-4 and you don’t have much to play for. These kinds of games do create those memories – win or lose.”