Sep 22, 2019 9 min read

They came together as brothers more than teammates.

They were led by a man – while somewhat quirky and unconventional in his approach – who was solid and thorough in his relationships with his players, coaches and program.

The 1999 Waynesburg Central High School football team rose to the top of the WPIAL, capturing the Class AA championship in grand style, wiping away opponent after opponent with power, strength, skill and an inner spirit that would overcome anything.

Leading the way was a bruising running back-linebacker, Lanfer Simpson; a multi-talented, quarterback-defensive back, Lee Fritz, who could win by throwing, running, out-thinking opponents and intercepting passes; an All-State two-way lineman in Brandon Doppelheuer; and the coach, Russ Moore, who came to Waynesburg a few years earlier from a small-school in West Virginia.

While that core gets plenty of credit, there were so many other key elements to this wondrous team. That group included, running back Bryce Cree, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards; linebacker Greg Carson; tight end-fullback-linebacker Derek Mears; receivers Jeremy Gayman and Craig Bland; defensive end Rashad Diggs; offensive tackle Tim Cleavenger; and linebacker Matt Imrich, among others.

“It was more of a brothership,” said Simpson, who is a legendary and beloved figure in Greene County and beyond. “That whole group, midway through my freshman year to my junior season in 1999, just really connected.”

“Every Friday night, it was the football game and then going to Bryce Cree’s house. Forty-nine people staying in one house. Then Saturday, we’d stay at someone else’s house. Even when we’d go together and watch other sports – and the entire team would go watch our volleyball team play – we were connected as a football team. It was really something special that you don’t see very often.”

The quality of the Raiders had not been seen in Greene Country in some time.

Waynesburg became the first Greene County school to capture a WPIAL football title since Jefferson-Morgan won back-to-back crowns in 1973-74. The Raiders lost their chance to win a state title, dropping a tough decision to Tyrone in the PIAA semifinals.

The 1999 team’s reach goes well beyond Greene County. They earned the respect they fought so hard for and believed they deserved.

In 1998, they won the Three Rivers Conference championship, earning a tough win over Washington at home to win the title. But Waynesburg tripped in the playoffs, losing to Brownsville while watching the Prexies advance to the WPIAL championship game.

The loss served as motivation, as if the team needed another rallying point.

“Sometimes I wake up and realize it, and it seems like yesterday,” said Moore, who currently is an assistant coach at Waynesburg University. “It comes back to me now and again. It was a good time in my life and a good time in theirs (the players).

“I didn’t know about the WPIAL (championship), but I knew we had a really good team coming back from the year before when we went 10-1. We felt like as long as we stayed healthy, we had a chance to be really good again.

“We pretty much came out from the word go. That team and the kids on the team took care of themselves. It was a family and a brotherhood. It wasn’t four or five guys; it was the entire team. They were together before and after games. It was a pleasure to coach them.”

Moore left Waynesburg after that season.

He and many of the players from that team will be on hand Friday night, when the Raiders host Central Valley, for a 20th reunion celebration.

Waynesburg opened 1999 with a 42-0 win over Linsly Academy in West Virginia and followed with a 22-13 decision over Duquesne.

The Raiders then shifted into overdrive.

They swept through Carlynton (50-0), Canevin (26-0), Quaker Valley (41-6), Seton LaSalle (41-14), Sto-Rox (49-14) and Burgettstown (42-8) to set up another conference-deciding showdown with Washington.

No contest.

The Little Prexies fought the Raiders off for most of the first half but Fritz scored a late TD and Waynesburg imposed its will in the second half to gain a convincing, 25-7, win at Wash High Stadium.

“Before that game, we still hadn’t overcome that they were the best team around,” Simpson said. “They have all that tradition and championships. Until Lee scored that touchdown, in the back of our minds, we were still questioning. In the second half, we put it on them. Our confidence level soared, and we really believed in ourselves.

“(Assistant coach) Dave Sarra just told us that ‘Winners win.’ Our team found a way or ways to win games. We knew our goals and just believed in the coaches and one another.”

Said Fritz: “We felt we were always working toward the conference championship. We didn’t look ahead but we felt that would be the game. Those were two really talented teams.

“We did feel pretty confident from the beginning. We could throw some and run some and we had a great defense. We could beat teams in different ways.”

The Raiders’ opponents understood how good this Waynesburg team was.

Joe DelSardo, a freshman at Seton LaSalle that season, recalled the game plan for trying to stop Simpson and Fritz. Planning and doing were two different things.

“A lot of us coming from the city, that area and the suburbs, a lot of what we knew about them is we were playing strong, tough country boys,” said DelSardo who grew up in Dormont and played at Pitt. “We knew they had a combination of strength, toughness and skill and Lanfer and Lee were a lot to worry about.

“Growing up in Dormont, I was from a totally different landscape. I knew as a freshman stepping on the field against them that is was going to be tough.

“It was really tough for us that year; we were maybe one more weapon away. The conference was tough.”

Justin Gregula was a sophomore placekicker and punter and the backup quarterback for Washington that season. Two years later, he would lead the Prexies to WPIAL and PIAA championships as the quarterback.

He said the Raiders of 1999 were an irresistible force.

“What sticks out to me is Lee as the quarterback. He had arm strength and accuracy,” Gregula said. “He could equally run or throw on any team. He was quick and elusive.

“And then there was Lanfer. We heard about and knew about him and could do nothing about him. He was old-school, a country kid who was a great player. He was big and strong and didn’t really talk much. He had such strong body language.

“Mears was a tremendous player and Doppelheuer was just dominant. We just could not block him or them.”

Waynesburg’s postseason run began with a 49-20 win over South Park. The Raiders followed with a tight 14-10 victory over Center. A 33-yard TD run by Cree late in the game culminated the decisive drive.

That set them up for a rematch with Brownsville.

No contest.

Waynesburg thrashed the Falcons, 42-7, and earned their trip to Three Rivers Stadium and the WPIAL championship game to again meet Washington.

“I remember a lot about that season and team,” said Doppelheuer, who was an All-State player. “That team stayed together and stayed focused. We knew we had a good team coming back after losing to Brownsville in the playoffs.

“We saw as the offseason progressed, we were getting bigger and stronger and better. We saw the potential and we knew if we did what we were taught and what we could do, we could make it to Three Rivers Stadium.

“After beating Washington in the regular season, there wasn’t that ghost in the room anymore. At no point did Russ let us go off the hook or slide. He convinced us and reminded us there were more great things to do – run harder, run faster, block better, throw better, catch better, tackle better. Russ played the adversary better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Moore downplays his impact. It was obvious, though, his imprint and influence were all over the Raiders’ program. He went to great lengths sometimes to lighten the moment or ease the tension.

He once ripped off his shirt at one snowy, cold practice and carried on without putting it back on. Another time, he walked up a huge mound of dirt during construction at the school, looking to the sky. One player said he coached in his boxers at another practice. He read poetry postgame to the team.

“I just tried to be me,” Moore said. “I still try to be me, not anything different. There were times things would be tightening on them, and it would get crazy at times. When I walked up that mound of dirt, I do think they thought I lost it.”

All the while he was winning it.

Waynesburg earned the WPIAL title with a 30-3 win over Washington. The Prexies again fought hard but just could not dent the Raiders, who again pulled away.

“They got better as the game went on,” said Gregula, who scored Washington’s only points with a field goal. “They just wore you down and the five- and six-yard runs became nine- and 10-yard runs. We had a talented defense. But we could not deal with them either game. The better team won both of those games.”

Guy Montecalvo, who coached those Prexies said those Raiders were “one of the more talented teams” any of his teams faced in his long tenure at Washington.

“Lee was an exceptional athlete, one of the more inventive and versatile quarterbacks we ever played against,” Montecalvo said. “Doppelheuer… we could never figure out and we couldn’t get him blocked. Lanfer may have been the most powerful back we ever played against in all my years. Jeff Christy of Freeport was powerful and much bigger and ended up playing offensive line at Pitt. Lanfer was as powerful but shiftier.

“That was a group of outstanding kids and high-quality people. Those were really good young men and it has proven out as they have become older. You have to give Russ and his staff, and it was a good staff, a lot of credit. Waynesburg was well-coached and well-prepared.

“We were the two best teams in the conference and the two best teams in the WPIAL. We got licked by a better team. They were top quality, the total package.”