Over the past couple of weeks, 563 teams have battled through 198 polls to determine who has the best helmet in Pennsylvania high school football. Now – following more than 72,000 votes – only 12 remain. It’s now time for the state tournament to decide who has bragging rights over the rest of the state.
How It’ll Work:
Instead of getting into the messy business of giving byes for a 12-team bracket, @thesteelersnat, @END2008 and I chose to have the state tournament decided via four regions of three teams apiece. The district champions will be grouped roughly by geography into the following pods:
Western PA Pod
- Maplewood (D10 Champ)
- Albert Gallatin (D7 Champ)
- Carrick (D8 Champ)
Central PA Pod
- St. Marys (D9 Champ)
- Bishop Guilfoyle (D6 Champ)
- Conemaugh Township (D5 Champ)
Northeastern PA Pod
- Williamsport (D4 Champ)
- Wyoming Area (D2 Champ)
- East Stroudsburg South (D11 Champ)
Southeastern PA Pod
- Marple Newtown (D1 Champ)
- Wilson West Lawn (D3 Champ)
- St. Joseph’s Prep (D12 Champ)
The Western and Central pods will be posted Saturday and the Northeastern and Southeastern pods will be posted Sunday. On Tuesday, the Western/Central semifinal and the Northeastern/Southeastern semifinal will be posted. Finally, the state championship poll will be posted Thursday and will be the only poll to remain open for 48 hours instead of 24.
I reached out via Twitter to each of the district champions to get a little more insight to their helmet design and its story. Let’s meet the contenders:
WESTERN PA POD
Maplewood
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- Round 1: earned 44.5% of the vote, beating out Farrell and Sharpsville
- District 10 Semis: earned 44.2%, beating out Fairview, Slippery Rock & Franklin
- District 10 Final: earned 52.3%, beating out Grove City and Kennedy Catholic
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Head Coach Bryan Borkovich, who said each helmet takes 10-15 minutes to stripe:
I was hired in 2012 and they use to wear just an M on the helmet. After two years the kids coming up through the program wanted to change it as they felt the program was changing. The 2015 team decided tiger stripes needed to be put on the helmet. Out of my 8 years as HC we have worn it for 4. The kids even decided to put tiger stripes in uniforms to go with the helmets.The first year we wore tiger stripes we went down to Pitt for the 7 on 7 tournament. Once we got down there we got nothing but compliments about the stripes. I remember my assistant coach saying “if Farrell and Clairton say your helmets look sharp than must be doing something right.” We started an earn your stripes kind of thing in the program which plays along with the helmet design and the program has benefited from the hard work to do that.
Albert Gallatin
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
They Got Here
- Round 1: earned 46.2%, beating out Bentworth, Apollo-Ridge & Beth-Center
- District 7 Quarterfinals: earned 41.8%, beating out Beaver Area and Avonworth
- District 7 Semifinals: earned 42.3%, beating out Belle Vernon and Canon-McMillan
- District 7 Final: earned 38.8%, beating out Pine-Richland and Woodland Hills
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Head Coach Drew Dindl:
I was looking through a magazine to order some gear for the upcoming season and discovered this logo. I really liked it and thought it really went well with the Colonials. Last season was the first year we used it. I started out by getting some gear made using the logo and everyone really liked it. Players and coaches were real happy with it, so we had larger helmet stickers made in a chrome finish that really showed up nicely on the flat black helmets. We added little musket stickers as reward stickers and couldn’t be happier with how they turned out! I just feel the significance of this was it is something we can use as ours as we got away from using the old New England patriots logo. Many of the opposing coaches really liked the logo (especially the ones that weren’t big Patriots fans).
Carrick
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 8 Semifinals: earned 58.2%, beating out Allderdice and Westinghouse
- District 8 Final: earned 51.8%, beating Brashear
CENTRAL PA POD
St. Marys
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 9 First Round: earned 61.1%, beating out Brockway, Curwensville & Moniteau
- District 9 Semifinals: earned 40.7%, beating out Bradford and Brookville
- District 9 Final: earned 51.6%, beating Cameron County
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Head Coach Chris Dworek:
Our helmet design was an idea from one of our coaches, Coach Mike Kunes. He’s from St. Marys, played for them and has coached for them for a while now. He’s been using that logo for the last few years on other, small things. [The helmet has an] anchor chain down the middle (the players came up with that idea) and the other side of the helmet (it’s the players number which is a tribute to some old St. Marys helmets back in the day). They’re pretty sharp. The kids liked the entire helmet look and voted on it last Spring. Some of the Brookville guys and my guys have become friends and each group has commented about how sweet each schools’ helmets look.
Coach Kunes also designed the Cameron County helmet, which means he is the creator of both finalists for District 9’s best helmet.
Bishop Guilfoyle
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 6 First Round: earned 46.3%, beating out Glendale, Penn Cambria & West Branch
- District 6 Semifinals: earned 31.3%, beating out Forest Hills, Johnstown & Hollidaysburg
- District 6 Final: earned 38.1%, beating out Richland and State College
The Story Behind the Helmet
From the team’s Twitter account:
This current style helmet was done by [current Head] Coach [Justin] Wheeler. The helmet was white with purple and gold BG for the 2014 season when they won a state championship. It was changed to the purple helmet with white and gold BG on the side in 2015. The Team is 79-8 with helmet set up with 3 State Championships and a Runner up in 2019. People seem to love the simplicity of the BG. Staying traditional.
Conemaugh Township
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 5 Semifinals: earned 74.5%, beating out Bedford, North Star & Somerset
- District 5 Final: earned 65.3%, beating out Berlin-Brothersvalley and Meyersdale
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Conemaugh Township coach Wayne Adams:
This helmet was designed in 2016 by a player on the team Trenton Troxell. The coaching staff liked the concept, and the Conemaugh Township Indians got their “head-dress”. Varsity only — our Jr high wear the flat black helmet with no stickers… kind of makes the progression from Jr high to Sr high more significant. (This is a VERY expensive design, as most of the feathers have to be placed on by hand, not one large sticker). It seems to have brought some luck, as we won the district championship in 2016, and were runners up in 2018.
Adams said that the decals are put on each year by Sportsman’s Sporting Goods in Johnstown and that parts of the helmet assembly must be removed and then reattached to add the design.
NORTHEASTERN PA POD
Williamsport
The Helmet
Williamsport has the chance to pull off a pretty remarkable feat. Last summer, I ran a similar tournament that named the Millionaires as the best nickname in the state. For that tournament, I removed duplicate nicknames (Tigers, Lions, etc.) and only included unique nicknames, which totaled a little over 100. If Williamsport manages to win the helmet bracket, they would take the crown over 562 competitors.
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 4 First Round: earned 36.2%, beating out Central Columbia, Midd-West & Selinsgrove
- District 4 Semifinals: earned 52.9%, beating out Loyalsock Township and Shamokin
- District 4 Final: earned 42.0%, beating out Lewisburg and Danville
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Assistant Coach Keith McCabe:
The logo (top hat, cane, gloves, carnation) was designed back in the early 1960s (1961-63 era) by Thomas Mikan. Thomas was a student in the sign-painting program at Williamsport Technical Institute, predecessor of Pennsylvania College of Technology. As you may know the in the late 1800s, Williamsport had more Millionaires per Capita than any other city in the world, and was known as the “Lumber Capital of the World.” Many became rich due to trade and Susquehanna River. To this day, there still sits “Millionaires Row” on W fourth St, with all the Victorian homes that the millionaires lived in.
Helmet Facts:
- We did not display the Top Hat & Cane logo on the helmet until 2013. Prior to that our helmets were blank, or used various “W’s” over the years. Most frequently the Wisconsin “W”.
- The CURRENT helmet design was debuted in 2016. Coach Crews second season with the team. For the first time in our school history we changed our helmet color to black. Our school colors are Cherry & White and remained our helmet colors for all the years prior. Black has been a secondary color but goes with the black top hat appeal in our opinion. The diamond stripes running down the center of the helmet, pay homage to our old stadium (prior to turf) that displayed cherry & White Diamond endzones, along with yardage numbers.
Wyoming Area
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 2 First Round: earned 32.4%, beating out Delaware Valley, Lake-Lehman & Scranton
- District 2 Semifinals: earned 44.3%, beating out Crestwood and Dallas
- District 2 Final: earned 46.4%, beating out Old Forge and Lakeland
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Wyoming Area broadcast team member Frank D. (@wascoreboard):
The Warrior helmet has undergone many designs and redesigns in the fifty plus years of the program. The current version is based off of the Wyoming Area School seal and is a redesign of the version used in the late 70s and early 80s. It was developed by PA State Hall of Fame Coach Paul Marranca and current Asst Head Coach Mike Fanti. Given our recent history; it’s likely to be around for a while.
As far as interesting things about the helmet…the program started in 1967 with what was essentially a plain gold helmet…..at the annual Unico games each summer; the kids wear stickers from teams on their side of the Susquehanna River on their own helmets for the contest. The Warrior sticker is always one of the most sought after.
Wyoming Area’s helmet features a depiction of the Wyoming Monument, built to memorialize the victims of the Wyoming Massacre in the late 1700s.
East Stroudsburg South
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 11 First Round: earned 33.8%, beating out Northampton, Pocono Mountain West & Williams Valley
- District 11 Semifinals: earned 34.8%, beating out Pottsville, Emmaus & Notre Dame
- District 11 Final: earned 36.8%, beating out Nazareth and Shenandoah Valley
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Head Coach Matt Walters:
Prior to Ed Christian becoming head coach at East Stroudsburg, the Cavalier helmet was purple and the logo was a block “E”. In 1981, Ed Christian replaced Dick Merring as head coach. Ed and his staff took a trip down to the University of North Carolina for a coaches clinic, and liked the look of interlocking letters on the Tarheels helmet. The interlocking ES was put onto the purple helmet that fall and has been on Cavalier helmets ever since.
In 2004, Head Coach Ed Christian, assistant coach Tony Rose, and longtime program friend Ted Monica added the Cavalier swords to the interlocking ES logo, inspired by the University of Virginia swords under their “V” logo. For the past 16 seasons, the logo and purple helmet have remained the same. There have been a few additions and deletions of different stripes and add-ons, but the tradition of the interlocking ES with swords (with a little inspiration from two college football programs) have been a staple of East Stroudsburg football.
*As long as I’m here at East Stroudsburg South, that Logo and helmet will never change! Who am I to change the tradition and history of our high school?*
SOUTHEASTERN PA POD
Marple Newtown
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 1 First Round: earned 41.3%, beating out Chichester, Pottstown & West Chester Henderson
- District 1 Quarterfinals: earned 48.8%, beating out Coatesville and Radnor
- District 1 Semifinals: earned 43.2%, beating out Pope John Paul II and Neshaminy
- District 1 Final: earned 51.5%, beating Perkiomen Valley
The Story Behind the Helmet
From the Marple Newtown Athletics Twitter account (@MNAthletics):
The Tiger design is the district Tiger that we all use. We started wearing this helmet in 2015.
Before that was a black helmet with an orange paw. Before that (basically the 90’s) black helmet with Tigers in orange written in cursive. Before that (some of 80’s) black helmet with Tigers in white cursive. Before that we did have a orange helmet with MN in black on it. Legendary Coach Jim Smith was famous for coming up with cool designs. He coached from 1987-1997 and he was also the AD for a number of years.
Wilson (West Lawn)
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 3 First Round: earned 54.1%, beating out Conrad Weiser, Hempfield (3) & Palmyra
- District 3 Quarterfinals: earned 46.6%, beating out Northern York, Harrisburg & Wyomissing
- District 3 Semifinals: earned 46.9%, beating out Warwick and Daniel Boone
- District 3 Final: earned 50.6%, beating Red Lion
The Story Behind the Helmet
From Coach Joe Mays:
Like most schools, Wilson did not have a logo on their helmet for decades. In fact the shell was red from 1952-1963, but went back to white for the lone season we played with player numbers on the side (Fall 1964-Coach Gurski’s first year). Then in 1965 numbers were removed and 3 red stripes down the center were added. This version was used through the 1968 season, before a logo was added: the “W in football” design. The three stripes/W football would be used through 1977. In 1978 the first bulldog logo debuted in the helmets and would remain relatively unchanged through 2018.The # of stripes on the helmet would fluctuate between one or three at times, and sometimes the bulldog would be white and other times red (I haven’t found a rhyme, reason, or trend to how this was determined). But for 41 seasons it was a white shell, a red stripe (or 3), and the standard bulldog. In 1994 the team added a 50 YEARS overlay to the bulldog, and that’s what gave me the idea for our 75th Season in 2019. So we used our standard bulldog inscribed with 75 SEASONS on one side and then I dig up the throwback “W in football” design that hasn’t been used since 1977. Coach Dahms and Matt Bender (ILB coach’s bday equipment overlord) liked it enough to use it opposite the anniversary logo. And now the plan is for 2020 to use it in both sides of the helmet! I can not say where the design originated. I’ll look through the late 60s/early 70s yearbooks to see if it’s mentioned. But I researched it in February 2018 and WHS it drawn up by a professional and the team used it and will continue to use it.I know the exact same helmet design was used from 2000-2007 (white helmet, red facemask, single red stripe, red bulldog) and 2008-2015 (same as 2000-2007 but white facemask), and 2016-2018 (same as 2008-2015 but the red was now chrome red – a big deal for Dahms.
St. Joseph’s Prep
The Helmet
Helmet History (from the PA High School Helmet Project)
How They Got Here
- District 12 First Round: earned 65.0%, beating out Academy of Palumbo, Father Judge & Neumann-Goretti
- District 12 Semifinals: earned 50.0%, beating out Mastery North, Northeast & Archbishop Ryan
- District 12 Final: earned 53.2%, beating out Imhotep Charter and LaSalle
So there you have it – all twelve finalists. The polls may not open until Saturday, but let the debate begin now!
Pennsylvania Football History 