Game
Night Traditions
Much has
changed at South Fayette’s school campus in recent years, but
not the fans’ fondness for the district
By Tim McNellie
 Leaning
against the railing at the top of South Fayette’s football
stadium on a busy game night, two alumni take notice of school’s
new video scoreboard, specifically the cartoon-spinning football
that the board is displaying during one of the game’s down
moments.
“What they need
is a Farkas-Cam,” says Joe
Underwood, Class of 1995, referring to the district’s athletic
director, who’s on the field pacing the sidelines with the
football team. “They need a camera attached to Mr. Farkas’
hat so that the scoreboard video shows whatever he’s looking
at.”
That gets a laugh
from Rick Chaussard, Class of 2000, who, without turning his
gaze from the game unfolding on the field, says, “I heard that
Mr. Manzini is up in the press box recording the other team’s
signals.”
A few spectators
standing nearby chuckle. Though the New England Patriots were
busted a few days earlier for illegally videotaping opponents’
signals, school’s technology director Gene Manzini is
definitely not doing the same.
Nor will former
custodian Patsy Battistone be flying a cropduster over the field
as part of the halftime show, as another alumnus suggests.
Underwood and
Chaussard continue, plucking the names of teachers, students,
and administrators from their own high school days and placing
them in ridiculous theoretical situations. The entire
conversation is sheer nonsense, but it’s nostalgic nonsense,
and a reminder of the fondness for South Fayette that the school
instills in its graduates. Here are two men a decade removed
from school who’ve returned to their alma mater to check out
the new facilities, take in a football game, and see some old
faces.  And
it’s not even homecoming.
They’re hardly
alone. While the stadium is filled with the parents,
grandparents, siblings, and classmates of the students in the
spotlight tonight, there’s a sizable contingent of the crowd
with no direct connection to the game other than that they too
were once South Fayette students coming back to visit. Take Joe
Godfrey.
Seated on the
scoreboard end of South Fayette’s bleachers and dressed in a
Kelly green school sweatshirt and matching hat, Godfrey has
become a fixture at South Fayette games. A South Fayette
graduate of 1955, he has been coming to the varsity football and
basketball games ever since. While talking to a reporter about
his alma mater, Godfrey keeps his eyes fixed firmly on the
field. He grew up in the township, he says, and has lived here
most of his life, not far from the school’s campus. “I bleed
green,” he says with a laugh. “I never miss a game, home or
away. The only time I missed games was when I was away in the
service.”
A few rows away
sits Cyndi Minster, who walks to the games from her home in the
housing plan across from the field. Her daughter Jen’s
boyfriend plays on the team. Frankly, she says, she’d be here
anyway. “Everybody’s busy with work these days,” she says,
“but when it comes to game time, we’re all here. Whether we
have kids or not, we come anyway.”
Standing against a
rail a few rows behind her is Bruce Taucher, Class of 1977, the
father of wide receiver Justin Taucher, who just happens to be
dating Cyndi’s daughter. Bruce, who bought, and now lives in,
the same Oak Ridge Road home in which he grew up, has been
coming to South Fayette’s football games for decades. The
quality of the school district kept him in the township, he
says, and the camaraderie encountered at the games keeps him
coming to athletic events.
“It’s a great
place,” he says. “It’s a close-knit community, and I run
into a lot of my old classmates here.”
Looking around, he
remembers one familiar face that’s been a fixture of the games
for years. “You really should talk to this one guy who’s
been coming to games since at least when I was in junior high,”
he says. That guy is Godfrey.
A
Campus Transformed
For someone who
hasn’t been back to South Fayette in a few years, the campus
is nearly unrecognizable. Fifteen years ago, the district
consisted of two school
buildings and a bunker-like structure that housed the
administration. The football field was encircled by a
gravel-lined running track that some jokingly said could cause
black lung. When the school had its first swimming pool built,
the diving board was installed on the wrong end.
Today, the district’s
facilities are among the most modern in the county, if not the
state. Along with a brand-new high school, the district boasts a
heavily-renovated middle school, recently rebuilt elementary
school, new playground, new administrative offices, and new
transportation facilities. As more than one football fan
commented, visiting South Fayette these days is like stepping
onto a small, private college campus. The high school, with its
neo-classical exterior, would fit in among the buildings at,
say, Amherst College, and the new football stadium is on a par
with any in the area. (And while all this construction came with
tax increases, a small sampling of those at the game suggested
the fans didn’t seem to mind.)
Despite the rapid
growth and influx of new residents, though, South Fayette has
managed to preserve a feeling of community and tradition. While
the facilities are new, visitors still feel they’re attending
a housewarming party for old friends. The scene has been
modernized, but the faces are warm and familiar.
Timeless
Tradition
 “It’s
so nice to see everybody,” says Janey Stephens, standing at
the stadium’s gates clicking a counter each time she takes a
ticket. So far, she’s clicked off 493 fans. That number will
pass the 1,900 mark before halftime. A school bus driver by day,
Stephens works the gates on game night for a few extra dollars
and for the chance to see some friendly faces.
“I get to see
everybody from my bus trips up here. One of them gave me this”
she says, pointing to a neon-glowing necklace she’s wearing.
Moments later, three small children walk over with their mother
to give her a hug.
Looking on, fellow
ticket-taker Vee Ellis says, “It’s Friday night, and that’s
like community night, where everybody comes together.”
 High
school football night in Western Pennsylvania is a timeless
scene – every Friday
generations of families will cluster together in the stands, old
friends will greet each
other and talk about what’s happened since last fall, small
children will run amok and their parents will yell at them.
One of the things
that helps South Fayette draw in all those people is its
marching band, the Little Green Machine. The band’s
high-energy brand of music and dancing has garnered fans around
the region, and invitations to perform at events like New York
City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Steelers halftime shows,
and even an appearance on “Good Morning America.”
For some in the
audience, the game is secondary to the half-time performance.
And to band-members, such as senior tenor saxophonist Derik
Dolgos, those few minutes at half-time make up for the long
hours of practicing in the summer heat, of endlessly rehearsing
each dance step, and reviewing video of past shows to spot
flaws. “Knowing that the band is so popular and that we can
get the crowd on its feet is worth it,” he says. “When I was
younger, I would come here just to watch the band, because I
knew I wanted to be here someday.”
Down near the
sidelines, the varsity cheerleaders feel the same way about
their sport. For these girls, Friday nights in the fall are just
about the pinnacle of the high school experience. “It’s just
great to be out here under the lights,” says senior co-captain
Lauren Davis.
“You can feel the
excitement,” agrees co-captain Allison Supko. “Everybody is
so into it. The whole thing is fun. When you’re cheering in
junior varsity, it’s okay, but you’re really just waiting
for your chance to be out here on Friday nights.”
“It’s like the
whole week builds to this day,” says Nicole Dellavecchia, the
squad’s third co-captain. “You can feel it while you’re at
school, and then we come out here and the band is playing, the
fans are cheering, the students are hanging over the railing and
shouting. It’s a lot of fun.”
“And when it’s
over,” she says with a smile, “everybody sings the alma
mater, the players, the cheerleaders, the crowd, everybody.” |
