UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State fans of a certain age will remember the play well.
It was in 1994 when undefeated Penn State was trailing underdog Illinois, 31-28, with just over six minutes left in the game. A nasty drizzle was falling, as was nightfall, the Lions had the ball on their own 6-yard line and nothing more than a season’s worth of dreams was on the line.
So, they just went ahead and mounted a spectacular drive which is unmatched in Penn State history, and it was capped by fullback Brian Milne’s 2-yard run with :57 left in the game.
Even though he was in the game at the time, backup tight end Keith Olsommer never saw the final play of the drive.
“I was on the ground, he said. “Milne ran right up my back.’’
Olsommer was recalling the moment prior to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame banquet March 18 at the Penn Stater. The 1997 Penn State graduate was the guest speaker at the event which honored football players from 40 different high schools in the central part of the state.
Olsommer was a sophomore at the time and went on to graduate with a degree in education following the 1996 season. The following summer, he was in the preseason camp of the Baltimore Ravens when in a moment of clarity he made a life-changing decision.
“I was watching those guys (the Ravens) and what they were going through, what they were putting their bodies through and I was like, at some point, when I’m 35 or 45, I want to be able to play my kid one-on-one in basketball and that had a lot to do with my decision to walk away.
“It wasn’t hard. I am very comfortable with my decision. I had worked my butt off to get where I was but when push came to shove, I was comfortable with my decision. My biggest regret was that I was not prepared for it to stop so abruptly. I love the game, but you can’t play football when you’re 45 like you can golf or tennis or basketball or softball.’
He left the game he had played and loved since middle school and, as former Steelers coach Chuck Noll famously said, got on with his life’s work. In Olsommer’s case, that was teaching and coaching at Delaware Valley High School in the far northeast corner of Pennsylvania. He’s been there ever since, and has been the head football coach since 1999. Last fall, his team lost to State College, 21-14, in the PIAA 6A playoffs.
That was further validation that he had made the right decision to leave Baltimore. He began coaching middle school, then ninth grade, before the varsity job opened up.
“I’m the type of person who, if someone tells me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it. I talked about coaching there with some of my friends and they all told me not to do it, that Delaware Valley was where coaches go to die. The school had won something like six games in six years. But they must not have known me, because I did it. Now, we are competing at the highest level in Pennsylvania. And we’re good. But, I’ve said we can be extremely good.’’
They are annual contenders in District 2. They got that way because Olsommer, who could be described as old school, is teaching them to play the game the way he was taught, both by his high school coach, Nick Donato, and the late Joe Paterno at Penn State.
“I have a passion for the game,’’ he said. “I still teach our kids to play it the right way, the way it was taught to me at a young age. And kids are still pretty much the same as we were.
‘The thing is, social media makes things different, both for better and for worse. It’s not always fun, but if I need to reach out to my team, then I can do that in one tweet. The difference in kids today is that they like all the bells and whistles more than we did 20 or 30 years ago.’’
Olsommer said one of the many lessons he learned from Paterno was how important it is to treat players as individuals.
“It was in a leadership council and he told us how kids are all different,’’ Olsommer recalled. “He said you guys might come from a home where you’re got mom and dad who are keeping on top of you. But Jimmy over there doesn’t’ have that, he’s just trying to survive. I use that all of the time. I’ve had kids who can’t stay awake in class because they leave school at the end of the day and then go to work until 11 that night because they are trying to provide for their family.’’
Olsommer said he’s been following the Nittany Lions closely and is impressed with the progress they’ve made under James Franklin, who spoke briefly at the banquet.
“If you had told me five years ago that they would be coming off two seasons where they had gone to the Rose and Fiesta bowls, I would have said you were crazy.”
Recognized during the banquet were players from five of Centre County’s six high schools: Garrett Rigg, of Bald Eagle Area; Cade Fortney, of Bellefonte; Justin Sands, of Penns Valley; Blake Murray, of St. Joseph’s Academy; and Ian Barr, of State College.
The following players received scholarships:
■ Aaron Wagner, Mifflin County, Nittany Media
■ Nick Peretin, Forest Hills, Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame in honor of the late Robert Mitinger
■ Josh Krieger, Shikellamy, Fulton Bank
■ Ryan Oliver, Mifflinburg, Citizen’s and Northwest Bank
■ Nicholas Michelone, Williamsburg, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute
■ Joseph Zola, Bloomsburg, HRI Inc.
■ Ian Barr, State College, Gardner’s Candy
■ Reed Williams, Kane, Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Football Hall of Fame and Football Foundation Board of Directors
■ Josh Dasher, Northern Bedford, M&T Bank
■ Nick Cherico, Clarion, Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches
Scholarship winners were selected based on academic achievement, athletic achievement and extracurricular-community service and participation. Each school was asked to nominate one senior member of the football team for the honor.
Cherico was also the winner of the Joe Sarra Award for community service. The late Sarra was a member of the Penn State football coaching staff for 16 years under Joe Paterno.
Six collegiate players were also recognized for their athletic and academic accomplishments. Those players were Mark Pyles, of Bucknell; Benjamin Gemballa, of Juniata; Austin Heinbaugh, of Lock Haven; Eric Wagner, of Lycoming; Brandon Smith, of Penn State; and Cameron Ott, of Susquehanna.
