30 members from the 1976 undefeated football team returned.
It was the nation’s Bicentennial Year, Jimmy Carter was President and in Gillespie the “Rock-N-Roll” Miners were setting records at Gillespie High School’s only football team to go undefeated and untied in regular season play.
On Friday night, 30 of the 37 surviving members of the team returned to the home field to watch this year’s Miners team defeat the Kincaid Ponies, 40-6. “I think maybe we inspired them a little bit,” grinned Steve Profazier, who made the trip back to Gillespie from his home in Houston, Texas.
Team members and cheerleaders were recognized on the field during halftime of the Miner’s first home game of the year. Team members who came back for the reunion included: Todd Link, Wayne “Web” Blevins, Don Cherry, Jim Hagen, Chuck Greff, Dean Martin, Steve Profaizer, Jim Brummett, Dan Brown, Jim “Ozzie” Osbourne, Mitch Stierwalt, Bill Boetta, Scott Wyatt, Brian Brown, Dave Griffel, Don Borgini (currently the Miner’s head coach), Rick Bertagnolli, Jim Byots, Jack Burns (currently an assistant coach for the Miners), Jim Halpin and John Watson.
Deceased member Dave Beal was represented on the field by his son, Logan Knoche; and Harold Smith was represented by Barry Smith. One other member of the team is deceased, Jon “Bubby” Smith.
Varsity cheerleaders attending were Elaine (Pavichevich) Gray, Wanda (Osborn) Meno, Laura (Johnson) Ranger, Nancy (Wenzel) Ruyle and Barb (Smith) Zueck. One JV cheerleader, Linda (Runta) Brown, attended the event.
After chalking up an undefeated regular season, the 1976 Miners went on to defeat Carterville, Arcola and Hamilton high schools in the playoffs. The team finished second in Class 2A after losing to Fulton High School, 8-0, in the championship game at Illinois State University. “People are smiling ear to ear,” said Griffel, who hosted a pig roast for the team at his farm after the game. “Some of the guys you have to look at them twice before you recognize them.”
“What a thrill,” Bertagnolli enthused. Now a softball coach at California University of Pennsylvania, Bertagnolli said the invitation to return to Gillespie for a team reunion arrived just as his job was getting busy. “When Chuckie Greff called, I told him this is right at the beginning of the school and a really busy time for me, but I’d make it here, no problem.” Bertagnolli was a sophomore on the Rock-N-Roll team, graduating two years later. “A lot of these guys I haven’t seen for 32 years,” he said. “It’s just a great thrill.”
The team was coached by Don Dobrino, now serving as an assistant coach to the Miners under his protege: Borgini. The 1976 season was the culmination of a streak of winning seasons, according to Griffel. “It wasn’t just us,” he said, “it was the team before us and the team before that.”
Ray Tusek, now living in Petersburg, was an assistant coach for the team. “They were one, big happy family,” he recalled. “They were hard working, they all stuck together and they supported each other. We had good senior leadership. That’s what it’s all about.” He credited the team members for the Miners’ success in 1976. “It was the talent, not the coaching,” he said.
Greff, who helped orchestrate the reunion along with Griffel, Brummett and Borgini, said he was surprised by the number of team members who made it back to Gillespie for the 35th anniversary of the team’s season. “We were expecting maybe 10 or so,” he said. Two of the attendees came back from Texas, one from Pennsylvania and one from Florida. “That’s a long trip. When you have players coming back from that far away, that’s something special.”
Knoche, who played center for the Miners from 2003 through 2005, said he was pleased to pay tribute to his late father. During his own high school career, Knoche said he wore No. 58 on his jersey – the same number his father wore. On Friday night, he wore a black t-shirt emblazoned with the number he and his father shared. “It was kind of a tribute to him,” he said.
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