Chucks Forever: From Punxsutawney to the NCAA (A TCY Dynasty)

[Big Six]

The college football bug has bitten me, and I'm going to return to a dynasty theme that I've started once, but never followed through.

The concept is in no way original to me, and if I could remember whose dynasty had inspired me, I would certainly give its writer credit for the idea. (I'll look around the forums and find the person who deserves the props soon.)

I broke out The College Years the other day, and quickly remembered why I enjoyed playing it so much. In this dynasty, I'll be following the players from one high school: Punxsutawney Area High School, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

I'm sure the name sounds familiar. Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who emerges from his home every February 2 to predict the eventual arrival of spring, has put his west-central Pennsylvania home town on the map.

However, there's more to Punxsutawney than Phil. The people of Punxsutawney love their football, and the local high school team, the Chucks, play before thousands of adoring fans every time they take the field at historic City Stadium.

I'll be following the Punxsy seniors who appear among each season's recruits as they attempt to earn Division I football scholarships. I'm basing the Solecismic Eight in Pennsylvania, so there will be a few more schools with potential interest in the Chucks.

Then, I'll tell the story of each Punxsutawney alum who continues his career at the collegiate level.

The Chucks will hopefully come to life through a variety of means. You might meet their coaches, their parents, their friends, their girlfriends, or their rivals. You'll learn how many touchdowns they scored, how many quarterbacks they sacked, and how many As they got on their report cards.

I hope we'll all enjoy the tale very much.

The story begins in the fall of 2004...

Note: While the Punxsutawney Area High School football team is indeed nicknamed the Chucks, many of the other details of my story will be fictionalized. The names of players, coaches, teachers, Punxsutawney residents, and other details of town life will be completely fictional. For example, I have no idea if Punxsutawney Area High plays its home games at "historic City Stadium"...but in my story, it will.

[Big Six]

Kirk McElrath
 
Cornerback               National Rank: None
5'11", 171 lbs.          By Position: None
 
GPA: 3.40                State Rank: None
SAT: 1280                #16 among PA Cornerbacks
 
Interest: Genetics
Attitude: Decent 

Week Four, 2004

The two men stood at the fence behind the end zone, as they had on dozens of Friday nights much like this one. Both well into middle age, they had watched at least a portion of countless Punxsutawney High football games from this perspective.

Bob Keller stuffed one hand into the pocket of his red windbreaker, and gripped a steaming cup of coffee in the other. He watched the Chucks defense allow a first down, as an over-eager young linebacker bit on a nifty play fake.

"I don't think any of our seniors are good enough to play college ball," Bob observed, shaking his head.

Hank McClure shrugged. Atop his head he wore the same "PUNXSY FOOTBALL" cap that he'd sported for years, now faded to a soft brick red. "That defensive back might make it." He pointed with a rolled-up program at the player wearing #26, pressing toward the line of scrimmage, challenging the receiver across the line from him.

"That's the McElrath boy. Yeah, he's decent."

On cue, Kirk McElrath stepped in front of the man he was covering and tipped a pass away. He clapped his hands, disappointed by the fact that he'd nearly intercepted his sixth pass of the season.

"Good student, too," Hank pointed out.

"Don't his family live in Birch Tree Heights?" Bob's tone made it sound like living in Birch Tree Heights was somewhat suspicious.

Hank nodded. "Yep. His dad's a banker."

"Sometimes those middle class kids don't want it enough. They have other options, you know? Football isn't as important to them. They can be soft."

Bob Keller certainly wasn't soft. He'd worked for 36 years for Glazer Tool and Die, the last eighteen as a foreman. His own boy, Mike, had played for Punxsutawney and gone on to Kent State.

"I don't think that's fair to this kid," Hank said, raising his voice a little. "Look at him stick his nose in there." McElrath had just popped a running back who outweighed him by 30 pounds, driving the bigger boy back and preventing another first down.

"We'll see." Bob wasn't backing down, and Hank didn't expect him to. They'd been debating Chucks football, just like this, for years.

[Izulde]

Glad to see you finally posting over here, Big Six.

As for the dynasty that inspired this one, perhaps it's

Hail To Thee Park High (TCY/FOF)?

[Big Six]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Glad to see you finally posting over here, Big Six.

As for the dynasty that inspired this one, perhaps it's

Hail To Thee Park High (TCY/FOF)?

That's the one; I recognized the name as soon as I saw it. I shoulda known it was one of yours.

Mine will be slower-paced than yours was, but I hope it will move along rapidly enough that we all don't lose interest before the story has the weight of years behind it.

Thanks for the welcome! It's good to be here.

[Big Six]

Week Ten, 2004

Energetic, dedicated, and smart, Linda Cortez was one of the college counselors at Punxsutawney Area High. Scores of students had come to her over the past fourteen years, and her ability to tell them what they needed to hear about their future prospects--even when it wasn't what they wanted to hear--had earned her a rare measure of affection and respect.

She was prepared to console Kirk McElrath that chilly December morning when he visited her office to discuss his situation. Instead, Kirk arrived with a smile on his face.

"I guess I have a couple different routes I could take," he told her. "If I want to keep playing football, I can maybe look at a Division II or III school. If I don't, then maybe I can go to Penn State."

Linda smiled back at him. "You honestly don't seem heartbroken about the fact you aren't getting a Division I scholarship, Kirk."

"I think I knew deep down I wasn't going to," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, I'm small for a D-I player, and I'm really not that fast."

Kirk paused for a moment before continuing. "Lancaster was the only school who really recruited me at all...the only one who called, the only place I visited. Their genetics program isn't all that good, anyway, and that's what I want to study."

Linda Cortez patted Kirk on the shoulder. "You're gonna do just fine, Kirk."

"Thanks. I guess I will."

"You get to work on those applications," she warned him as he walked back out the door of her office.

I'm not surprised Kirk didn't get much attention from Division I coaches. A scout who is Good at evaluating DBs gave him an 18/100.

[Big Six]

Brant Webb
 
Inside Linebacker           National Rank: None
6'4", 213 lbs.                By Position: None
 
GPA: 3.78                    State Rank: None
 
SAT: 1420
Interest: Jurisprudence
Attitude: Very Good

Week Six, 2005

The sandy-haired boy grunted, straining beneath the weight of the barbell. His arms shook with the effort of pushing it up, but he was determined to finish his set of bench presses.

His spotter, teammate, and best friend, Riley Graham, encouraged him. “C’mon, BW…three more…work, buddy…THERE you go!” The barbell hit the rack with a loud clank as the weightlifter released the bar.

“Keep working like that and you’ll be playing on Saturday next year, Brant,” Riley told him.

Exhausted from his efforts, Brant could only smile and nod his head.

Everyone who knew Brant Webb liked him. Despite his naturally quiet nature, his Punxsutawney High teammates regarded him as a leader and had elected him a captain. Brant was the best player in the Chucks’ class of 2006 and, just as he had in the weight room today, he had consistently worked hard to maximize his abilities. Not only did he hope to lead the Chucks to a spot in the playoffs, but as Riley had suggested, Brant dreamed of playing Division I football.

Tall and rangy, Brant was probably at least as good at basketball as he was in football, but the gridiron was where he had always been happiest. There was no way a big-time school would take a look at him. He was bright and realistic enough to know that. They hadn’t given Kirk McElrath the time of day last year, and McElrath was a far better prospect than Brant was.

Still, it didn’t hurt to dream, and it certainly didn’t hurt to work to make those dreams come true.

[Big Six]

Week Twelve, 2005

Deep down, I knew I wasn’t good enough.
So why does it hurt so much right now?

A tear rolled down Brant Webb’s cheek as he lay on his bed. Stop being such a baby, he told himself. Nobody died. You’ll still go to college. You still have basketball season.

Right now, none of that mattered to him.

Brant had enjoyed a fairly productive senior season: 49 tackles, three interceptions, 2.5 sacks. He could easily put 20, 30 more pounds on his lanky frame. And nobody ever questioned his effort. Still, not a single Division I team had contacted him. Even the Solecismic Eight didn’t think he was good enough.

I’m making nearly straight As. My SAT scores are good. I’ve applied to a couple of Ivy League schools…maybe I can play there, he told himself. In twenty years, when I’m practicing law, married to a hot wife with three perfect kids, I won’t give a damn that I didn’t play D-I.

Or will I?

*******

With a rating of 1/100, the chances of Brant Webb making it into college ball were almost nonexistent.

Question: Do players like Webb, who don't end up with scholarships, ever end up as walk-ons the next season, or does the game generate an entirely new set of walk-ons when the next season begins?

[Izulde]

At 18/100 and 1/100 for the high school rated players, you can pretty much count them as out of the running for D-I.

It's been a while, but I think the mid-30s is the ballpark range for when they have an outside chance of either getting a scholarship or walking on somewhere.

There are players that walk-on next season, yes, but the chances of it happening are really slim at the talent level you've pulled so far.

Just out of curiosity, what did the rolls give the HS for Athletic and Academic Prep?

[Izulde]

dola, I just quickly glanced over the Park dynasty and it wasn't until Year 8 that we finally got someone to D-I. TCY is really about the luck of the draw for this type of dynasty.

[Big Six]

Punxsutawney Area High got a 73 for Athletic Prep and an 83 for Academic Prep. I confess I started three new games before I got a decent combination; I would have been satisfied with any combination that had both scores over 40 or so, but I hit that winning roll first.

It looks like there should be a decent chance for some PAHS graduates to make D-I, given those scores. And, even if there aren't any college players to follow for a while, I'm enjoying writing about the ones who don't make it, too.

Thanks for the information, Izulde.

[Big Six]

Cris Burnett

Defensive End           National Rank:  None
6'4", 269 lbs.          By Position:  None

GPA:  4.00              State Rank:  #85
SAT:  1410              #8 among PA Defensive Ends

Interest:  Medicine
Attitude:  Terrific

Week Five, 2006

Connor Daly and Matt Lewendre were eight years old, and they were best friends. On perfect autumn Saturdays like this one, Connor and Matt loved nothing more than to spend every waking hour watching, playing, thinking about, and talking about football.

They had already watched Penn State beat Wisconsin on television, and now they were tossing a football around the Daly backyard.

"Let's play the Steelers versus the Jets," Connor suggested, tossing the ball to Matt.

"We do that all the time." Matt shook his head. "Let's play Punxsy High versus Clearfield instead."

"Cool. OK, I'll be Cris Burnett."

"No fair," Matt immediately replied. "Burnett is way cooler than anybody else on the team."

Matt and Connor, who were in the third grade, had no idea that Cris Burnett made straight As. They were unaware that he wanted to be a doctor. They might have guessed that Cris was, in the words of his position coach, Glenn Kersey, "the most relentless worker we've had here in ten years," but they didn't know for sure.

All Matt and Connor knew was that the massive young man who wore #94 for the Chucks was a quarterback's worst nightmare.

"I want Cris to play for Penn State," Matt declared.

"I'm going to see if he will sign my cap," said Connor. "I hear he's really nice."

Realistically, Penn State would probably be a reach for Burnett, but he was still the best college prospect to come out of Punxsutawney for several years. That was enough to make him a hero to a couple of football-mad eight-year-olds.

[Big Six]

Week Seven, 2006

Marty Malio deserved better than the 5-20 record he'd compiled in two seasons as head coach at Allentown, because he was one of the nicest guys in the coaching fraternity.

Tonight, Coach Malio was sitting in the film room with his defensive coordinator, J.P. Andersen, watching Cris Burnett's latest recruiting video.

"I like him," Malio said, as an image of Burnett shedding a blocker and wrapping up a ball carrier flashed by. "He's got good size, long arms."

Andersen, a crusty veteran, was less impressed. "What does he weigh, 270? A boy that big ought to be impossible to run against. When I saw him play, guys were getting yards they shouldn't get when they ran to his side. Hell, teams shouldn't even be running to his side at all!"

Malio backed up the film to watch Burnett toss an offensive tackle aside like a rag doll and hammer the helpless QB, forcing a fumble. "Look at that. That's a big-time move, J.P."

"I just wish he played stronger, Coach. But you're right; he can get after the quarterback."

"He's a top student, too...wants to be a doctor. I heard he enjoyed his visit last week.

"Let's offer him," Coach Malio said.

"I hear Lancaster gave him an offer, too," Andersen said. "We have to hope that new biology lab impressed the kid, because they're winning more games than we are right now."

"Don't remind me," Malio said with a grin. "I think Burnett can help us change that."