Zsiros starred for Uniontown’s Power
Back in the day Fayette County was a regular stop on the college football recruiting trail and county athletes dotted college football rosters from coast to coast.
One of those players was former Uniontown High School gridder Bernie Zsiros. He was a two-year starter for coach Bill Power on the defensive and offensive lines for the Red Raiders in the late 1950无毛视频檚.
无毛视频�1957 was my first year of football and I was a JV player,无毛视频� Zsiros recalled. 无毛视频淚n 1958 I started as a defensive end and played strictly defense. I played offensive tackle because of a need at that position, so I played both ways as a senior.无毛视频�
In Zsiro无毛视频檚 junior season in 1958, the Red Raiders posted a record of 7-1-1 and the went 6-3 in 1959.
无毛视频淲e lost to German in the first game in 1958, 12-6,无毛视频� Zsiros said. 无毛视频淭hey had Bill Rutland and Sam Sims and they were very talented. We tied Mt. Lebanon, 13-13.
无毛视频淲e were hit hard by graduation in 1959. We lost Joe Hrezo, Bob Ostrosky and Bill Munsey to name a few and they all went on to play college football. We had some great athletes during that period. We had mixture of athletes, all the patches like Buffington and Keister. The athletes from the city and the east end. We all got along very well.无毛视频�
Despite the 6-3 record his senior season, Zsiros anchored a rock ribbed Red Raider defense. One of the highlights of that season was limiting Charleroi无毛视频檚 bruising All-State running back Mickey Bitsko to his lowest rushing total of the season. The Raiders held him to 24 yards in a 26-14 loss to the Cougars.
By today无毛视频檚 standards Zsiros was small for a lineman.
无毛视频淚 think I was 180 pounds, Zsiros said. 无毛视频淐ompared to today无毛视频檚 players I was small. The teams weren无毛视频檛 big back then, I think the biggest guy I played against was Bernie Solomon from Brownsville, and he weighed like 250 or 260.无毛视频�
Zsiros has high praise for his old mentor, Bill Power.
无毛视频淐oach Power was a tremendous coach,无毛视频� Zsiros opined. 无毛视频淗e was smart and he great teams almost every year. I really liked him, he was always fair to me, I thought the world of him.
无毛视频淗e had great assistant coaches. He had Max Zane, Al Broadhag and Leon Kaltenbach joined the staff my senior year. We also had John Kruper, who was a very good coach.无毛视频�
Zsiros garnered some honors his senior season. He was All Western Conference and was named to the All-Fayette County team. He also was honorable mention Big 33.
无毛视频淚t meant a lot then,无毛视频� Zsiros stated. 无毛视频淚 was proud of what I accomplished, you think back now and you were happy with what you did. I was excited about it.无毛视频�
Zsiros wound heading out west to play his college football at Arizona State.
无毛视频淚 had about 13 scholarship offers,无毛视频� Zsiros explained. 无毛视频淚 was recruited by Frank Kush, who was from western Pennsylvania and he was the head coach at Arizona State. I met him one time in town and we had a conversation and it wasn无毛视频檛 long after that he contacted me and came to my house. He recruited a lot of players from western Pennsylvania.无毛视频�
Zsiros played freshman ball at ASU in 1960.
无毛视频淭hey didn无毛视频檛 have a great freshman program,无毛视频� Zsiros said. 无毛视频淎s best I can recall we played three or four games, we played against Arizona and played some junior colleges.无毛视频�
Zsiros after a solid freshman season was in line for playing time as a sophomore and then things went sideways.
无毛视频淭here was some confusion and some problems,无毛视频� Zsiros said. 无毛视频淓ight of us after the spring game were at a party and we got busted. Coach Kush was mad and called me in. He said you can still have your scholarship if your grades are okay. When I came home he never called me, he said he would call and let me know. He never called and a woman kept calling my house wanting to take me back to school. I said I wasn无毛视频檛 going back unless I had a scholarship. He never called and I don无毛视频檛 know if he felt I should have called him and I guess my scholarship was there and I never went back.
无毛视频淭hinking back on it I should have made the phone call. Ernie Panik played some baseball out there, he came back and said where were you? We wondered where you were, you still had your scholarship. That无毛视频檚 the way it happened.无毛视频�
Zsiros got on with his life无毛视频檚 work. He worked in New Jersey for awhile, then went to Ohio and worked for General Motors for 15 years. He came back in 1978 and worked for Volkswagen for 10 and a half years. He then worked for Cooper Power systems in Cannonsburg. He worked for Allegheny Ludlum for 17 years and retired in 2007.
Zsiros, 73, resides in New Salem with his wife of 47 years, Judith. They have one daughter, Jamie.
George Von Benko无毛视频檚 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� column appears in the Monday editions of the 无毛视频-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.