Former NFLers Having Success as High School Football Coaches

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Last weekend was a special one for two former NFL players, who as high school head coaches, took their respective programs to state championship games.

Former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Don Beebe led Aurora Christian to its first-ever state title beating Mount Carmel 34-7 to win the Illinois Class 3A championship.  In Missouri, former Pro Bowl quarterback Gus Frerotte, in his first year as head coach at John Burroughs, led his team to a runner-up finish in Class 3.

Both Beebe and Frerotte will be guests on tonight's High School Football America radio show starting at 7PM Eastern Time.

They will be joined by Phil Stambaugh, head coach at Pius X in Pennsylvania.  Stambaugh was a quarterback with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Pius X, one of the smallest high school football teams in America, is seeking its first-ever state title.  Friday night, the Royals, who are the subject of a documentary by yours truly, will face state powerhouse Southern Columbia in a 1A quarterfinal match-up.

Click here to listen to LIVE to the show.

August 18th High School Football America Radio Show Now Available On-Demand

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

If you missed last week's High School Football America radio show, it's now available on-demand in our archives.

Click here to listen to the show with guests: Tony Heath, head football coach at Pearland High School (Pearland, TX), Phil Stambaugh, head football coach at Pius X (Roseto, PA), Jason Caldarera, head football coach at Service High (Anchorage, AK) and Mark Tabb, author of the new book The Sacred Acre...the Ed Thomas Story.

Click here to listen to the August 18th show.

Tune-in for Tonight's High School Football America Radio Show at 7PM EST

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Big and small will be on tonight's High School Football America radio show.

Last year, the Pearland Oilers put together an incredible season that saw the team beat Euless Trinity in the Texas 5A Division 1 championship game.  Trinity entered that game ranked #1 in the nation, by just about every national ranking service.

Tonight, Tony Heath, who's turned around the Oilers fortunes in the last 15-years, will join me on the show that starts at 7PM EST.

Also on tonight's show will be Phil Stambaugh, head coach at Pius X High School in Roseto, Pennsylvania.  Stambaugh, who is in his second year at his alma mater, is in-charge of America's small high school playing 11-man football.  The Royals has 54-players on this year's roster with less than 100 boys in the school in grades 9-12.

Listeners will then be taken north to Alaska to meet Jason Caldarera, head football coach at Service High.  The Cougars, who finished runner-up in last year's Large Schools' championship game, opened the 2011 regular season in the Fire and Ice Bowl last Thursday against Leilehua High School in Hawaii.

My final guest is Mark Tabb, co-author of the new high school football book called The Sacred Acre.  The story looks at the life of former Aplington-Parkersburg head football coach Ed Thomas, who was murdered in June, 2009 by one of his former players.  The book, which was co-authored by members of the Thomas family, looks at how the Thomas family and the community has rebounded for the horrible incident with grace through foregiveness.

Click here to listen to the show LIVE beginning at 7 PM EST.

Part 2 of High School Football America's Inside Game Day Released

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

The Pius X Royals (Roseto, PA) will be going after their fifth straight win today when they host Susquenita.

After an 0-3 start, first year head coach Phil Stambaugh has his young team...only seven seniors in position for a District 11 Class A playoff berth.

Throughout the season, High School  Football America has been chronicling the progress of the team, which is one of the smallest in the country playing 11-man football.

Yesterday, I released Part 2 of a three-part series that takes fans inside this small program where the coach does more than just call plays.  He's the janitor, the laundry guy...and the list goes on-and-on.  Part 2 takes you from the team prayer to just before kick-off.

High School Football America Goes Behind-the-Scenes of Game Day at Pius X

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Getting ready to head to some high school football in the Bay Area, and also to console Phillies fan, who may be contemplating jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge if the Giants current play continues in Game 5.

During the flight, I'll be editing the second part of a three-part video that gives my readers an inside look at the first game of Pius X head coach Phil Stambaugh's coaching career.

If you've been following throughout the season, you know that I've been given full access to the Pennsylvania Catholic school that is one of the smallest in the nation playing 11-man football. The Royals have 63 boys in the school...50 play football for the proud program.

With a very young team this year and the loss of one of its co-captains Zack Cinelli to a knee injury in the second scrimmage of camp, the Royals stumbled out of the gate to an 0-3 record. However, they've now put together four straight wins an have a shot at an All-American Conference championship, plus a berth in the District 11 Class A playoffs.

In Part 1 of my behind-the-scenes look at the Royals, I feature the Royals' September 4th game against Pottstown, which plays two classification higher than than Pius. This episode takes you from the beginning of the day at 7:30 a.m. at Amelio Scott Alumni Stadium in Roseto, Pennsylvania to the team getting ready to go out on to the field for its pre-game warm-ups.

For more video from High School Football America, go to www.highschoolfootballamerica.com.

Cheesesteaks & High School Football

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Before getting into today's first post, I just want to apologize to my readers for a technical snafu by Blogger that caused us to be down for three days.  The good news is everything is back to normal now.

My three-day odyssey to Roseto, Pennsylvania for an inside look at the opening of Pius X High School's 2010 high school football season has ended...for now.

Some of the numbers...65 hours on the ground; 13 hours of video shot; 11 hours of sleep; 3 "flats" (hoagies) from Ruggiero's Market; 2 cheesesteaks at Detzi's Tavern and ONE great memory...with more to come.

Here is the first video from Day 1 of Camp Royal.  It's a 90-second sights-and-sounds piece from the Royals first official practice under first-year head coach Phil Stambaugh, who is a Pius alum and also played in the NFL and NFL Europe.


I will be posting dozens of other video clips and stories at High School Football America over the next two weeks, leading up to the Royals' season opener against Pottstown on September 4th.

To learn more about this Class A program with only 180 students in grades 9-12, please go to the 2010 Pius X HS Story at High School Football America.

High School Football America to give its readers the "Royal" treatment

by Jeff Fisher

High School Football America

As I contemplated what I could do special for the 2010 high school football season, one thought came to mind...think SMALL!

Yes, I said SMALL.

You see, as I’ve been telling my readers for the past year, High School Football America is all about covering good stories.  It’s almost like we’re miners looking for those hidden gems of high school football stories that are buried deep beneath national rankings and recruiting stories.

So with that in mind, I wracked my brain for something small that could be turned into something big. 

It didn’t take me long to come-up with the answer.

I wanted to chronicle a small town football team for an entire year to give fans a feel for how the line between a community and its football team blurs, and the team becomes part of the fabric of the community.

But the question was which team?

Once again, it didn’t take long to come-up with the answer.

I just had to look a little north of my hometown of Easton, Pennsylvania to the tiny borough of Roseto…home to the Pius X Royals, a small catholic school with an enrollment of approximately 260 students in 7-12 grades.  The Royals play in Pennsylvania’s smallest classification (Class A). 

That definitely qualifies as small, but what the school and the football program have accomplished through the years in sports is big, including an NFL quarterback in Phil Stambaugh…and that’s where the story begins.

Stambaugh, who just celebrated his 32nd birthday on Tuesday, is preparing to open his first camp as a head coach at his alma mater on Monday, August 16th…and High School Football America will be there with him.

Even after spending time as a quarterback in the NFL and NFL Europe, Stambaugh is your typical Pius X alum…once a Royal, always a Royal.

What seems to make this story feel right is Stambaugh and I have a history that includes me covering him while I worked at WFMZ-TV while he was leading his team to a 1995 District 11 Class A championship, plus his brilliant career at Lehigh University where he spent his four years re-writing school and Patriot League record books.

What appeals the most to me about Pius is how it truly is a family affair for the approximately 1,600 people that reside in the community. 

Like Stambaugh, eight of his eleven assistant coaches attended the “old school” brick school building on 3^rd Avenue.  Heck...Stambaugh’s mom Connie currently is the athletic director at the school.  His dad, Mike, coached football, volleyball, girls’ softball and wrestling at Pius.

Roseto is a little bit like the imaginary TV show bar Cheers…everyone knows your name.

Hopefully, between now and the end of the season, America will know the Pius X Royals.

Editor’s note: Beginning Monday, August 16^th, High School Football America, The High School Football Huddle and the Pennsylvania High School Football Huddle will have daily stories on the Royals.

To learn more about the upcoming season, go to the Pius X Royals football website