JOHNSTOWN – The Ligonier Valley Rams found themselves in familiar surroundings Wednesday at Richland Fire Hall. But it was for the last time.
The Heritage Conference and WestPAC came together for a fourth year at the hall to honor the champions of the two conferences as they prepare to compete in the Appalachian Bowl this Saturday at Penns Manor’s Pat Corrigan Field.
Ligonier Valley will represent the Heritage Conference again, as it has each year since the bowl was rebooted in 2016, but it will be against a fourth different opponent. This year, it’s the Portage Mustangs.
The Mustangs will try to do what Conemaugh Township (2016), Berlin (2017) and Shade (2018) were unable to do – defeat the Rams for the bowl championship. In fact, those first three schools didn’t come close. Ligonier Valley won those three bowl games by a combined score of 142 to 8.
But Ligonier Valley’s dominance of the Appalachian Bowl will come to an end Saturday night, whether the Mustangs beat the Rams or not. It’s all but certain that Ligonier Valley is leaving the Heritage Conference after this season and the Rams will be playing in their last Appalachian Bowl.
Lineman Mike Petrof, who has started in all four games and will play for Navy next year, talked about the bowl experience.
“The first year, it was definitely something cool,” Petrof said. “There was a lot of energy coming into the game. As the years went on, it’s become more something special that we have looked forward to.
“Playing in this game has been an honor, with the history that it has. I’ve had men come up to me in pre-game and talked about how they played in it in the late 1980s. It’s crazy the history that it has, and it’s really something special that we cherish and it’s been a goal that we want to reach every year.”
The Appalachian Bowl series started in 1973 with Laurel Valley defeating Homer-Center and it continued until 1993, when Laurel Valley was the victor again, beating Conemaugh Township. Then the bowl went on a hiatus from 1994 through 2015.
In 2016, the game was revived with a new format, pitting the champion of the Heritage Conference against the champion of the WestPAC as the pinnacle of a crossover weekend in the 10th week of the season. In the format, each Heritage team would be paired against the WestPAC team that finished in the same place in the conference standings.
So far it’s not just been Ligonier Valley that has dominated on crossover weekend. The Heritage Conference has won 24 of the 30 games played in the first three years. Last year, the Heritage swept all 10 games of the weekend.
Ligonier Valley won 37 straight conference games to finish out its run in the Heritage, but no one has held that kind of sway in the WestPAC and that makes this game more interesting for the Rams.
“It’s fun,” Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel said. “I think that’s what is great about the crossover games. It’s that everyone in the Heritage Conference has their tendencies. We all know each other so well. Now all the sudden (with the crossover games), you’re in a hurry and trying to find out information about a different opponent as you possibly can. It adds to the fun of it.
“Even in the district playoffs, we’re to the point now where we’re always playing the same teams year-in and year-out right now. So it’s neat and it’s fun for us to get four different opponents (in the Appalachian Bowl). We’ve been blessed with that opportunity, and a lot of the other teams, too. There have not been a lot of duplicate crossover games so far. That’s what this does. It allows you to meet someone else. … That’s the big picture and that’s what these crossover game do.”
The Mustangs lost only once this season to Berlin, 21-13, on September 13, and they won last Friday by forfeit. But they’ve defeated all but one other team by 28 points or more.
Portage coach Gary Gouse said the Appalachian Bowl has a different appeal for the Mustangs, who are 1-2 in crossover games.
“We definitely know how good Ligonier Valley is,” Gouse said. “It’s a challenge to us and we’ve been challenged before. Our biggest concern is that this game here really doesn’t mean a whole lot when it’s said and done. The districts are very important to us. We’re going to play (Saturday) as hard as we can. We just want both teams to come out healthy and walk away from the game with good memories, having fun.
“But it’s also good for us play excellent competition, because we’re not going to play a better team in Class A. So we look at it that way too. Guys, let’s see what we can do.”
Ligonier Valley is ranked third in the state in Class AA.
