- Holland Patent Central School District
- Heroes of HP
Bryan Nichols and Trevor Hiffa
Heroes of Holland Patent Golden Knights Football Series #8
I have tried to draw connections between the subjects of my articles. Some may seem tentative, but today's is direct. Both of our heroes' mothers work at GWF Elementary. Eileen Nichols and Debbie Hiffa are helping Holland Patent students in their duties. The underlying thought of today's story should be the acknowledgement of the unsung heroes of Holland Patent Golden Knight football - the mothers. For almost every sport there are one or more mothers that do most of the extra work. This allows coaches to spend more time coaching. The modern athlete gets perks in the form of pre and post game snacks, pregame dinners or breakfasts, and fundraisers of all types. The mothers are the backbones of the booster clubs as well. This enhances the program and makes it more desirable to participate. This in turn increases the numbers of student/athletes participating. Hats off to the mothers.
It was a great day for Holland Patent when Jim Nichols got promoted and moved to a new job at the Mid-State Correctional facility from their Hudson Valley home. His son Bryan was in third grade and I met him as he entered my PE class. Little did I know that Bryan would go on to distinguish himself in football and track to such a great degree. His classmate and subject of the series #1, Woodly Zacek, remarked that the best individual athletic effort he had ever witnessed was Bryan's performance against Marcellus their senior year. On that Friday night Bryan scored the first six times he got the ball. Five runs from scrimmage totaling 222 yards and one pass from Wayne Premo for 67 yards. He was then removed from the game for a substitute. This is a record that you have to put in a book by itself as it will never be eclipsed. Imagine a future coach discussing with a future star the prospects of breaking this record. "Well son you'll pretty much have to score a touchdown every time you touch the ball from anywhere on the field!" I've officiated a game with the great Michael Hart (Onondaga Central School/Michigan Univ) and it took him eight carries to get six TD's.
This performance gives a clearer view than a mere recitation of Bryan's accolades. But as you might have guessed Bryan was a three time TVL All Star, All Mohawk Valley All Star, Second team All State, holds the single season rushing record at 1,218 yards, had 42 touchdowns in his career and was WKTV Athlete of the week twice. Bryan went on to play for former HP Grad and Coach Mike DeLong at Springfield. At Springfield Bryan distinguished himself in Track as he made the All New England team four times. Bryan anchored the 4 x 100 meter relay just as he did at Holland Patent. When Bryan ran for HP he had the 100 meter record and was on the record holding 4x100 team. For those of you who don't follow track, Holland Patent has been the premier 4x100 relay team in the area in Class B for many years.
Bryan has two older sisters, Nicole and Kristen, who have made their alma mater proud in their successful occupations. Dad Jim was featured by O-D reporter Ron Moshier in a story entitled "Nichols follows dad's run to glory", which told of his exploits at Valley Central High School and Weber State College. Jim has distinguished himself in the Masters Division of the Empire State Games with double digit Gold Medals in Discus and Shot Put.
When I introduced Bryan by saying that it was a "great day" for Holland Patent and went on to examine Bryan's exploits on the gridiron, this was a little misleading. The reason it was truly a great day was because it brought this family into our community. The Nichols family are an example of the kind of people that makes our community great. We are fortunate to have Bryan staying in our community as a teacher in the Middle School. He is a terrific role model for our youth.
Another area family that I am lucky to count as friends are the Hiffa's. I met David and Debbie shortly after Trevor entered 6th grade in 1996. About the time Bryan Nichols was playing 'up the hill'. Along with daughter Kimm, who has distinguished herself as the captain of the Oswego St. field hockey team, the Hiffa's reside up and over the hill on Thompson Rd. As I travel that road I also pass the high school home of Brian Silfer (Heroes #6). If you read that story, you noted that I said the work ethic of Brian spoiled me as I expected every future athlete to live up to those high standards. And I must say that 20 years later Trevor redeemed my hope as no one had since Brian, with his attitude and exercise regimen.
Trevor and buddy, Darryl Bunal, came to me in 1996 and asked if they could lift weights with the modified wrestling team. (In those days I actually had free weights in the shower room of the boys locker room. Hey, nobody was taking showers and we couldn't force them to as it might lower their 'self esteem'. I guess 'self esteem' is more important than cutting down on tinea cruris, impetigo, MRSA and ringworm that proliferate and spread from unwashed bodies. Anyway I decided to use this space for something productive and for many years ran 25 boys a night through their workouts.) Keep in mind that sixth grade boys in general are akin to a one year old Great Dane, none of their parts seem to be proportionate to one another and they bump into things and trip over their own feet and are usually soft all around. Every time a sixth grader asks to lift weights I give them the obligatory speech: "It is a good idea to lift weights with close supervision at your age. You will establish a regular routine that will help you continue as you go through adolescence. But you will not develop muscle mass until Mr. Testosterone comes to visit." In the case of Trevor and Darryl, they did develop a regular and rigorous lifting routine and when 'Mr. Testosterone' visited, he stayed a good long time. By the time they played football and wrestled for HP they looked like they were sculpted from granite.
When Trevor wrestled, the Hiffa's were always there, and although they never overtly showed it, the thought "that's my boy" must have been proudly on their minds. Heck I have to admit as a coach I was thinking " yeah, I coach that kid" and all the HP fans puffed out their chest as if to say, "that's how we grow them at HP". This pride accompanied the parents, fans and coaches to the football field, however, it was harder to see as Trevor was a center on offense and a defensive lineman. As a lineman it was not obvious to see but the opposing coaches noticed as Trevor was selected for all of the All Star teams. Trevor was selected Athlete of the Year at both Holland Patent and at SUNY Oneonta where he received degrees in physics and math. He was a two time NCAA All American in wrestling and an Academic All American. Trevor received a graduate assistant position and is working on his MBA at Wilkes College.
The Nichols and Hiffa's are what folksy, down home locals would label "good people". Our district is blessed to have people like this around. One of my philosophies is that "even though bad people lie, cheat, steal and use every devious and manipulative technique to win. They will never win because 'good people' never give up."