- Holland Patent Central School District
- Heroes of HP
Garry Wall
Heroes of Holland Patent Golden Knights Football # 10
Last week Lance Cummings spoke about the importance of "team". His words eloquently portrayed the importance of Golden Knight football throughout his life. This week one of Lance's role models Garry Wall (Class of 1988) illustrates the same sentiments. Garry's email:
Jim, When I think of what HP football means to me, words like: Tradition, Dedication, Hard Work, Discipline and Teamwork come to mind. With me, and many others that I played with, it all started at the Pop Warner level with Papa Joe Price. A coach that taught us many of the skills and instilled many of the values we needed as young men to become champions. I started my HP varsity football career in 1985 as a sophomore, as did 10 other players that year. Most of us were on the starting lineup, some of us were two way starters. I never knew what hard work was until the day we started double sessions and had to do corners. I thought to myself after the first morning session, what did I get myself into? Coach Bill Brown was disciplined and expected nothing but perfection and after that first day I wonder if he was thinking "what did I get myself into". We were a young and inexperienced team but had the drive and determination to be successful. The golden knights went 2-5 in league play that year but lost 4 games by only a total of ten points. Over the next year we all knew that if we trained really hard and with the players we had coming back that we would be in the running for a league championship and a trip to the dome. The 1986 season proved to be the year for the Golden Knights to redeem themselves and prove to the league that we were contenders for the title. We returned 15 lettermen from the year before. We worked out all summer in the weight room, attended various camps and dominated the summer passing league , we even beat RFA that summer. With a 7-1 league record (we lost to Oneida 14-0) we won the TVL in dominating fashion, out scoring our opponents 192-30 and earned a trip to the playoffs in the dome. We played VVS in the semi-finals and won a real nail biter 21-20 with a last minute field goal which put us into the finals with Homer. We lost that game 44-7 and were devastated by the defeat. That year we placed 8 players on the TVL all-star squad.All were first team selections. The 1987 season was the year for our seasoned team of veterans to show the league that we would not be denied a sectional championship. We steam rolled through the regular season meeting all of our goals that we had set at the beginning of the year. I remember one of those goals was to embarrass Oneida because they were the only team to beat us the year before , all the trash talking that they did really made us mad. We beat them 40-0 and showed no mercy. Our final game of the regular season was a big surprise. We woke that morning to over a foot of snow on the ground and it turned into a giant mud bowl. Cazenovia beat us that game 12-7 ending our perfect record. We had hoped to see Cazenovia again in the finals but they lost to Westhill, and we beat Solvay in the semifinals. We met a strong Westhill team in the finals, but a very special team of HP football players, who had worked so hard and had played through so many years together, would not be denied a sectional championship. We defeated Westhill 47-14 to win the Section 3 class B championship. We placed 12 players on the first team and 3 players on the second team TVL all-stars. Our offense averaged 34 pts/game and our defense allowed an average of 6 pts/game. We out scored our opponents 339-65. Senior Members of the 1987 championship team were Tom Gilbert, Chris Caputo, Dean Bickley, Derek Westbrook, Greg Zacek, Steve Sherman, Adam Boudeau, Todd Richard, NickHinge, Joe Gorsky, Garry Wall, Mike Bolton, Doug Bellinger, Jeff Cardinal, Rich Davis and Brian Fowler. Junior members included Mike Eppner, Bob Pickard, Reynold Szarek, Joe Mann, Rob Shivas and Rob Reynolds. It has been twenty years since we all played together as a championship team. Some of us went on to play in college, some of us joined the military and served our country, others moved away and started families and some are no longer with us. Myself I live in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania with my wife of ten years and my two daughters. I often think back to all the good times and success that we had playing Golden Knights football and I hope that the winning tradition continues. Take care, Garry
The Purple and Gold weekend was also the 20th reunion of the Class of 1988. I want to thank Meg Agen , Kelly Lanckton and all those who worked so hard to put this wonderful event together. I especially want to thank them for picking Homecoming weekend. Their recreation vehicle on the hill, their tent and their presence at the game were important for the 2008 squad. It helped to motivate the team to a 23-13 victory over VVS. The reception that evening at Unity Hall was truly a special time for me, as I attended with the coach of the '88 team Bill Brown. The stories filled the upstairs room for hours. The Class of 1988 has gone on to accomplish great things in this world. As a past teacher of these fine people, I can tell you that I was overcome with pride to know I had some small part in their development. When coaches push you to win the game, they really are hoping that you win at life. The Class of 1988 is undefeated in the life game.