Football Fever -- Weirton, Brooke County have it bad
Friday, December 4, 2009
By RALPH COX- The Herald Star
There's a buzz going around Weirton and Brooke County that you hear just once a year and then only if one of the local football teams goes deep into the state playoffs.
There are signs all over the place spelling out "good luck" and other support words for the Madonna Blue Dons and Brooke Bruins, who travel to Wheeling Island Saturday in a quest for state championships.
It is ironic that 22 years ago, back in 1987, these same teams traveled to Laidley Field in Charleston to play state championship games, and they played on the same schedule they will this Saturday. Brooke plays the early game at noon against South Charleston and Madonna plays in the 7 p.m. contest against Man.
Both of the 1987 teams came home with the championship hardware and everyone in the Northern Panhandle hopes for a repeat.
Dewey Guida, a huge supporter of the Madonna football program, treated the Blue Don football team to his famous barbeque ribs earlier in the week.
"That is something I've done throughout the years," said Guida, who had two sons play football for Madonna. "We had about 40 of them here and I try to make it something special for the kids. We load up their dinners and have a special dessert of strawberry cake.
"I told the kids that the ribs were special because they would make them tougher, meaner and run faster. I said it would be like the old Popeye cartoon, where he would pop open a can of spinach and suddenly gain strength.
"We had a good time and those kids this year are special. They work so hard in the weight room and on the practice field, so the dinner is our way of acknowledging their dedication. Every one of those kids is special. It was heartwarming to me when they all came up afterward and gave me a hug. They certainly are a quality group of kids."
The blue-and-white Madonna support flags are out on Penco Road and just about any business or organization with a message board has some words of support for the Blue Dons.
The Brooke Bruins were perennial entrants to the state Class AAA playoffs throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, but the football fortunes of the school have been missing the type of enthusiasm that comes when the home team goes deep into the playoffs.
Ron Staffileno, a former Bruin player and now a staunch supporter of the green and gold, remarked that this year's Brooke team is "waking up the echoes" of the past gridiron successes.
Owner of Staffileno's On the River, a popular Wellsburg restaurant, he is doing his part to support the Bruins.
"We had a Bruney Burger during the regular season in honor of first-year Brooke head coach Tom Bruney," Staffileno explained. "That started when a friend and I were at one of the games on Friday night. We decided we'd have a Bruney Burger at the restaurant and got the Brooke public address announcer to broadcast it over the PA system.
"We were up early Saturday morning working in the kitchen to create the sandwich and it just took off. The response was really good so we decided to name some other sandwiches after some of the players.
"We reworked our menu for the playoffs and came up with sandwiches such as "The 4th Quarter;" "The Coach B Comeback," which is in honor of former coach Paul (Bud) Billiard; "The Unsung Hero;" which is in tribute to the offensive line of the Bruins; "The Three and Out," honoring the defense; "The Lazear 31 Hoagie," a tribute to running back Ryan Lazear; "Wallace Deep to DiNardo," the Brooke passing combination; and several others honoring Mike Koscevic, Shane Paesano, Jake Lilly and Tim Morris.
Staffileno, who has a degree in communications from the University of Maryland where he was a three-year football letterman, said he did a makeover of the menu this week called "Staff's Super Six Menu."
It has such sandwiches as: "The Talk of the Town," "The Middle Linebacker," "#66's BBQ Pork Nachos," "The Run & Shoot," "The Line of Scrimmage," and "Be 1-0 One More Time."
That last one, which Staffileno lists on the menu as a crunch time chicken sandwich, refers to the Bruins being 13-0, but in need of one more win to be state champions. He said his coach at Brooke, Billiard, used to say often that they just wanted to 1-0 on a particular week. Staffileno said he got into the restaurant business almost by accident.
He was tending bar in Wellsburg when he and a friend began talking about buying their own bar on Wheeling Island. The friend decided not to go into the business, but Staffileno did and after a couple of years began looking to get back to his home town of Wellsburg.
"My original plans were to open a small bar that would have steaks and sandwiches available in the evening," he explained. "After I bought the property and began remodeling, it just became bigger and snowballed into a full restaurant that serves lunch and dinner. It has become a restaurant the serves beer rather than a bar that sells steaks."
Another former Bruins football player, who now is a businessman in Wellsburg, also has shown his support for the football team.
Paul Billiard, an Allstate Insurance agent who has a business on state Route 2 in Wellsburg, decided to have a tailgate party when Brooke played its first playoff game.
"It was just going to be something for clients and a few close friends," said Billiard, son of coach Billiard, who played on the 1984 team that finished with a 7-3 record and missed being one of the top eight teams in Class AAA by one spot.
"There were just eight teams in the playoffs then and we finished ninth.
"Well when the Bruins won, we decided to have another and more people showed up. Then, we had Tailgate Party 3 and we had maybe 60 or 70 people. We had munchies, brats, hot dogs, hamburgers and all the things you have at a tailgate party.
"The thing just snowballed and we'd all get into our cars and have a convoy to the stadium. We'd love to have Tailgate Party 4 here at the office, but with the noon game, it just wouldn't work out. So, we've made arrangements with Hurricane Herk's on Wheeling Island to host an early tailgate party for the Brooke fans. That establishment is located at 135 Virginia St. on Wheeling Island.
"Our tailgate parties here, though, were great. It was great to see the opposing teams and their fans going through to the stadium watching us. I'm excited about the renewed enthusiasm for Brooke football."
Another Brooke County business, Lyle's Auto Sales in Follansbee, got into the act before the Bruin semifinal playoff victory last Saturday with University.
"We closed down the business at noon and had a tent outside for a tailgate party," said Ryan Kostur, a Brooke graduate, who is Sales Manager at Lyle's. "We had free refreshments for the public, but we did it as a way to help the Brooke boosters and cheerleaders raise some extra funds.
"We brought in an old car and had it painted in University High colors. The boosters used it as a fundraiser selling whacks at the car with a sledgehammer for $1 apiece. They and the cheerleaders also had T-shirts and other items for sale.
"We just thought it was a great way to have the community come together and I think it was very successful.
"The school groups made some money and people got together to support the Bruins. We'd love to do it again, but unfortunately the game is early on Saturday in Wheeling so it just isn't practical this week."
