"The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know" (Harry S. Truman).
There probably aren't too many football essays that begin with a quote from the 33rd President of the United States, Harry Truman.
Mr. Truman's words may be just a bit exaggerated, but the meaning is quite clear. Oh, certainly there are inventions and discoveries made in this era, but a look at many events of the past show that long periods of time have not surpassed or eroded accomplishments of many.
Some think that looking at the years gone by are "living in the past."
We're not living in the past. We're learning about the past. We're respecting the past. We are appreciating the past. We can disapprove of actions from the past. We can look at the past and make our own comparisons to actions and decisions of today. We do it in the world of fashion, political and social values, entertainment and, of course, in the sports world.
How can any aspect of society be judged the best ever when we don't know what came before it? How can a fair comparison be thought or stated.
History narrows the divide between eras. It's not perfect, but history can take us through time periods and help us understand why things were and why they are in the present.
History allows those who lived and played during the 70's to remember, in this writing, the feelings of success in terms of wins and losses, personal accomplishments and sharing emotions with teammates.
Those who began their lives after this period of time can experience the realization that something special and unique took place and it occurred within the same environment they are or were a part of at some juncture in their existence.
This is a story of the continuation of a ten year unit of time that began in the 1969-1970 academic year at Otto-Eldred High School with football players; Fred Williams, Steve Gross, John Oszustowicz and others.
It stayed on course with the athletic efforts of Jim Gross, Gary Silvis, Bruce Fowler, Jim Bliss and was handed off to Kerry Snow, Mike Miller, Ned Van Epps and Jeff Holly- all a part of a contingency of fellow players with similar goals.
The baton was passed to Steve Barrett, John Hepfer and their teammates and eventually landed in the outstretched hands of members of the '74 Terrors' team who began the climb to another level, beginning a three year journey of highlights to a new land of recognition.
Jeff "Tug" Miller and Ed "Bucky" Crandell were sophomores in 1974.
Miller was the brother of 1973 O-E graduate, Mike, who was an outstanding football player with breakaway speed and an uncanny ability to turn a busted play in to a monumental gain. The older Miller brother sometimes carried the ball from sideline to sideline, leaving frustrated tacklers either on the ground or out of breath as he converted a potential huge loss in to a momentum changing gain.
Brother Jeff was bigger than his brother, but a 100 yard dash between the two, well, if one beat the other it was by a lean at the tape. Both Millers, besides their track skills, were also fine baseball players growing up in Eldred and participating in the town's Little League, Babe Ruth and American Legion programs with Mike winning a couple of league titles along the way.
Jeff began his varsity football career (sophomore) as a running back (wing back) evolving in to a part of a triple option offense and getting a chance to throw a pass on occasion as 6'5" Denny Glenn handled the quarterback duties during the '74 and '75 seasons.
Eddie Crandell was not the biggest, in fact, the 5'8, 165 pound halfback would sensibly fall in to the smallish category- a category that meant absolutely nothing when it came to discussing his abilities.
He had better than average speed, but probably wouldn't be classified as a pure burner.
Now, you can completely wipe the previous two paragraphs from your memory bank.
Ed Crandell was a football player. The Big 30 area has definitely seen larger, weight room stronger, and several faster running backs through the decades, but few of them were a better pure football player than Ed Crandell.
Ed Crandell, the Big 30 Player Offensive Player of the Week- one of many times he won that award during his three year varsity career.
Eddie Crandell was a remarkable athlete. He also was the kicker on his varsity teams and like Miller, was a track performer.
Many astute football observers through the years- avid fans, opposing coaches and players and certainly Eddie's teammates attest, without a doubt, that he was the top running back in school history.
These essays have never been about rating and/or ranking players. In Crandell's case, tossing aside all the yards gained, the touchdowns, the awards and honors received, etc.-all someone had to do was simply watch the young man play and you realized that the Big 30 area had rarely seen a player like this.
His exceptional skills; peerless balance, getting hit-legs always pumping and spinning, uncommon instincts, exceptional first step quickness and acceleration, ability to shed tacklers or if needed, to run through them were independently unique.
Eddie Crandell was one of the few high school running backs I have ever seen that I gladly would pay professional game prices to watch him perform his sleight-of-body proficiency.
Miller and Crandell were fortunate to begin their varsity careers surrounded by talented and experienced teammates who already had grown up through a well-organized feeder system. They were well-braced to handle a regular season that lasted over almost three months. Two-a-day practices in the late summer before the academic year began and over two months of regular-season play can make a team exhibit daily growth and improvement or slowly break down the enthusiasm and will to prepare.
1974 Team photo
Bottom photo, top row/left to right-Jim Green, Jack Bell, Dan Breese, Tom Canaan, Jeff Miller, Ed Crandell. Steve Farr and Jeff Coast. bottom row/left to right-Marty Bechilli, Steve Drugg, Tim Hahn, Gregg Tyler, Bruce Milliron, Rich Green and Jeff Burgess
'74 seniors: left side- Dave Gross and Rich Green. right side- Tom Canaan, Jeff Coast and Terry Kohn
Sophomore Crandell had run for 680 yards in the Terrors' first five games of the year, but was used on a part-time basis for several games as he was battling sore ribs. Linebackers Jeff Burgess and Jack Bell combined for 34 tackles to hold B.C.C scoreless.
Crandell was named the Big 30 Offensive Player of the Week after the win over Bradford Central Christian. The sophomore had several games during the season with higher rushing numbers, but the yardage he picked up in the second half after coming off the bench led O-E to the win. Schoonover is Don Schoonover from Allegany who won the Defensive Player of the Week honor with his dominating performance against Port Allegany. He was part of the Allegany defense that stifled O-E the previous week.
O-E's Jeff Burgess, Dan Breese, Denny Glenn and Bruce Milliron also received nominations for their play against Bradford Central Christian.
The headlines unfortunately jumped the gun, though the Terrors beat the Gators 39-6 to go 4-1 overall. Crandell picked up 216 yards in 25 carries including touchdown runs of 49 and 51 yards. Marty Bechilli returned an interception for 83 yards and a score to finalize the win.
Bruce Milliron brings down a Coudersport back, Mike Long, in O-E's 14-0 early '74 season win over the Falcons. Jeff Burgess #40 runs toward the ball carrier for the Terrors.
Crandell accounted for all 14 points with two short TD runs and two converted extra point kicks. He ran for a game high 125 yards.
Bob Torrey of Bolivar HS was named Offensive Player of the Week with Steve Housler (Bradford HS) winning defensive honors. Both players (like Crandell) played on both sides of the ball. Torrey led Coach Bob Dunsmore's squad to a 9-0 mark in '74. He continued his career as a running back at Penn State and was drafted by the New York Giants in 1979. He also saw NFL time with the Dolphins and Eagles.
Steve Housler shared 1974 Big 30 Player of the Year honors with Emporium's Matt Grimone.
The Terrors lost their '74 contest against Portville. Crandell was nominated (offense) and Jeff Burgess (defense) for Big 30 Player of the Week.
The 1974 Otto-Eldred football team completed a 5-4 season, the school's third straight winning season and their fifth in six years. The games may have stopped, but some recognition for several O-E players was awaiting.
Portville led all teams with eight selections. Smethport had five players picked.
Eddie Crandell was also selected as a member of the Big 30 team, a rarity for a sophomore. The select squad consists of the 30 top players among all Pennsylvania and New York State in the Big 30 area. Crandell was forced to miss parts of several games because of a rib injury, but the star running back was nearly unstoppable when he was on the field with big numbers (rushing yardage and touchdowns scored) plus playing stout defense and handling place kicking duties.
Many of the Terrors' football players did not even have to move from their dressing area in the locker room, maybe just do a little rearranging as a relatively large portion of them were on the 74-75 high school basketball team. In fact the top five scorers on the basketball team were football players also.
Led by juniors, Barry Houben (receiver) and Denny Glenn (QB) and sophomore Steve Bell (receiver), O-E finished 13-7 overall and won the Class C, league championship with a 11-3 mark.
Houben, who averaged over 20 points a game, made the North Tier League first team All-Star squad with Glenn (14 ppg) winning a spot on the second team. The young Terrors contingent won ten straight at one point of the campaign.
Senior Jack Bell, sophomore Jeff Miller and junior Steve Farr also saw quite a few floor minutes as the basketball team's roster and their seasonal play drew a lot of parallels with the past football year.
They were primarily a non-senior team and it was not a reach to look forward to the next year and be optimistic about times to come. The upper classmen, as they had done for more than half a decade had set the bar and formed the base. Now this group of juniors and seniors were on the verge on taking off to new heights.
A lot of fans and local high school sports enthusiasts hadn't seen a group of athletes like this since the 1969 football team with Johnny Oszustowicz, Neil Trask, Jeff Fowler and a host of other talented players. From the basketball angle, you might look at the '72 squad with 1,000 point career scorer, Jerome Wolcott, former QB Kerry Snow and Steve Barrett, a linebacker/running back on the football team.
The 74-75 football and basketball had gained experience, competed at a competitive and winning level and had some players who could go head to head against almost any team or individual in the area.
The table was set and the '75 football team would not be satisfied with just another winning season.
Houben and Glenn took their basketball success right in to the summer baseball season. Both athletes were very good pitchers (college potential) and left-handed Houben and righty Glenn dominated a lot of hitters during the '75 summer.
The '75 football team picture with captains, Steve Farr and Ed Crandell.
The Terrors picked up an early season win over Allegany reversing the '74 loss with a 21-0 shutout. Quarterback Denny Glenn ran for one score and threw for another to Barry Houben as the O-E defense held their opponent to only 5 first downs.
The Terrors had an early season tie with Smethport, but that was the only blemish on their record as O-E (4-0-1) traveled to meet undefeated Portville on a Saturday afternoon. It was one of , if not THE Big 30 game of the week.
NOTE: I was in my second year of college and had been telling my dorm mates about my high school team and the matchup I was going to attend that weekend. I remember anticipating, not bragging, that it was going to be a great game. Like a few thousand other fans, I showed up expecting a tight game between two very good high school teams. Well, they were two of the best teams in the area, but it definitely was not a close game as the Panthers shut out the Terrors, 30-0.
All you could think, after the disappointment had sunk in, was 'well, maybe next year.' I took a little ribbing back at school, but as I told all the teams I coached in the following decades, "If you compete in sports, whatever sport it is and however many games you play, there's going to come a time when you get your (backside) kicked." It's inevitable.
'75 Terrors-Top (left to right)- Ken Austin, Don Cutler and Jon Ray.
The devastating loss to Portville was unexpected and tough to take for coaches, players and fans. It could be a cliche', but maybe it really was the game that eventually transported a good football program in to a powerhouse.
O-E closed out their '75 season with three straight wins to end the year at 7-1-1. It was the Terrors' best record since the 8-1, '69 team. 
'75 Terrors- (top) Dan Breese and Jim Green (middle) QB Denny Glenn and Kerry Bacha (bottom) Zane Tyler-in the air and Mike Comilla.
1975 Border Conference All-Stars. Portville (9-0) placed 11 players in the squad including junior receiver, Ray Auman. O-E (7-1-1) had seven players on the squad; Mike Comilla, Steve Farr, Alan Copeland, Barry Houben, Ed Crandell, Dan Breese and Jeff Miller.
Ed Crandell was selected to the Big 30 team for the second straight year.
The first 2 Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic (for graduated seniors) New York teams on the left side and Pa. squads on the right.
The 1975-1976 Otto-Eldred Basketball Team took a page from the football squad and made a giant leap forward from the previous season, Again, they were led by Barry Houben (21ppg) and Denny Glenn (18.4 ppg). The Terrors' won 18 games, five more than the previous season.
O-E lost a close playoff game to Karns City, but it was a year of highlights for the blue and gold. Houben was named MVP of the North Tier League. The senior lefthander also cleared the career 1,000 point barrier, vaulting in to the second spot of all-time O-E scorers. He trails only Johnny Oszustowicz and still holds the number two spot today with Jerome Wolcott in third place. Those three are the only 1,000 point men in O-E basketball history.
Denny Glenn also made the NTL all-star team. Houben, Glenn, Steve Bell, Jeff Miller and Gary Cauvel were the top five scorers on the team.
Gene Fazio was the O-E head football coach for 17 seasons. He compiled an overall W-L record of 83-61-7 with 11 winning seasons.
After Fazio's tenure, the Terrors were 35-127 in the next 20 years with three winning seasons. 1983-2013 (30 years) saw the Otto- Eldred football program have ten different head coaches, two of them serving on two different occasions.
These numbers are not an indictment on the coaches, players or school administration during that time frame. Circumstances can change dramatically and possibly have a direct impact on athletic programs. Area jobs decrease, population drops and student class size falls.
One of the central ingredients in building and sustaining a solid athletic program is a feeder system that teaches the fundamentals of a sport to youngsters and the style of play that is used at the higher levels. If a school does not have the numbers to field teams at the lower levels, the programs suffer at the upper levels also.
Presently, there are several area schools who have consolidated (Bolivar-Richburg) and (Allegany- Limestone) for example. Conferences and non-league opponents change (for various reasons) sometimes forcing unfair matchups.
This piece is not written as a "back when I was younger" essay. As stated at the beginning, it's history. Hopefully it's interesting, informative and lends itself to conversations.
The 1969 football team was 8-1. The '75 team was 7-1-1. The players, fans and area observers can debate which one was better. But there's no argument about the best back to back years. That was put to rest in 1976.
1976 preview. 17 lettermen (all seniors), 10 of them starters in '75. Crandell (with over 2,200 rushing yards in his first 2 seasons), John Barrett, Marty Bechilli, Mike Cavagnaro, Jeff Miller, Steve Higley, Mike Gould, Joe Lehosky, Jeff Parks, Jeff Gustin, Bill Cochran, Al Kennedy, John Gold, Mike Ogilve, Mike Hahn, Steve Bell and Brian Rose make up the senior group
'76 Preview- "players to watch list" O-E has Crandell, Miller, Steve Higley, Marty Bechelli and Mike Gould. I think the "experts" underestimated the Terrors' overall talent.
Win #3 was a 34-8 victory over Coudersport. The game was tied at the half. Crandell had touchdown runs of 33 and 21 yards. The senior back carried 17 times for 127 yards.
Otto-Eldred went 4-0 with a 32-20 win over Emporium.
Portville was 9-0 in '75, but the 0-1 Panthers were hosting Bradford Central Christian (4-0) and the Ramblers were definitely the favorite. Portville upset B.CC, 34-28 with senior wide receiver, Ray Auman catching three touchdown passes and a two point conversion reception.
The Terrors would face Portville in game seven and BCC in game eight.
O-E 26 Allegany 6 as the Terrors go 6-0 with Portville on deck.
NOTE: I would come home from college again to see the Portville-O-E game. This time it would be a Friday night game in Duke Center. I don't think I was the only person that remembered the 30-0 loss to the Panthers in '75- the only loss on Otto-Eldred's record last year.
I didn't realize "awesome" was used much in the 70's, but it does seem to fit after watching this game.
O-E went 7-0 (Ridgway was the only other 7-0 team) with a 65-6 victory over Portville.
Portville actually took a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter on a long pass play from QB Jerry Holcomb to Ray Auman despite Coach Fazio's pre-game, locker room talk about not letting Auman slip behind the defensive backs, especially early in the game.
Then came NINE straight touchdowns by the Terrors. Eddie Crandell had a T.D. and 111 yards gained for the night, but the entire backfield scored at least one touchdown. Jeff Miller had 95 yards in seven carries including scoring runs of 47 and 25 yards. Miller also passed for 90 yards and two touchdowns (Steve Bell and Marty Bechelli). John Barrett and Kerry Green had interception returns for touchdowns.
Dating back to week one of the season and Ken Streich, the 215 pound back from Ridgway edging Ed Crandell for Player of the Week honors. Almost two months later, both teams stood at 7-0 with O-E and Bradford Central Christian set to face off.
BCC had one loss, 34-28 to Portville. O-E beat Portville 65-6. O-E beat Smethport 22-16, Bradford CC defeated Smethport, 40-14. The Terrors shut out Eisenhower 28-0. BCC beat them 38-14. Port Allegany lost to both clubs, but gave them tough games, losing to BCC 8-0 and Otto-Eldred 20-16.
Otto-Eldred ranked second in the Big 30 in scoring. Bradford Central ranked third.
Home or away, passing or running team, good weather or cold and rainy, several injuries to key players vs. all starters healthy.
So all of this means...............
Well, you just prepare and play. You have to accept the fact that some times your line drives get caught and their soft bloopers fall in for hits. You can hit the big righthander who throws 90 miles an hour, but can't touch the little lefty who tosses it up there at 70 mph. (Now, I've fallen in to a baseball cavern)
Numbers, analytics, statistics, percentages- they all mean something, but they're just a piece of a puzzle despite what some of the "talking heads" on television and radio might say.
The Ramblers defeated O-E, 20-14 in front of 4,000 fans at Interstate Parkway Field on a Saturday night. BCC's Mike Raabe (white uniform in this photo)rushed for 113 yards in 29 carries.
Two Jeff Miller touchdown throws to Steve Bell gave the Terrors a 14-0 lead in to the second quarter and O-E still led at the half 14-8. The Terrors lost Ed Crandell to an injury (ribs) and Coach Fazio thought losing the game- changing Crandell definitely played a role in the game. John Pecora scored two touchdowns and threw for another as Bradford Central Christian knocked O-E from the unbeaten ranks.
BCC won the numbers game also (16-13 first downs, 202-131 rushing yards, 54-48 in offensive plays and a few more passing yards)
The final game of the '76 season for the Terrors was at Franklinville. It had to be a difficult one to prepare for-there had to be some thoughts for at least a few days about "it could have been our chance to have a perfect mark" Jeff Miller threw for 131 yards and Steve Bell was the recipient of five of them. Marty Bechilli and Miller had 52 and 35 yards respectively. Eddie Crandell saw little action after being injured in the BCC game.
The 25-16 win was a result of five O-E interceptions and three fumble recoveries. The overall offensive stat game was close, but the Terrors cam away with a victory and an 8-1 seasonal record that tied the '69 squad.
The seniors, several who had started three years like Crandell and Miller, had just finished a three-year varsity career with a 20-6-1 mark with the last two years at 15-2-1.
The 1976 Big 30 team-with background info. There were 15 players each from Pennsylvania and New York State. Ridgway had four players on the squad, Salamanca had three. Mike Raabe, Bob Paprocki and Streich joined Crandell in the backfield. BCC also had three representatives.
Eddie Crandell ended his three year varsity career with over 3,500 yards rushing. He averaged almost seven yards a carry in '76.
Nine 1976 games with results (upper left)
Big 30's offensive selections- front row, far left is O-E's Steve Bell. back row, far left are Ken Streich(Ridgway) and O-E's Ed Crandell. far right, #22 is Jeff Miller and #83 is Ray Auman
Big 30 Defense- back row, left side-#72 is John Gold (Otto-Eldred)
Once again, the Terrors' basketball team echoed the success of the football squad. The team had their second consecutive 18 win season, losing to East Brady in a playoff game. East Brady was led by Jim Kelly, a future quarterback for the University of Miami (Fl.) and the Buffalo Bills.
This edition of O-E basketball was a defensive dynamo holding opposing teams to an average of 44 ppg.
Steve Bell was the leading scorer at 14.3 points per game and was also named league MVP. Jeff Miller led the team in assists and was selected as a second team North Tier League All-Star.
Mike Welch was named the MVP of the Christmas tourney with Brian Rose and Steve Bell as all-stars in that tournament. Gary Cauvel, Al Kennedy, Welch and Rose rounded out the five top seasonal scorers for the 18-4 team.
Steve Farr, after his '76 graduation, played football at Lock Haven University. Jeff Miller, '77 O-E grad, ran track for four years at Slippery Rock University.
Author's note- published on Friday, 2/26/2001, I will add more clips during the weekend-kind of the lost photos and clips of 1974-1976. It was a great three year run for these O-E teams. In terms of wins and losses, these football and basketball teams put together three consecutive seasons unmatched in the school's history.
Some added notes and information:
Some added notes and information:
O-E coaches- Jim Hess, Ralph Burton and Larry Snyder
New York wins '76 Big 30 Classic, 21-7 The game was held in August, 1977.
Pennsylvania scored first on a one yard run by Streich. Ed Crandell kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead. Mike Grippo of Emporium was the leading ground gainer for Pa. with 55 yards on 17 carries.
Pennsylvania leads at the half, but New York wins second half 14-0. Jeff Miller and Ray Auman have two receptions apiece for Pa. N.Y.'s, Chris Lampack, scores once and passes for another.
O-E athletes honored in'75. Left to right-Dan Breese, Ed Crandell, Steve Farr,Dick Baldwin (guest speaker and head coach at Broome Tech), Denny Glenn and Barry Houben.
Dave went to Northwoods College in Michigan, but left after a year (injury)
Conklin also played in the Big 30 Classic in 1976.
