Bob Torrey- From Bolivar to State College to the NFL.

Bob Torrey as a Nittany Lion.

 One enjoyable part of growing old as an ex-athlete (Yes, there are some plusses) is recalling memories of teams, teammates, games and events- some highlights and maybe even a losing game that still remains, a loss that still stings a little.

Some of the home runs are now 350 feet long instead of the actual 310 feet, the game-winning jumper is now from 18 feet instead of 12 and the touchdown run has grown from ten yards to 20. And, you know those small exaggerations, intentional or not, are okay.

Another remembrance are the players we competed against through the years. Because we came from small schools, an athlete may have played against competitors in several sports. even as many as 3-4 athletic contests through a high school career that continued in to their college careers.

Regardless the level of play, from Division I to Division III, NAIA or junior college, post high school play is a tremendous achievement, one that should be recognized by friends, family and alma maters as a performance only a small percentage of high school athletes reach.

Taking one step forward and in moonwalk terms, a giant leap, are the handful of opponents we once went head to head against on the courts, tracks and fields who played at the professional level.

 Reading about those who have reached a pinnacle that few see is a memory and always a recollection of the time that we went head to head against a person of rare ability- a professional athlete.

In my career of participating inside or outside of high school athletics, three names come to mind.

Randy Cooney went to Austin High School (Pa.) in the early 70's. We met as little league opponents, Austin vs. Eldred, and even played together as Potter-McKean All-Star teammates back in '67-68.

Austin's youth league baseball fields. Note the Potter County tree line in the background.

We met again as high school basketball opponents and with Pennsylvania having few area schools participating in high school baseball, as 16-years-old we began our American Legion play.

We had good teams in Eldred with Ed Harrington as our coach and won the district title one year, beating Warren in a three game series. Our right-handed ace, Kerry Snow, who later became the starting quarterback at Bucknell University, won games one and three with shutout pitching.

Randy went to play Legion ball in Emporium and in my final Legion year we met again, this time with Randy not only the #1 pitcher on his club, but a dominating presence. The right handed hitting, lefty thrower was untouchable on the mound.

We still had a good team, but Randy struck out 17 of us in a seven inning win, a performance that he repeated throughout the year along with contributing each game with a bat where line drives and long-distance home runs lived.

Then and through the following years, he remained the player with the best arm I ever faced in organized baseball. I can't imagine anyone being better in our area, an area that produced more recognizable baseball talent than one would ever imagine coming from sparsely populated towns and villages.

The Pittsburgh Pirates recognized his ability level and drafted him in the second round of the 1977 MLB January Draft. Cooney was the 42nd player selected overall. That secondary draft in January remained in place until 1986.

Also taken in that '77 draft were future big leaguers; Allen Wiggens (7), Dave Righetti (9), John Shelby (19), Bud Black (60) and Marty Barrett (198)

  The 6'0, 185 pound Cooney signed a contract with the Pirates. The kid from Austin pitched 12 games for Niagara Falls in the New York- Penn League. 

Bob Torrey was a 1975 graduate of Bolivar Central High School (N.Y.), now Bolivar- Richburg High School. 

Looking back, I was quite certain as a member of the Otto-Eldred varsity football team in my early HS years, that I played against Torrey. How could anyone forget a player who had such a powerful presence during his entire football career at the NYS school?

October '73. I had already graduated. Bob's junior year at Bolivar. Only Bolivar touchdown came when Torrey blocked a punt and recovered it in the endzone.

I graduated two years before Bob and doing research for this essay, our years of play just didn't line up, but more light was shown when I realized Torrey played varsity football as a ninth grader. Maybe I did play football against him and he ran over me so often, I directed myself to forget those occasions.

Regardless, I absolutely know I played Alle-Catt Baseball against the  6'4", 230 pound athlete in future years. 

Bob, after his NFL career, back home- slugging two home runs (a grand slam in the first inning), going 4-4 with six RBIs and three runs scored in Bolivar's 10-8 win over Salamanca

Bolivar's big Alle-Catt win over Austin, 19-6 with another HR by Torrey.

Like most professional athletes, Bob was a multi-talented player in a variety of sports at Bolivar. I don't know where baseball fell on the scale, following football, because track (sprinter) and basketball (Do I really have to mention his rebounding ability and inside play?) made him one of the most referenced all-around athletes in the history of the Big 30.

Torrey, with the Big 30's top 100 yard dash time in '75, 10.0.

The 1973-74 Allegany Class C-D All Stars. Front row- Tim Giedlin of Alfred-Almond and teammate Allan Woodworth.  Back row, left to right- Rod Nye (Scio), Bob Torrey and Bob Salzer of Bolivar and Dennis Thomas (Fillmore). Giedlin, Woodworth, Torrey and Salzer are repeat selections. Torrey is a junior in this photo.

Torrey, on defense in this playoff game.

24 rebounds for freshman Bob Torrey in 62-60 win over Belmont.

Bob Dunsmore was the head football coach at Bolivar Central for 22 years. The Bulldogs were 115-72-5 under his direction with the early and steady progression of the school's program running parallel with Bob Torrey's four year varsity career.

This is a 1972 football preview, Coach Dunsmore's second season and Torrey's sophomore year. Pictured, left to right, - Torrey, Randy Sloat and Mike Ahl. 

The 1971 Bolivar squad had finished 0-7, but had weathered a series of program changes that eventually led them to football prominence in the Big 30. 

A new conference (moving from the Border to the Seneca), a new coach and the decision to rely heavily on a talented class of underclassmen were dramatic changes that proved to be instrumental in changing the fortunes of Boliver football.

A summation of ninth grader Bob Torrey's initial varsity season and a mention of his father's football achievements, playing for Milt Latimer's teams.

Wayne "Bob" Torrey was born in 1931. He was a graduate of Bolivar Central HS where he  played four years of undefeated football, capping off his high school career by scoring 15 touchdowns during the '47-48 campaign. 

He also was a three-year varsity basketball player and ran the 100 and 220 yard dashes for the track team. He was a standout performer in both sports. 

Mr. Torrey attended Saint Bonaventure University where he played college football with Ted Marchibroda, who later became an NFL quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals and a noted assistant and head coach in pro football for four decades.

Wayne Torrey was inducted into the Allegany County Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

Four Bulldog players, including Wayne Torrey, were selected to the Allegany-Cattaraugus football all star squad. Joining Torrey as Bolivar first-team all stars were Russell Lewis, Edward Wallace and Don Lounsberry.

Bolivar placed two players on the second team- James Schena and Larry Paffie. Herbert Claflin and Neal Dempsey were named to the honorable mention list.

Some others named to the all-star teams from various schools were- Robert Kordish (Portville), Bondy Slocum (Franklinville), Ron Mosher (Portville), Charles Fortuna (Allegany), Tom Walsh (Allegany), Robert Howard (Franklinville) and Phil Abbott (Franklinville).

While young Bob Torrey was concluding his 1971-72 season as a freshman varsity athlete and on his way to a historic athletic career at Bolivar Central, an older high school player across the border in Pennsylvania was wrapping up a remarkable high school career.

At Cameron County HS in Emporium, Pennsylvania (54 miles from Bolivar), Jeff Lloyd was putting the finishing touches on a storied athletic path for the Red Raiders.

Lloyd was a three sport star (basketball, football and track and field) and was an integral part of Cameron County's basketball domination in the North Tier League that stretched from the mid 60's through the 70's.

Dick Peterson, Rich Bisso, Bill Vasallo and Matt Grimone were just some of the many outstanding players who paced Jim Thompson's basketball teams through yearly appearances in the District 9 playoffs.

Leonard and Lloyd. Lloyd and Leonard. 

Bill Leonard (Canisius College) and Jeff Lloyd, not only were career 1,000 point scorers, but the pair led the Red Raiders to three consecutive District Nine titles (1970-72). The Red Raiders also won the district title in '69.

I had the "pleasure" of playing basketball against this duo as a sophomore (they were juniors). 

Bill Leonard was inducted in to the Big 30 Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

A football coach from West Texas A&M came up to watch Lloyd play in a basketball game during his senior season at Cameron County.

"That was weird," Lloyd said. "He came up to see a basketball game. We were in the playoffs at Clarion and I scored 33 points, one of the best games of my career. After the game, he offered me a scholarship to West Texas for football.

Lloyd played offensive tackle, tight end, center and linebacker during his college career. He was named to the Missouri Valley Conference first team all-stars as both a tight end and a linebacker. He was selected to play in the Senior Bowl after the '75 season.

Jeff Lloyd was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the 1976 NFL Draft. He was waived by Seattle before the '76 season began, but quickly signed by the Buffalo Bills.

Lloyd played nine games for the Bills in '76 and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs after the '77 season. He played in all 16 regular season games for the Chiefs in '78, primarily as a defensive end.

Jeff Lloyd was among the first group of players inducted in to the Cameron County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

Bolivar is building a solid program as Bob Dunsmore, in his third year as head coach, (as this clipping states) has some fans thinking about the days of Milt Latimer and Wayne Torrey.

Former Hornell High School football coach, Gene Mastin, said he learned early on from Bob Dunsmore.

"In my first year of coaching JV football at Cuba and in my first head coaching position at Cameron County in the late 1970's and early 1980's, I had the opportunity to learn from observing Coach Dunsmore," said Mastin.

His teams were always well prepared, fundamentally sound and were great sportsmen. In a lot of ways, his teams were very much like Bob himself. He was a disciplined coach and person, but he had a great perspective on his coaching, his players and all who knew him."

The following is a compilation of highlights of Bob Dunsmore's years with Bob Torrey (from freshman to senior)-a 6-2-1 record in Torrey's junior year setting the stage for a 9-0 season in Torrey's senior season. It was a four year journey that began with an 0-7 record and ended with Bob Dunsmore earning Big 30 Coach of the Year honors and Torrey earning a football scholarship to play for Joe Paterno at Penn State.

Bob Torrey and Randy Sloat.

A homecoming win for the Bulldogs as Bob is named the game's MVP, rushing for 100 yards in 15 carries and scoring a touchdown. Freshman Jody Torrey with linebackers Dave Button and Brian Morrison held Cuba to four first downs.

A 44-20 win over Cowanesque Valley with Torrey gaining 149 yards in nine carries including a 72 yard touchdown run. Brian Morrison scored three TD's for the Bulldogs.

A 42-28 win over Wellsboro with Randy Sloat tossing three touchdown passes as the Bulldogs move to 5-2.

Pre-season preview-linebacker crew,  left to right- Dave Button, Barry McKay, Bob Giles and Brian Morrison

Randy Sloat and Randy Torrey. 1972 photo.

Bob Torrey breaks away for a third period touchdown run vs. Smethport, a 36-0 win over the Hubbers.

Bob Torrey was named Big 30 Offensive Player of the Week with Bradford's Steve Housler garnering the defensive award. Both players played on the other side of the ball also. Torrey's award came after his Smethport performance in his senior season.

Bolivar 22, Allegany 8. With the score 8-8, Dave Button tackled an Allegany player in the end zone for a safety and Torrey returned the free kick 45 yards for a touchdown, a quick ten point swing.

Torrey's senior year- preview after a 6-2-1 season the previous season. Torrey was now 6'4" and 205 lbs.

Bob Torrey's final high school game- New York vs. Pennsylvania. Kevin Hardy of Franklinville scores to give New York a 26-21 lead. Torrey is in the background #46. New York State won the high-scoring game, 33-27.

Kevin Hardy's after-game quotes following one of the best games in the history of the Big 30 Classic. "Big Bob couldn't be stopped and he's another reason we passed so well. They were keying on Bob." Torrey had 100 yards in 18 carries

An Olean Times Herald clip re: Coach Dunsmore trying to keep the score down against an out-manned Honoeye squad, running Torrey only twice in the game and playing his second team half the game.

Torrey reported to Penn State's pre-season training camp the day after the Big 30 Classic.

From the Olean Times Herald on Feb. 11, 1975- Torrey, after narrowing down his choices to Syracuse, Cornell and Penn State, chose the Nittany Lions. Also mentioned, Matt Grimone of Emporium signed with West Virginia.

Clip about PSU and Torrey after the opening game of Bob's sophomore season, a 31-30 win over Temple. Written by Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia News, it mentions Penn State's constant shuttling of running backs (Torrey, Suhey, Geise, Alguero, etc)  and asks how the Nittany Lions found a prospect like Torrey in such a "remote" corner of the east?

Torrey, against Temple, rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries and gathered 41 more on runs after receiving some short passes. Again, coming to Penn State from "tiny" Bolivar is mentioned in the last sentence.

Joe Paterno after a nine carries, 36 yards gained game for Torrey. "He got the ball  with the second line, but we didn't get him the ball much with the first group. I hope Bob doesn't get discouraged, because he's doing an awfully good job blocking..........."

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette- Bob Torrey becomes the #1 fullback with Matt Suhey moving to tailback.

Bob's thoughts about a Torrey-Suhey backfield.

A Torrey run versus SMU, 1978.

At the Fiesta Bowl (1977), Penn State defeated Arizona State, 42-30. The Nittany Lions rushed for 268 yards with Torrey running for 107 on only nine carries. He also scored a touchdown on a short pass from QB Chuck Fusina.

Torrey played his final collegiate football game in the Senior Bowl, scoring all three touchdowns for the North squad.

Bob Torrey was selected in the sixth round of the 1979 NFL draft by the New York Giants.

In a Times Herald headline, "Torrey: Everything Turned Out For the Best...." The story notes that Bob was cut twice by the Giants

Bob was released by the Giants and later re-signed with the club. "I didn't play. In fact, the only action I saw was on the kickoff return team. So I knew it was just a matter of time.

Torrey had to wait only a week before receiving an opportunity with the Dolphins, serving as Larry Csonka's backup.

Torrey noted, "It's no insult playing behind Larry Csonka. Besides, I saw quite a lot of playing time. Shula (Don) doesn't fancy Csonka's hands so I got to play in certain passing situations and on all the special teams."

Torrey played against Baltimore, Detroit and the Jets (scoring a touchdown vs. the Jets). He also saw some action in the playoff loss to Pittsburgh.

Bob, scoring a touchdown in an exhibition game win with the Dolphins. He was one of the final cuts that summer.

Out of the NFL for the first 15 weeks of the '80 regular season, Bob was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. 

"It was two days before the last game of the season when they called. When you think of it, I was pretty lucky. I got called right before the last game and they couldn't have added anybody after that."

Bob didn't see any playoff action for the Eagles, but was in uniform for the Eagles' Super Bowl contest against the Oakland Raiders. 

The game was played at the Superdome in New Orleans. Bob's last college game for Penn State was in the Sugar Bowl also played at the Superdome. Alabama beat Penn State 14-7 in the national title game.

Bob Torrey played for three teams in the NFL; the Giants (coached by Ray Perkins) ,the Dolphins (Don Shula) and the Eagles (Dick Vermeil)

He rushed for 61 yards in his NFL career on 13 carries, caught two passes and scored a touchdown.

Bob Torrey, like Jeff Lloyd before him, were Big 30 kids who made it to the highest level in their sport. They beat the tremendous odds of a high school football player ever playing in the NFL. What is it- less than one-tenth of 1%,  less than 1/100th of one percent? Most likely, the odds are even greater.

The NFL recognized the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl by sending Wilson golden footballs to high schools around the country where a former Super Bowl participant played.

Bolivar-Richburg Central HS received one of those footballs.

Torrey, who did not know about the NFL's gift, stated, "When I got home two weeks ago, I was teary-eyed. I had no idea that it was going to happen.

I feel honored.... It means a lot."

It means a lot to many, many people at Bolivar-Richburg HS, the town of Bolivar and the surrounding area. And, it always will.

 

A 51-0 win over Honeoye to go 6-0. Bolivar's first team did not play in the second and fourth periods and Bob Torrey ran from scrimmage only two times (below)