Greater Johnstown adds to Trojan Ring of Honor

Sep. 10—The iconic hero and the coach of the 1958 WPIAL championship team each will be among seven former football standouts added to Greater Johns- town High School's Trojan Ring of Honor on Friday.

George Azar, who kicked the winning field goal against Clairton in front of 11,911 fans at Pitt Stadium, and Dave Hart, coach of the 1958 WPIAL title-winning Trojans, will each join the ring posthumously.

The Trojan Ring of Honor's second class also will include the late Joe DelSignore Sr. (Class of 1946), Jerry Davitch (Class of 1959), Ed Stetz (Class of 1968), Mario Hardison (Class of 1992), Brian Mangiafico (Class of 1992) and Quenteen Robinson (Class of 1996).

"It's a pretty exclusive club," said former Trojans standout lineman Brian Subich, chairman of the Ring of Honor Committee.

Subich said 16 players were in the inaugural Ring of Honor class, but the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of last fall's originally planned celebration at the stadium.

"There are some very accomplished athletes," Subich said.

"Sixteen players who played in the NFL (or professional football). I can't imagine any school around here that has as many as that as well as so many big-time Division I players."

Five of this year's honorees are former all-state selections in Robinson (1995), Hardison (1991), Mangiafico (1991, Big School Player of the Year), Azar (1958) and DelSignore (1945).

Azar, Davitch, Hart, DelSignore and Stetz each are members of the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame.

"Our Ring of Honor, having the ability to recognize some significant Trojans, is very special," Johnstown coach Bruce Jordan said. "A guy like George Azar, who a lot of our students don't know or remember, but he's in Johnstown folklore.

"A guy like coach Dave Hart, who was commissioner of the (NCAA Southern Conference).

"We are proud to have guys like that in our ring to show we are proud of where we are from."

—DelSignore was an all-WPIAL and first-team all-state selection in 1945 on an 8-1-1 team that outscored opponents 131-33. DelSignore was a first-team All-Tribune selection in 1943 with Windber High and in 1944 and '45 with Johnstown, making him the newspaper's first three-time first-teamer. He earned the U.S. Army middleweight boxing championship in 1946. DelSignore went on to a career in water skiing and set multiple national records while competing into his 70s.

—Hart, who coached the Trojans to a 63-12-3 record from 1954-61, led Greater Johns- town to 25 consecutive wins in a stretch that included an 11-0 record in 1958 and a 10-0 mark in 1959 in the WPIAL.

His '58 team beat Clairton 3-0 for the WPIAL crown.

He was an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky and Navy, then served as head coach at Pitt for three seasons.

Hart was athletic director at the universities of Louisville and Missouri and commissioner of the Southern Conference from 1986-91.

—Azar was among the most versatile athletes in Trojans history, starring in football, winning a state championship in wrestling and standing out on the baseball field, setting the Johnstown Junior League single-season home run record in 1960, a mark of 19 that stood for 30 years. Azar was a three-year starter at guard and linebacker at Michigan State University, where he also was a catcher on the Spartans baseball team. He spent 10 seasons in the National Football League as a special assistant to Philadelphia Eagles GM Harry Gamble.

—Davitch played on the 1958 WPIAL championship team and was a two-year starting guard at the University of Arizona, where he also wrestled for four seasons. Davitch was an assistnat coach at Air Force and head coach at University of Idaho before returning home to lead the Trojans to a 37-23-3 mark from 1985 to 1990. His 1988 team was 11-1.

—Stetz went on to graduate as the all-time leading tackler in Wake Forest University history with 460 stops from his linebacker position. He held the Division I program's single-season tackle mark with 203 in 1971. A two-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, Stetz was part of Wake Forest's 1970 ACC championship team.

—Hardison was on Greater Johnstown teams that won 16 games in his final two seasons, as he earned first-team all-Keystone Conference and second-team all-state honors. At Indiana (Pa.), the flanker was a freshman on a 13-1 squad that finished as NCAA Division II national runner-up. IUP went 39-10 during his career, which included 23 TD receptions from 1993-96.

Hardison also was part of three record-setting track and field performances at Indiana (Pa.).

—Mangiafico quarterbacked Greater Johnstown to two Keystone Conference titles in the WPIAL and earned Pennsylvania Big School (4A and 3A) Player of the Year as well as first-team all-state honors in 1991. Mangiafico also won the 1991 Point Stadium Award. As a senior he passed for 2,336 yards and 24 TDs and ran for 835 yards and 10 scores.

—Robinson was a dual-threat quarterback who was a WPIAL Quad South Conference all-star at defensive back and a second-team Pennsylvania Big-School all-state selection on offense. As a Trojans wrestler, he scored a pair of major upsets during the 1996 Northwest Regional Tournament and qualified for the PIAA tournament. Robinson played baseball at Spartanburg Methodist Junior College in South Carolina and was part of the local AAABA League.

Robinson played and coached indoor professional football in Johnstown and currently is GM of the Flood City Thunder semiprofessional team.

The 16-member inaugural Trojan Ring of Honor class, all former professional football players, included Ed Adamchik, Alex Atty, Rick Britt, Joe Greenwood, Carlton Haselrig, Artrell Hawkins Sr., Gary Hrivnak, Tom Mikula, Steve Petro, Antwuan Reed, Jeff Richardson, Geroy Simon, LaRod Stephens-Howling, Ed "Doc" Stofko, Larry Walton and Zeke Wissinger.

Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.