Local grad Lucas passing on skills, love for the game that he learned in Johnstown

Aug. 9—Western Pennsylvania sports made quite an impression on Garrett Lucas. Now, the Westmont Hilltop and St. Francis graduate is hoping to make the same impact on the lives of high school athletes in New Jersey.

Lucas, 29, is entering his first season as head coach at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Rancocas Valley was 2-8 in 2021 and has gone 5-19 since 2019, but the program has a proud history that includes being the alma mater of Franco Harris, who went on to star for Penn State and the Pittsburgh Steelers before being named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Plus, Lucas couldn't resist the opportunity to coach in Group 5, high school football's largest classification in New Jersey.

He has already succeeded in Group 2 at nearby Delran High School.

After serving as freshman coach for one season, Lucas took over the varsity program and proceeded to go 25-8 — an impressive turnaround for a school that had endured four consecutive losing seasons. He coached R.J. Moten, who started at safety for Michigan during the Wolverines' run to the College Football Playoff in 2021, and Kenny Fletcher, a freshman defensive lineman at Rutgers who was a four-star recruit.

"The talent out here is insane," Lucas said in a phone interview.

That's due, in part, to the large population of the area.

Burlington County, which is home to Delran and Rancocas Valley, has more than 450,000 people. In addition to Rancocas Valley, which has about 2,300 high school students, there are nine other schools with at least 1,000 students. Delran has 850 students and is about 11 miles from Rancocas Valley. Another school of 750 students — Willingboro High School — is sandwiched between the two.

Lucas, who is a history teacher at Rancocas Valley, put it in perspective for Johnstown-area residents

"If you had (Greater) Johnstown, (Bishop) McCort, Ferndale and Westmont all combined together, you're going to get a pretty good team out of that talent," he said.

Lucas knows all about Johnstown history. His grandfather, the late Richard Lucas, served as Greater Johnstown's athletic director decades ago.

"He was a huge influence," Lucas said. "So many people knew him throughout the community. He drove me to practices — basketball, baseball, football. He ingrained the fundamentals of the sports in me."

As a coach, Lucas tries to impart some of that wisdom on his own players.

"The most important thing was the love of the game," he said. "That's the one thing, growing up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is how important sports are in your life."

Brian Lucas, Garrett's father, used to work in Latrobe, and he'd take young Garrett with him during the late summer when the Steelers were holding training camp there.

"My dad used to be the Kmart manager in Latrobe," Garrett Lucas said. "I'd sit in the food court and wait for Kimo von Oelhoffen, Tommy Maddox and Jerome Bettis to walk through and get their autographs."

An all-state offensive lineman for Westmont Hilltop in 2011, Lucas graduated from St. Francis four years later, but still had a year of eligibility remaining. He had hoped to play for Westminster after Red Flash assistant Scott Benzel was named head coach there, but said the NCAA prohibits Division I players from finishing their careers at Division III schools. Instead, he joined Benzel's staff as an assistant coach.

It wasn't an easy life, but Lucas loved it.

"We'd be up until 1 o'clock in the morning breaking down film for the coaches and then at 4:30, we're up putting guys through workouts," he said.

Seeing the grind that college coaches go through — in addition to the nomadic lifestyle that is often necessary to reach the highest levels of the profession — has changed Lucas' outlook. While he admits thinking about what it would be like to coach in college or professional football, he knows the toll it would take on his family. Lucas and his wife, Kate, have a 11/2-year-old son, Titan, and a second, Aidan, is due in November.

"I love the fact that I'm able to do what I do now and impact high school students and still get to be the best dad and husband that I can be," he said. "I'd really love to finish my career at RV and create something super-special. The facilities are top notch. It looks like a Division III school. Everything is top of the line. It's almost like, 'What else could you want?' I love the community there, but I love being a great dad and being a great husband.