By TAMI QUIGLEY Staff writer
Friday night lights are synonymous with high school football, and on the first Friday of September Tom Ortwein, the first head football coach of the Crusaders of Notre Dame High School, Easton was honored at a 60th anniversary ceremony.
The ceremony took place at halftime Sept. 7 as the Crusaders took on Southern Lehigh High School, winning over the Spartans 31-28.
Sixty years have passed since Notre Dame conducted its first full season of football in 1958.
The team played a nine-game schedule, and, since it had no field of its own, played every game away. The team won the program’s first game on Sept. 21, 1958 in the second game that season 6-0 against Bishop Egan High School, Bristol in a rainstorm when John Gardoski ran five yards for the game’s only score.
Ortwein coached the team in 1957 when the Crusaders had a four-game abbreviated schedule to get the program started. He coached the team in both 1958 and 1959 before moving to coaching, teaching and education administration positions at Bethlehem Catholic High School, Catasauqua High School, Northampton High School and Whitehall High School.
Besides his work in education, Ortwein worked as a stadium usher at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana for 140 consecutive games of the Fighting Irish over 19 seasons through 2017.
Ortwein now resides in Venice, Florida with his wife Mary Lou, who traveled with him back to Pennsylvania for the ceremony.
Notre Dame Principal Andrew D’Angelo presented Ortwein with a plaque with the inscription: “Coach Tom Ortwein First Head Coach Notre Dame High School 60th Anniversary Ceremony September 7, 2017.”
Former players from that 1958 team joined the coach on the field for the first time in 60 years: Mike Albarell of Bethlehem, who played center; Joe Cervasi of Easton, who played guard; Pat Mazza of Easton, who played end; Gene Tavianini, of Yorba Linda, Calif., who played running back; Kevin Wright of Reading, who played end; and Bob Young of Easton, who was quarterback.
