Celebrating 20 years of the last Iron Kettle team!

 

By Joshua Yoder

 

LEWISTOWN – The 2005 Lewistown Panthers were a special team, a team of guys who wanted to make an impact and do something that hadn’t been done before in a very long time. And that was to have a winning season.

 

What is interesting about this team was that they were coming off from a season where the Panthers went winless. So that off-season, a group of players came together and made it their mission to achieve greatness and put an end to the losing seasons.

 

One of those players determined to put Lewistown back on top was senior quarterback Chad Snook who did not want to have another winless season.

“It was a special year. My junior year we didn’t win a single game. So to go from 0-10 to 5-4 was very special,” Snook said. “It was a very strong senior core, it was a great group of guys.”

 

“We didn’t want to go 0-10 again,” Snook continued. “Our senior group was really good and dedicated to winning.”

 

Another senior player who wanted to help bring change back to Lewistown football was fellow senior Chris Tressler who played both running back as well as linebacker. Tressler also made the all-offensive team that season.

“The team was a tight knit group that had been playing together for many years. We had a core group that had been playing together since the seventh grade where we had experienced a lot of success,” Tressler said. “I think a Mifflin County trademark was having successful JR High programs. In fact, I don’t think this group lost to our cross town rival in seventh, eighth and ninth grade.”

 

“I think what made this team successful heading into our high school days was the dedication to the weight room and training religiously in the off season,” Tressler continued. “And it wasn’t just one or two players, there was a core group that played on both sides of the ball that dedicated themselves the entire offseason.”

The Panthers also had some great contributions from senior wide receiver Mike Baker. Baker, like a lot of the senior leadership, wanted to make this season a season to remember.

 

“We had a lot of senior guys who had played together since junior high. Myself, David Laughlin, Chris Tressler, Devan Zimmerman, Dexter Hardin, Brodie Dalton along with some younger guys who had been there for a long time too like Nick Knable, Joe Fiore, Roger Kennedy. The familiarity made for a pretty cohesive unit,” Baker said. “We had a pretty unselfish group of guys too. We had no primadonnas who thought they were bound for a big time division one program. We had nobody wanting more carries or receptions. We had guys who put the team first. For instance, Dexter Hardin switched from playing running back the prior year to a spot on our offensive line which was a huge boost to help with our running game which ended up being our bread and butter.”

 

Another member of that 2005 squad was junior running back/linebacker Nick Knable who brought intensity on both sides of the field. Knable also made the all-defensive team and led the league in tackles.

 

“A lot of memories and had a lot of fun. We had a core of kids who were dedicated to becoming stronger, faster and dedicated to winning and dedicated to each other,” Knable said. “We were friends on and off the field. We were a brotherhood.”

 

But, we also can not tell this story without the man who led the team on the sideline which was head coach Allen Muir. Coach Muir was in his second season as head coach and was determined to right the ship and build a culture of winning. Looking back on the year of 2005, coach Muir remembers the team proudly.

 

“It was a great group of players to work with,” Muir said. “They worked hard, had a positive attitude. It was a fun season to have.”

 

And their hard work and dedication during the off-season quickly began to show as the Panthers opened up the 2005 season with a thrashing victory over the Juniata Indians 28-9.

 

But the biggest that this season was going to be special was during the second game of the year for Panthers as they had fought themselves in a dog fight with Bald Eagle Area. This game literally went down to the final seconds of the game.

 

With the score of 6-6 and 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Snook attempted a Hail Mary pass to Baker. Unfortunately, the pass was intercepted by Eagles’ defensive back Justin Simpson who decided not to take a knee and force overtime, but tried to move forward only to go backwards into the endzone where he was met by Baker and Laughlin who tackled him for the safety and giving Lewistown an 8-6 victory and moving them to (2-0). This game was later dubbed, the Miracle at Mitchell.

 

However, the good times quickly turned sour for Lewistown as the Panthers dropped their next three games. Those games included traditional power Tyrone as well as Huntingdon and Clearfield. But despite those defeats, Baker still believed the teams’ chances to get back on track and win and he had one big reason.

 

“Every time we stepped on the field, Chris Tressler was going to be the most athletic player on the field,” Baker said. “He was a great running back, he threw me two touchdown passes in one game on halfback passes, he was one of our leading tacklers at linebacker, he was our punter, and he returned kicks. He was our swiss army knife, there wasn’t much he couldn’t do. He certainly was the engine that made the team go.”

 

And what better way for the Panthers to get back into the win column than defeating Punxsutawney during Homecoming weekend which many people remember that game as the Mud Bowl.

 

The following week though, the Panthers again would be defeated this time by Bellefonte which now made them (3-4). But the team refused to give up on their dream and defeated Philipsburg to get back to .500.

 

Then, it happened! The Panthers came into their regular season finale against archrival Indian Valley Warriors. Mitchell Field was certainly rocking that night thanks to a packed house as both teams were ready to do battle. And as anyone would expect, this game went down to the wire, but ultimately through teamwork and grit, the Lewistown Panthers came out victorious 16-13 winning the Iron Kettle for the first time since 1999.

 

Knable had a field goal for the game, Snook scored himself a rushing touchdown thanks to a quarterback sneak and Tressler had a monster of a game going 215 yards.

 

“Any win feels great especially when the program has racked up countless losing seasons in a row. But anytime you can win a rival game it feels even better. It’s that Friday Night Lights atmosphere. The whole community was there to watch the action, there wasn’t an empty seat at Mitchell Field that night,” Tressler said. “Local TV networks were taking highlight reels. So to come out on top and the way we did it felt great. This group of kids coming through LAHS at the time experienced a lot of success in numerous other sports, basketball, baseball, wrestling, etc so I think the expectation was to win.”

 

Not only did the Panthers end the streak of losing the Iron Kettle, they also finally ended the streak of losing seasons as Lewistown had gotten its first winning season in thirty years. That is right, none of the players on the team were even born when the Panthers last had a winning season which was in 1975. Baker remembers that night fondly, but wishes rivalry games like Lewistown and Indian Valley still exist today.

“The Iron Kettle was really the culmination of the season and there was no better way to “end” the year. Unfortunately with the school consolidation, the current athletes don’t have a true “rival” to play in football,” Baker said. “I know there was a push in recent years to have State College fill that role, but it’s not even close. The Lewistown-Indian Valley rivalry, in all sports, but especially in football was something unique to our two schools district that is surely missed.”

 

With it now being 20 years since the incredible season, Tressler looks back at what this team had accomplished and remembers the friendships and dedication to this very day and is proud of what they did.

 

“I think the county has experienced sporadic success in a lot of sports. I think the common denominator in those teams is (yes they are talented) but they put in the extra work in the off season and it pays off,” Tressler said. “They expect to win. This 2005 team was dedicated to do whatever it took to win and to win as a team. We were friends on and off the field and supported each other and pushed each other to be successful.”

Baker also looks back proudly at what this 2005 Lewistown Panthers team did and is thankful for the friendships made along the way.

 

“From an individual perspective, the “Miracle at Mitchell” game was the wildest finish to any football game that I’ve ever seen or certainly been a part of. The Iron Kettle game was the perfect ending to a great season,” Baker said. “For me personally, the Homecoming game against Punxsutawney was my best individual performance. All of those highlights stick out.”

 

“Overall, the pre-game feeling to get ready to “go to battle” with your buddies and collectively working for four quarters towards winning a game is something that is difficult to simulate in our professional lives,” Baker continued. “The physical nature of football makes it a semi-unique situation when you and ten of your teammates are making tackles or scoring a touchdown. The camaraderie is unmatched.”

 

Baker also remembers some of the support he got from people throughout the season who are no longer with us including his two coaches Harry Aultz and Bob Bowman.

 

“It also allows for some reflection on individuals who were a big part of that experience who are no longer with us. Coach Harry Aultz was always on the sidelines with a “Go get ‘em Bake”. Coach Bob Bowman would tell us that we needed more “honkies” before walking to the high school to get my post-game ice bath ready,” Baker said. “My grandfather would congratulate me, slap me on the back and say something wildly inappropriate. My mom, who was in the middle of battling cancer, never missed a game and was always there for a post-game hug, win or lose. The 2005 season will always provide for some fond memories when sitting around a bar or running into old friends and the subject turns to reminiscing about “the glory days” of high school athletics.”

 

There are also a couple players on the roster who are no longer with us as well in Joshua Metzger who was an underclassmen during that year.

 

Also was Roger Kennedy who was a junior on the team. Looking back, an emotional Knable reflects highly on his long time friend.

 

“Roger loved football! That was the highlight of his life,” Knable smiled. “Roger was always the first guy there to celebrate a first down or touchdown.”

 

“Roger was a loving father to his daughter,” Knable continued. “I miss seeing him walking around like he had two suitcases.”

 

Our thoughts and prayers to all of those who we had lost. We thank you all for what you guys did that season and the memories you had created.

 

It was quite a fun trip down memory lane, but now it is time to hop back into the time machine and head back to the future.

 

The 2005 Lewistown Panthers football team in my humble opinion should be remembered. And they should be a reminder to us all that dedication, teamwork and more importantly friendship can create such beautiful memories that we must never take for granted.

 

Until Next Time!