`Korcinsky is unanimous pick for player of year`

By Ed Farrell
Herald Sports Writer

OK, it's the PIAA Class AAA Western Regional championship game, and Greenville High School junior tailback Joe Korcinsky rushes for 127 yards and a touchdown. Only one problem: The Trojans lose to Blackhawk, 14-7, the second time in four years Greenville falls a step shy of the state title tilt.

Although that may not be the highlight of Korcinsky's 1996 campaign, it definitely made the most lasting impression. And that's saying something, considering that he rushed for 2,330 yards (third-best behind Sharon's Marko Jackson, 2,380 in '94, and Michael Archie, 2,334 in '90) and scored 41 touchdowns (second only to former Greenville standout Andy Blatt's '91 totals of 44 TDs and 264 points).

``That Blackhawk game, I know I don't think I played the best game I could've,'' the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder recalled a week after Blackhawk was beaten, 34-13, by 3-time titlist Berwick for the state crown.

``You can never play the perfect game, though I think every player wants to,'' Korcinsky related. ``I think you have to have that (attitude) when you go out to practice, to make yourself better.''

It's that driven determination that enabled Korcinsky to post one of the most prolific single seasons in Herald coverage-area annals, and it's that same attitude that serves as one reason why he's been selected as The Herald's Player of the Year.

korcinsky action photo

Greenville super back Joe Korcinsky, shown in action against Lock Haven in the PIAA AAA quarterfinals, posted some of the most prolific numbers in county history, garnering Herald Player of the Year honors. (Paul Bersebach/Altoona Mirror)

``I think it's great,'' Korcinsky said of his selection. ``Anytime you get your name in the newspaper for something positive it's great. It gives the school and the team a positive name.

``And maybe people will remember it more, being the first team. I think it's fantastic.''

As a sophomore, Korcinsky nearly reached the 1,000-yard plateau in helping Greenville to the District 10 AAA championship game, where the Trojans lost to eventual state runner-up Sharon. He then helped carry the Trojans _ both literally and figuratively _ to 13 consecutive victories in '96 before that setback to Blackhawk.

Korcinsky's two-year total of 3,313 yards is currently 8th-best in Mercer County career annals, while his 54 touchdowns are 5th-best. And he is certainly within range of county record-holder Mike Archie of Sharon (5,136 yards and 75 touchdowns).

``My sophomore year was nothing compared to this year,'' Korcinsky said. ``It was a lot of fun and we had some success, but it was nothing like the ride this year. Those guys (his senior-laden offensive line of Nick Klenovich, Scott Kaltenbaugh, Ryan Nicklin, Brent Hoffman, Rory McFadden and Josh Pearce, as well as blocking backs Chuck Milford, Pat Turpack and Isacco) were doing everything for me. There were tons of times when I ran for TDs and wasn't even touched.''

Korcinsky said the biggest difference between his sophomore and junior seasons was experience, attributing his success, in part, to mother nature, i.e., the maturation process in which an adolescent crosses the threshold into adulthood.

``We had, I think, basically, a group that was a rare combination of talent, dedication and hard work,'' 19th-year Greenville mentor Bob Stone said. ``And it's really nice to see hard workers succeed, because that's the way it's supposed to be.''

Stone is not given to speaking in superlatives, but, relating to Korcinsky, he was full of praise.

``I think the world of Joe,'' Stone said. ``He's a great combination of talent, dedication and hard work. And anytime you find an athlete with those qualities, well ... he's a special athlete.''

Korcinsky carried 312 times in the Trojans' 14 games, an average of about 22.3 trips per game. But during the regular season he carried an average of only a little more than 17 times per game. However as playoff pressure mounted, his number was called by offensive coordinator Brian Herrick with increasing frequency, witnessed by his back-to-back 38-carry state playoff performances against Lock Haven and Blackhawk.

But gaudy offensive statistics were not the sole cement of his game, for Korcinsky also served as a cornerback on defense, as both a kickoff- and punt-returner, and for good measure, as placekicker John Isacco's holder.

``He played good defense for us,'' Stone emphasized. ``And that's asking a lot of a kid, to carry the ball 30-some times a game and still play a full game defensively. Yet he was able to do that very well for us. He played well on both sides of the ball.''

Korcinsky returned the praise.

``The coaching staff was great,'' Korcinsky said. ``They worked us real hard, but treated us real good. Coach Herrick coached me, and I give a lot of credit to him. He was the one who kept everybody calm and told me what I had to do. He was great this year.''

Being the Trojans' tailback is a tradition-rich position, but Korcinsky is cut from a slightly different mold than some of his predecessors, such as Blatt, Louis and Joe Martsolf, Jimmy Eells, Dan Beahm, Andy Houpt and Eddie Whiteside. He seems to possess that instinctive cut-back ability that simply cannot be taught by diagramming Xs and Os on a blackboard.

``Greenville's known for power tailbacks,'' Korcinsky said, referring to the brothers Martsolf, and adding in regard to Blatt, ``Andy had it all: He could plow you over or dance around you.

``But I'm different. I'm more of a dancer and cut-back guy. I don't really think about it, it just kind of happens, I guess. It's unusual for Greenville to have somebody like that.''

As an eighth-grader, Korcinsky watched the Louis Martsolf-Brian Tokar-Cris Loutzenhiser-led Trojans reach the state's Final Four before bowing to Blackhawk, 9-6, and he related, ``I was hoping, some day, to make it that far, that someday it would happen. Well, it did and, hopefully, it will again next year.''

That's why Stone (153-40-6, third-best in Herald annals), as his thoughts turned to next season, said through a chuckle that he would be returning in '97 ``as long as Joe's back.''

Stay tuned. The second Monday in August isn't that far off.

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Updated Dec. 17, 1996.