Published Saturday, Dec. 7, 1996 
Seniors lead way to victory
By Ed FarrellHerald Sports Writer
ALTOONA _ Some people might call it ``heart.'' Others might call it ``soul'' or ``guts.''
Whatever the term used to describe it, the Farrell High football team exuded it Friday afternoon at Mansion Park. That's how state championships are won, that's how state championships are defended, and that's how Farrell edged Southern Columbia for the second straight season in the PIAA Class A championship game, this year by a 14-12 margin.
Farrell's Slim Harrison lifts Chico Pinkins after Pinkins scored a touchdown during the PIAA State Class A Championship game. Pinkins socred the first touchdown in Farrell's win over Southern Columbia.
And, perhaps, no one typified the Steelers' successful bid to become the Commonwealth's second school to capture back-to- back crowns since the state-wide playoff system's inception than its senior nucleus, particularly Chico Pinkins, Dante Newell and Carlos Daniels.
Farrell and Southern Columbia were knotted at 6-all early in the third period, when Newell recovered an SC fumble. Four plays later, Pinkins _ just moments after having to leave the field after being shaken up _ threw the key block as Jason Kennedy swept right end nine yards for the go- ahead score. Then it was Pinkins who made a lunging snag of Rennie Gash's 2-point conversion pass that proved decisive. And when the Steelers were attempting to drain precious seconds from the clock to preserve the win, it was Daniels' number that was called despite the fact a mid-season injury short-circuited a certain 1,000-plus- yard campaign.
``They worked their butts off,'' veteran head coach Lou Falconi told the assembled massed media. ``Kids today ... they don't come out and take that kind of thing. They do it on the field at practice by their performance. But as far as trying to get everybody `Rah, rah,' our kids don't do that. I have to do it myself...
``But the seniors perform, that's where the leadership is,'' Falconi emphasized, later adding, ``The seniors, yeah, this was their thing today. We put it on their shoulders _ `Your last time' _ and they got two state championships, that's something to be proud of for a senior class.''
Newell _ ``Bucky'' to his friends _ said a home-field loss to Rochester in the regular season's eighth week may have been a blessing:
``It woke up us. Our heads were all in the clouds, but it woke us up. I thank God that it brought us back to reality. We had a lot of injuries and stuff, but we came through those.
``This is more (gratifying),'' the gentle giant admitted regarding the title defense. ``The second time, it's extra hard 'cause everybody's coming at you and you gotta play twice as hard.
``It was added pressure _ everybody shootin' at us _ you gotta play twice as hard. ... The Rochester game, they did a good job, and hat's off to them. But it woke us up, and you see where it got us.''
``Last year, we really didn't expect to win,'' Pinkins recalled. ``But this year, it was a little bit of expecting to win it. Then when we lost, everybody kind of gave up on us. But we just believed in ourselves and came out with the win today, sayin' `We're not gonna lose, my senior year.' ''
Daniels entered the game with 907 yards rushing in his abbreviated season, and there were some who thought he may not have returned from a broken ankle.
``Coach is confident in my strengths and I'm confident in myself, and the team, we were confident in ourselves,'' Daniels said. ``When it's time to run the clock out, we're gonna pound you and drive down the field.
``I was going before I got hurt, I was reaching the goal I wanted to reach. I didn't reach it, but I still had a successful season. I made an impact, letting people know of my ability, that I'm not just big.'' Daniels, after pausing to speak with his mother, related, continuing, ``It was more pressure this year. This year was just harder, everything was just harder. Everybody wanted to kind of come at us. We did it one time (winning the '95 PIAA title) and we wanted to do it again, especially this being our senior year. Doing it our junior year was like, well, we knew it was not gonna be as special as it is right now.
``It's even better now. I'm proud, now, that we proved to all of Mercer County and the WPIAL that we're a team that's able to play and the stereotype of us is, hopefully, slowly fading away, 'cause we can play football and we're a real football team,'' Daniels emphasized.
``It sounds corny, guys,'' Falconi, holding court from the Mansion Park astroturf, said while addressing the assembled media. ``But we talked about this in the summer. I mean, all summer the kids we're saying, `We can do this, we can do this again.' And deep down inside, we all felt we could do it.
``But the way we did it was the thing that was just amazing,'' Falconi emphasized. ``When you're down and out _ 14-0 the first playoff (win over Duquesne); 14-12, the second in overtime (over Western Beaver); the Three Rivers game, 26-25, back and forth (over Riverview); last week's game, 14-10 (over Moshannon Valley). I mean, come on!
`` The first one's much more exciting,'' Falconi said in regard to winning the state crown. ``But I'm so happy for the kids, the community. Two-in-a- row's something you can brag about. We're up there with Berwick (which three-peated Friday night with a win over Blackhawk). We gotta come back next year and try to match their three.
``But two in a row's great! We talked about it and it happened. It really happened!'' Falconi said with a smile.
On a junior-dominated roster, the list of seniors is somewhat scarce: Adrian Ivey, Pinkins, Johnny Kirby, Willie Evans, DeMarco Wilder, Daniels, Sim Harrison, Romeo Jackson, Brian Kucik, Bill Dawson, Newell and Tine Peagler. But it's safe to say their place in Farrell High School and PIAA gridiron annals is secure.
``They mean a lot to me. I've been playing with 'em all my life (and) I love 'em _ DeMarco, Carlos, Chico, Brian Kucik _ all the seniors, I love 'em. I couldn't have done this without them,'' Newell summarized.
``(After the Rochester loss) we just had to come out and play every game as hard as we could _ we knew we could lose a game at any given time _ and all the seniors came out and the rest of the team played hard and we won the game,'' said the jubilant Pinkins while prancing about the field.
``Last year's seniors, they went out with a state championship, and we wanted to do the same thing as them, we wanted to get a state championship just like them, and we did it,'' Newell noted.
``This means a lot to us,'' Daniels said while standing in a corridor outside the joyous made-for-MTV locker room. ``We've been playing with each other, and sometimes having to play against each other, since we were like Midgets. But we've been with each other. We have a lot of memories, we're always reminiscing about the things we've done together when we were young. We've played basketball together. We've been successful together.
``A lot of us started our sophomore year and we're close like that, you know? And we're gonna miss each other a lot ... it's gonna be kind of hard ... '' Daniels, serving as spokesman, concluded.