Jim Render has plenty to be proud of in his 29 seasons as a head high school football coach.

He has built a legacy at Upper St. Clair that includes two PIAA championships, five WPIAL titles, 16 conference crowns and more than 250 wins.

But for all those successes, Render takes as much pride in what his players do after graduation -- and he isn't necessarily talking about those who go on to play major college or professional football, either.

"The one question that's asked of me a lot is: How many guys have I had in the NFL?" Render said. "And the answer is my kids are pros in other areas.

"I have a considerable number of doctors and lawyers and financial planners. That's where our pros are. We've got kids on Wall Street, we've got kids in engineering ... That kind of stuff is also very gratifying."

The gratification keeps coming for Upper St. Clair. Two of the captains of this past season's team are heading to Ivy League schools, where they will play football. Adam Chrissis, a wide receiver and defensive back, will attend Harvard, and Grant Serdy, a running back and linebacker, will go to Princeton.

Each played in the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game Saturday in Altoona. They helped the West team to a 10-0 victory in which play was halted early in the third quarter due to lightning.

"They're very intelligent and very athletic," said West team coach Terry Smith, the coach at Gateway. "They represent Upper St. Clair to the fullest. They had a great week of practice and played well in the game. They're just good, solid football players, and I'd love to have them on my team any time."

Chrissis played for the Panthers' varsity team all four of his high school years, including three as a starter. He led the team this past season in receptions (34), receiving yards (626) and touchdowns (11) and was just as valuable on defense.

Serdy was a key component of the 2006 PIAA titlist Panthers and was a leader this past season, when he led the team in rushing and was third in touchdowns.

Each was named a PG South Fabulous 22 All-Star as a senior.

"They're good kids and they work hard," Render said. "Athletics and academics are important to both of them or else they wouldn't be going where they're going.

A 5-foot-11, 185-pound speedster, Chrissis is the consummate "big-play" threat who will have a chance to crack the Crimson's lineup as a freshman and would figure to be a stellar kick returner.

"My dad and I talked about how we didn't want to send me to a college just to play football," Chrissis said. "We looked at the different majors [Division I-A football players] took, and you can't be an engineer [for example] and play football. There's just no time for it. In the Ivy League, that's expected and they plan for it.

"Harvard has a great atmosphere and a great program, and I really liked coach [Tim] Murphy. He's the same type of coach as coach Render. That should make for a good transition. I'm really excited and looking forward to it."

Serdy (6-1, 210) was originally recruited to Princeton as a linebacker but now has been told he likely will be a running back. He said the Tigers use a two-back spread set in which each player is expected to be able to run, block and catch the ball out of the backfield.

"At first, I wasn't really considering Ivy League schools until I started getting letters from them and started talking to a few of them," said Serdy, who reports to campus July 13.

"I realized it was the way to go. The chances of making it to the NFL [for most college players] are not very good, so you might as well get the best education possible."

Serdy and Chrissis likely will line up against each other during the coming seasons, and both vow to represent Upper St. Clair well, crediting the school for their successes.

"Kids at St. Clair, they work hard on and off the field," Serdy said. "They do what it takes to be good students and good athletes."

Serdy and Chrissis aren't the only Panthers heading to prestigious colleges. In fact, the list includes each of the four players who started on the 2006 PIAA title team who returned to start as seniors this past season. Each also was an All-Great Southern Conference selection.

Dan Miller, a cornerback and wide receiver, is heading to Carnegie Mellon and linebacker Brett Scheller to Washington University in St. Louis.

Render said that Scheller was class valedictorian.

"How many public high schools can have two kids who weren't the valedictorian head to Ivy league colleges? Not many, but it's not as rare at USC as you might imagine," Render said.

"This is one of our better [senior classes], yes," he said. "However, I had two brothers who were both captains at Yale [Ken and Don Lund], and one time during the Dartmouth-Yale game, I had four kids on each team."

Render said having players with high intelligence and strong work ethics works to USC's advantage.

"I'd like to think we can do more things than some other teams because our kids are able to pick it up," Render said. "There are times we make adjustments on Thursday night [before a game], and they're able to understand the changes without having three walk-throughs to get it across.

"We've tweaked things on Friday afternoon, and you can't do that with kids who don't have a little brainpower, you know?"