Art Walker Jr. was at a crossroads two years into his coaching career at Central Catholic High School. Only 28 at the time, his Vikings had gone a combined 7-13 and he contemplated a return to West Allegheny to assist his old boss, Bob Palko.
“I told myself that if we didn’t make the playoffs in my third year, I was going to hang it up,” Walker said, recalling that pivotal 2000 season. “I was already teaching at West Allegheny, so I thought I’d just go back to being an offensive coordinator.”
A strong-willed individual who learned the trade from his father and WPIAL coaching legend Art Walker Sr., the younger Walker persevered.
Good thing, too.
He led Central Catholic to an 8-3 record and a victory in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs for the first time in 14 years in his third season. The program would take off like Usain Bolt from there.
The Vikings advanced to the WPIAL title game in Walker’s fourth season and finished as the WPIAL champ and PIAA runner-up in his sixth.
“We were moving in the right direction during those years,” Walker said.
Then came 2004, a landmark campaign that relaunched the program into the perennial powerhouse that it is today. Some say that team is the best in Central history. Others argue it ranks second behind the iconic 1964 squad.
Either way, those 2004 Vikings earned the distinction of becoming the first team in state history to go 16-0 (an extra PIAA playoff game was added that year), as they swept the WPIAL and PIAA championships, outscoring their seven opponents, 237-36.
That band of brothers, as they called themselves, was so powerful that future NFL great LeSean McCoy managed only 39 yards on 22 carries against them in the state semifinals. Central also forced the mercy rule on each of its three PIAA playoff foes.
They were tough, talented and transcendent. And now, they are Hall of Famers.
That became official Friday night when the Vikings were inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame.
Other enshrinees last week included: The 1992 Blackhawk basketball team; coaches Gus DeAugustino (North Allegheny wrestling), Chris Mary (Canon-McMillan wrestling), Joe Mucci (Greensburg Central Catholic football) and Pat Tarquino (Beaver football); basketball players Meg Bulger (Oakland Catholic), Jonna Huemrich Burke (Bethel Park) and T.J. McConnell (Chartiers Valley); football players Dorin Dickerson (West Allegheny) and Rick Razzano (New Castle); swimmer Jerry Koller (Bethel Park); golfer Rachel Rohanna (Waynesburg); contest official Bill Sinning; contributor James Bruni; Courage Award winner Luke Blanock (Canon-McMillan baseball); and Heritage Award winner Ray Fioroni (former Avella football coach).
“Getting in is such a beautiful feeling,” said former Central tailback Eugene Jarvis, who, despite being only 5 feet 6, accounted for more than 2,000 yards in 2004 and was a two-time WPIAL Player of the Year. “Growing up, we all watched guys go into the NFL Hall of Fame and college Hall of Fame, So, for us to be inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame is special.”
Special describes a group of players led by Jarvis, quarterback-defensive back Shane Murray, tight end-defensive end John Pelusi, linebacker Nate Williams and lineman Jon Herrman. That quintet was named first-team all-state. Defensive back Tony Colaizzi was a second-teamer and Walker was a runaway selection as Coach of the Year.
“We were a family,” said Pelusi, who went on to play tight end at Pitt and currently works as a financial adviser for professional athletes. “The unique thing about Central Catholic is that you get a large pool of young men from different demographics, and when you can all come together and form a brotherhood, it makes it that much more unique.”
The foundation for that team was built moments after the Vikings lost in the 2003 PIAA final to North Penn, 37-10. Walker spoke passionately to the group, which went 13-2 and won the WPIAL championship, about adopting the motto, “unfinished business,” for the next year.
The players bought in — with great fervor.
“That mindset had all of us spending extra time in the weight room, on the practice field, finishing every drill,” said Jarvis, who went on to star at Kent State and currently works at BNY Mellon, Downtown. “We were never satisfied, and we made a lot of sacrifices.”
A number of benchmark moments defined that 2004 season.
There was a Week 2 win that snapped national powerhouse St. Joseph’s 38-game winning streak. There was the start of a tradition that still exists today, in which defensive players were given links that formed a unified chain. There were victories against schools that featured future NFL players such as Penn Hills’ Barry Church (Dallas Cowboys), Upper St. Clair’s Sean Lee (Cowboys) and Gateway’s Justin King (formerly of the Colts and Steelers). There was a scintillating defensive performance in the PIAA title game in which Neshaminy did not record a first down until the third quarter — and it came on an offsides penalty.
And, of course, there was that unforgettable game against McCoy and Bishop McDevitt. McCoy entered having rushed for a whopping 1,715 yards the previous five games (343 per contest), yet managed 1.8 yards per carry in a 44-0 loss.
“That was a heck of a defense,” said then-coordinator Terry Totten, who took over as head coach the following season when Walker left for his current job at North Allegheny. “We were able to close down the gaps and we got after him. Think about it: Shady McCoy might stand on the steps of Canton one day. We just had a great group of kids.”
That team laid the groundwork for future success. Central has gone on to win three more WPIAL titles (2007, 2013 and 2015) and two PIAA crowns (2007 and 2015). Walker, meantime, has led North Allegheny to precisely the same number of WPIAL Class AAAA championships (2010, 2011 and 2012) and state titles (2010 and 2012) during that span. His 2012 team went 16-0.
“It was very difficult for me to leave Central Catholic,” Walker said. “We hadn’t won a playoff game in 12 years when I got there, and the things we were able to do as a staff to turn it around made it really special. For us to go into the Hall of Fame together blows me away. I loved coaching with those guys, which included my dad, and being around those kids. We experienced something special together that formed lifelong relationships.”
First Published: June 17, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
