The Wyoming Area School District community joined the Dunmore Bucks’ community in mourning the loss of Jack Henzes who passed away on Monday, July 24, at the age of 87.
Henzes became the very first head football coach in the fall of 1966 after West Pittston, Exeter, Wyoming, West Wyoming, Harding and part of Falls merged to form the current school district.
As attorney Bill Anzalone reminded me in a phone interview this past week, Henzes and his staff had to do the impossible by taking over 100 football players from each municipality and figure out whose the best for the starting spots.
They essentially had to pick the best quarterback from four; the best linemen, receivers, backs, and defensive team and make a team to compete.
Head Coach Bob Barbieri at Pittston Area and his staff were also faced with the monumental task.
Henzes, like Barbieri, methodically and successfully put their programs together to be competitive.
At Wyoming Area, for the first four-years as head coach, Henzes managed to put together winning seasons from ’66 through ’69.
Prior to the start of the 1970 season and compiling 32 wins against 12 losses, the Wyoming Area School board decided to fire Henzes. They fired the man that would eventually be the second most successful head football coach in Pennsylvania history with 444 wins to Berwick’s George Curry’s Bulldogs 455.
I was a young guy back in 1970, but I remember football fans and school team players under Henzes did not favor the controversial dismissal. The football booster club members were up in arms, and it was just an ugly decision by the school board.
The late Tom Vaxmonsky took over at the helm as head coach, and it had to be a tough situation and tough shoes to fill.
Vaxmonsky’s first two years with the Warriors turned out to be championship seasons.
One way of silencing skeptics is producing and Vaxmonsky did that with two winning teams, but those same skeptics insisted those championship teams and athletes were trained under Henzes.
It’s true, those seniors and juniors had a heavy influence by Henzes, but Vaxmonsky still had to call plays and strategy.
It always amazed me on how Coach Henzes was never forgotten at Wyoming Area and when one of his disciples, Paul Marranca, who played under Henzes at Wyoming Area and later served as one of his assistant coaches at Dunmore, eventually took over as head coach for the Warriors.
The similarities between Marranca and Henzes were not a coincidence; after all, Paul played for Henzes and then coached side-by-side with him so a lot of Coach Henzes rubbed off on Marranca.
While at Wyoming Area, Marranca was pretty successful himself racking up championship seasons with a 230-98-2 record over 29-years at the helm.
I had to interview, in addition to Bill Anzalone, Fred Marianacci and Kim Pace on what Coach Henzes meant to them.
The theme between all three players is how they admired Coach Henzes as well as respected him to the highest level. He was not only a coach to his players, but he was a mentor and father figure.
While I write this column ahead of Coach Henzes’ viewing and funeral, Anzalone and Marianacci plan on attending services for coach while Pace is out of town and will be missing.
When talking to Kim, I could tell how it upset him that he could not be home to pay respects to a man that he held in the highest esteem.
Coaches like Henzes and Barbieri where as close to being a clone of pro coaching legend, Vince Lombardi.
Lombardi brought us quotes like, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence,” and “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”
They were old school coaches when respect was demanded of each player and they thought like Lombardi. The molded boys and transformed them into men taking them into battle week after week.
My own memories are not as in depth as former players as Coach Henzes was my seventh grade physical education teacher. He wasn’t long for his days at Wyoming Area and they were numbered. Within a month of school’s first day, he left for Dunmore.
I was in awe of him and even a bit afraid but he was pretty cool. He had an aura about him that you knew he was different, special.
The last time I saw Coach Henzes was in 2016 when he was an invited guest of the Wyoming Area Class of 1971’s 45th reunion.
He sat with other former teachers and it looked like he had a blast. At some point in the evening, I was asked to take a photo of his former players when they were sophomores and juniors. I was more than happy to take that photo and I’m glad I have it today.
Coach Henzes will never be forgotten at Warrior Nation.
Thought of the Week
“Respect is appreciation of the separateness of the other person, of the ways in which he or she is unique.” – Annie Gottlieb
Quote of the Week
“We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colours and all cultures are distinct and individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We don’t share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive.” – C. JoyBell C.
Bumper Sticker
“I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity.” – Julius Erving
