NC History Features
On this page, you will be able to read all about the history of the high school, middle school, and some of the people that have made history related to the schools.
The Northern Cambria High School is most notorious for its back-to-back state champion wins in the sport of volleyball, under the coaching of Mike Hogan, but did you know that NCHS also won a Football Championship? Ralph Gray has a book called “Champions Along The West Branch”.
To read more about Ralph Gray scroll down the page until you see the title "Ralph Gray: Keeper and Teacher of Our Past."
The "Champions Along The West Branch" book follows the history of the championship football seasons of Barnesboro, Spangler, and Northern Cambria. He has two volumes of these books. Volume 1 guides us through the years 1931-1959 & Volume 2 pushes us through 1964-2003.
In the 1959-60 school year, Dan Miller, head coach of the football team, led his team to victory with the help from his assistant coaches; Vic Chervenak, Joe Frontino, & Bevon Anderson. Managers of the team were George Hanyok, Eugene Elliot, & Albert Hromulak.
For us being such a small school, it is quite surprising how successful we are. Have you ever stopped to look at the state championship banners located in the gym? It can surprise you how far they date back & how many we have!
In the next issue be sure to look for a continuation on this article where I’ll be talking about Mr. Ted Kennan’s Journey as a successful high school basketball coach!
Scroll Down To See 1959-60 Football Team Roster Below!!
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Andy Baron John Sherry Joe John Basile
Bernard Kingston Frank Hollewa Jerry Innocenti
Richard Yuravak Thomas States Francis Verchick
Robert Hoelleinf Don Demi Leonard Wyland
Joseph Wargo William Young Mike Chervenak
Larry Sherwin Ronald Nagle Butch Artoin
Robert Williams Steve Drahnak Buddy Jones
Bucky Smorto Robert Tomallo Wib Leonard
Robert Byrne Marvin Naymick Robert Farrell
Dan Magulick Edward Serafin Richard Dumm
Richard Chervenak James Kirsch Andy Kirsch
John Bernard Joseph Bernard George Marovich
Leroy Kirsch Mike Tinik Jerry Trybus
Gil Myers Mike Lamagna Richard Yedlosky
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Seeing the Past in the Present
By Sam Frantz, Editor ~ February 25, 2021Photos by Makaila Work, Editor and Isabelle Smith, Editor
Being from a small school such as Northern Cambria, we tend not to think much about the history behind the school. But, there’s a lot more to the small school of Northern Cambria than most of us would think.
Recently, our Journalism class found an old scrapbook consisting of many old photos of students and the school. Ralph Gray was the generous donor of this book. He’s actually written books and other interesting pieces about our area. We would like to thank him for opening our eyes to what NC was like many years ago.
This scrapbook contained a variety of pictures from when the school was first being constructed and taught in. There were various photos of different graduating classes, sports teams, and people who went to the school back during this time.
We’ve collected some photos of the scrapbook and have them located below. And to make it even more interesting, we’ve even added a couple photos of present state of the school. Look through the pictures below and have fun taking a blast to the past!
Shown to the left is a photo of an old Emanon cover. If you click the right arrow you will see a photo of the updated Emanon covers.
The images above show the evolution of the Northern Cambria High School.
Pictured to the left are images of the different letterman symbols. Shown in the first image is the letterman patch for the Barnesboro High School. Then, in the second image is the letterman patch for the Spangler High School. The two schools then came together as one to form the Northern Cambria High School. The third picture is the letterman patch that was the result of the two schools combined.
The name Ralph Gray might not ring a bell for most current students and teachers at NCHS, but his legacy to our school and this area is admirable and very much worth knowing and remembering.
Ralph Gray, a 1957 Barnesboro High School graduate, wrote several books about the area, specifically its football championships, and donated to our school a huge scrapbook of memorabilia about NC's past, beginning with Barnesboro and Spangler High Schools. It’s from Mr. Gray’s collection of old newspaper photographs, articles, Emanons, sports items, and more that NC’s current Emanon reporters were able to explore, write about, and feature pieces of our shared past in this March 5, 2021 update.
Ralph Gray was a local, and he loved NC; his books show it, and his passion for collecting all things related to NC’s past proves it. Mr. Gray stopped by Mrs. Frontino’s English class back in 2014, and he brought along his old football jersey and allowed a few students to hold it while he talked about his own days of playing football. He also told some stories about the olden days, describing what it was like attending school and what things there were to do around the town. He made everyone appreciate small-town life. He was a very humble man, giving students useful advice and tips on living a good life.
Born on April 27, 1939, Ralph Gray was the son of Blanford Gray and Anna Alessi Gray. He attended Barr Twp. Elementary School in Mosscreek, PA, as a young boy. As Ralph grew older he attended what was known as Barnesboro High School, now known as Northern Cambria High School District. While Ralph was a senior during 1956 he captained the football team and received an award as the team's most valuable player. After his graduation in 1957, Ralph transferred to Indiana State College after taking a year break from school. He graduated from college with a B.S. in education. Ralph also taught mathematics at Bellefonte High for 20 years, and he was also a P.I.A.A. official for 30 years.
Ralph’s publications are in two volumes, one from 2013 and the last from 2014, titled Champions Along the West Branch. Ralph’s two books highlight championship football seasons of Barnesboro, Spangler, and Northern Cambria.
~ Volume 1: covers 1931-1959~
~ Volume 2 : covers 1964-2003~
Thanks to Mr. Gray, NC can continue to look back on its history and its championships, through his publications and his collection of scrapbook memories.