1991

The Jaguar Machine Roars Again, Perfect 10-0!

The 1991 Jaguars led by Jack Garrity in his second year at the helm finished a perfect 10-0 for the first time in school history while defeating three #1 seeds along the way. The team returned 12 starters, and were looking to improve upon the previous 2-8 season. Thomas Jefferson had not won the conference since 1981, and did not have a winning season since then as well. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Pittsburgh Press both picked Brownsville to win the Big 7 Conference with TJ off the radar. But the Jaguars prevailed, often in dramatic fashion, returning pride to the program, school, and community.

The Jaguars were balanced offensively and averaged 30.9 points per game. The return of five starters across the offensive line led by seniors Wayne Fussaro, Jeff Lowman, Chris Andrews, Dave Kiray, and junior Matt McClelland were a throw back to the yesteryears of strong TJ lines. The team also returned five backfield lettermen including record breaking receiver Scott Lawry. The only new starters were Brandon Adams, the first sophomore starting quarterback in school history, and sophomore Aaron Brettschneider. They also lost returning starting senior

halfback Jeff Van Bibber before the season began with a knee injury. Brett Stoffel and Mark Eckley each clipped well over the 500 yard mark. Brandon Adams accounted for over 1,200 yards, established a new TD passing mark, and finished 7th in passing in the WPIAL. Steve Mitchell also set a new receiving mark with 8 TD grabs.

Defensively they recorded 2 shutouts, and held their opponents to 7 points or less 6 times. Defensively they were led by Matt Dorsey with 10 interceptions, a school record, Drew Alcorn, Scott Lawry, and a great front eight that gave up yards grudgingly.

The team's make-up, dominated by a strong senior class, were very workman-like and set the tone for the younger players. In total, 15 players from the three classes went on to play at some level of collegiate football.

The aura around the team really took hold within the community and school by week four of the season, as the support and enthusiasm of the team's style of play and four straight wins inspired a fan base. The community rallied around this team, and the following at games and the signs along Old Clairton Road were

"absolutely phenomenal", to quote head coach Jack Garrity. The McGuffey game saw a standing room crowd that included fans lined around the field which the TJ faithful had not seen in a decade. It was so loud that you could not hear cadences from the quarterback at the dramatic end to the game, as the Jaguar faithful rushed the field when the seconds wore down.

The Jaguars secured a Big 7 crown, a #1 ranking in the WPIAL, and #5 ranking in Pennsylvania by the end of their regular season. They ultimately finished the season by losing to Seton Lasalle in the quarter-finals of the WPIAL playoffs, 21 to 4, while missing a few starters due to injury, and a round of the flu that took hold of many of the players.

Rising from a bunch of unknowns and mediocre seasons, the "Jaguar Machine" captured the local media, school, and community's hearts by winning games versus seemingly superior opponents, and often in dramatic fashion. The season was marked as a complete success and laid the groundwork for a football program that reconnected with it's past and would continue the TJ tradition for years to come.

Season:

Links below of articles and videos from that week's game.

TJ 39 vs Highlands 0: Video and articles

TJ 42 vs KO 7:Video and articles

Char Valley 0 vs TJ 29: Video and articles

EF 6 vs TJ 42: Video and articles

TJ 23 vs Brownsville 21: Video and articles

TJ 35 vs Mount Pleasent 6: Video and articles

Waynesburg 7 vs TJ 45:Video and articles

TJ 12 vs Peters 6: Video and articles

McGuffey 20 vs TJ 21: Video and articles

TJ 21 vs West Mifflin 20: Video and articles

Playoffs:

Seton Lasalle 21 vs TJ 4: Video and articles

Roster

Seniors

Chris Andrews

Drew Alcorn

Kory Annonio

Ryan Blocher

Mark Eckley

Frank Elborne

Wayne Fussaro

Brian Graeser

Dave Kiray

Scott Lawry

Jeff Lowman

Steve Mitchell

Brett Lee Stoffel

Mike Tima

Jeff VanBibber

Pete Zoglmann

Juniors

Mike Baileys

Kirk Cappezutto

Matt Dorsey

Mike Jones

Shawn Kennedy

Matt McClelland

Keith Miller

Kevin Moon

Matt Schwer

Matt Silberman

Randy Smith

Anton Zorko

Sophomores

Brandon Adams

Tom Alexander

Ike Au

Chuck Barkey

Aaron Brettschneider

Ben Berzai

Bruce Fennel

Dave Johnson

Jason Koisor

Frank Magaro

Mark Tima

Dan Tulusiak

Tim Wolfe

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