Most of our WPIAL coverage on Steel City Blitz is objective coverage, discussing standings, playoff scenarios, and Games of the Week. This project is be something a little different – a first-person account of my family visiting different towns and stadiums throughout Western Pennsylvania. Three years ago I started the Tour of the WPIAL with visits to Rochester, Southmoreland, and West Greene. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make any visits in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, but with fans allowed back in attendance last year, the Tour continued! We were able to visit Sto-Rox, Laurel, and Belle Vernon. This year we have visited Seneca Valley and Dormont Stadium to see both Keystone Oaks and Bishop Canevin. This week, we took a trip south to scenic Laurel Highlands!
Laurel Highlands
Nickname: Mustangs
WPIAL Championships: None
Municipalities: North Union Township, South Union Township
Town History
North and South Union Township, which make up Laurel Highlands School District, surround the Borough of Uniontown which is the seat of Fayette County. All three were incorporated out of the land that was originally Union Township. One of the original townships of Fayette County, Union Township was formed in 1783. Uniontown was incorporated in 1796 and is separately served by Uniontown School District while Laurel Highlands covers the surrounding areas.
Notably, the French and Indian War began in the area that would become North Union Township. The Battle of Jumonville Glen was the first skirmish of the War where George Washington and his Mingo allies routed a force of French Canadians. The town of Jumonville is named for the French commander, Joseph Coulon de Jumonville. As tensions escalated between the French and British, one of the terms demanded was that George Washington admit to the assassination of Jumonville during the attack on the French camp.
In 1851, Union Township was divided into North Union Township and South Union Township. The dividing line was the National Road, which bisected the townships. The National Road was begun in 1811 and was the first major highway built by the federal government. It followed the same pathway as the Braddock Road, which was opened by the Ohio Company in 1751. The Braddock Road connected Fort Cumberland (which would become the town of Cumberland, Maryland) with Fort Duquesne at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers. The Braddock Road was an important pathway westward as it connected the upper reaches of the Potomac River in Cumberland with the Ohio River and the gateway to the west.
The National Road was initially named the Cumberland Road and had the same intent as the Braddock Road – to connect the Potomac and Ohio Rivers. While the Braddock Road turned northwards towards Pittsburgh, the Cumberland road continued in a relatively direct path to the west, connecting to the Ohio River in Wheeling, West Virginia. It took seven years from commencement of construction for the road to reach Wheeling, passing directly through Union Township and Uniontown. In 1820, Congress funded an extension of the National Road to go from Wheeling to St. Louis to also connect to the Mississippi River. However, funding ran out during the Financial Panic of 1837 and construction was halted at Vandalia, Illinois (which was the state capital at the time). State-funded toll roads eventually connected destinations to the east such as Baltimore and to St. Louis in the west. The “National Road” became labelled as “US 40” when the highway numbering system came into effect.
With the presence of the National Road through Union Township, a number of historic locales geared towards travelers exist. These include the Summit Hotel which is located atop Summit Mountain of Chestnut Ridge. With both the mountainous terrain as well as Redstone Creek running from the southeast corner to the northeast corner of the area, North and South Union Townships have some massive changes in elevation and a wide array of topographies. The area goes from rolling farmlands into the Chestnut Ridge mountains.
Football History
Originally, North Union and South Union Townships had separate high schools. North Union first played football in 1913. They officially joined the WPIAL in 1929 and won conference championships in 1960 (when they went 8-0-1) , 1962 and 1964. South Union started playing football in 1921 and also joined the WPIAL in 1929. The schools were merged to form Laurel Highlands in 1966. Among active schools in the WPIAL, only Norwin has competed for more seasons than Laurel Highlands without winning a conference championship. It would take Laurel Highlands over two decades to make the playoffs after the merger of North Union and South Union. The Mustangs’ first playoff appearance came in 1989. From there, they would not make it back to the postseason for another 23 years. The 2002 season started a decade of relative success for the Mustangs program as they qualified for the playoffs in 7 of 10 years. A playoff victory still eluded the Mustangs who would also make the playoffs in 2014 and 2015, giving them the most postseason appearances without a playoff victory. Last year was a historic season for Laurel Highlands as they got off to the best start in school history (winning their first 5 games) and won their first playoff game ever, defeating Beaver in thrilling fashion 28-27.
Our Visit
McKeesport vs Laurel Highlands
Both teams came into the game with highly-touted playmakers. Laurel Highlands was led by West Virginia-commit Rodney Gallagher who is one of the best athletes to come out of Fayette County in the last decade. Gallagher will likely play receiver in college but has been a very good high school quarterback. Last year he joined the elite 1000/1000 club of players to throw for 1000 yards and run for 1000 yards in the same regular season. The Mustangs had started the season with Gallagher at receiver but when the offense struggled, moved him back to quarterback.
McKeesport came into the game with one of the most exciting all-around players in the WPIAL Bobbie Boyd. Two weeks ago Boyd scored 3 rushing touchdowns and had 3 interceptions on defense against defending 5A State Champs Penn-Trafford. Last week against Belle Vernon, Boyd had a 95-yard rushing touchdown where his helmet got ripped off mid-run and a pick-six.
Laurel Highlands High School sits atop a hill just outside Uniontown proper. Mustang Stadium is built into the hillside below the school with an incredible vista looking out across the mountains. You enter the stadium from the top and with no bleachers on the visitor’s side of the field, the scenic view is on full display.
Unfortunately, Bobbie Boyd was injured on the first drive of the game and did not return. He did have a dazzling 29-yarder that set up McKeesport’s first touchdown. The Tigers run an old-school wishbone triple-option offensive attack. Their line had its way all night with Laurel Highlands’ front. Without Boyd in the game, McKeesport lacked their home-run hitter but was still able to march the ball up and down the field. After punching in an initial touchdown, McKeesport kicked off short to keep the ball away from Gallagher and the catch was muffed. McKeesport recovered and scored another quick touchdown to go up 14-0 early.
Laurel Highlands wasn’t able to get much going on offense and Gallagher was constantly harassed by McKeesport’s front seven. Every time he tried to step up, a linebacker was there ready to meet him. Both teams turned the ball over a few times in the second half and McKeesport went into halftime up 14-0.
At halftime, I got to meet up with my buddy Brian Mroziak who broadcasts the Laurel Highlands games for WMBS in Uniontown. He let me do a quick spot on the halftime show, which was pretty cool. Laurel Highlands also boasts an excellent band who played an up-tempo show.
In the second half, McKeesport continued to grind away offensively. Laurel Highlands still couldn’t get much going and the Tigers running game wore them down. McKeesport would tack on two more touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 26-0 lead after a few missed conversions, then add another in the fourth for a 33-0 victory. The game didn’t quite get to the mercy rule. Laurel Highlands fought their hearts out, but McKeesport just dominated in the trenches and the Mustangs couldn’t slow down the Tigers rushing attack. McKeesport had two players go over 100 yards rushing. All in all, we had a fun trip to an scenic venue at Mustang Stadium. While our trip happened in mid-September, I bet in a few weeks when the leaves start changing colors the views of the mountains will be incredible.
