SI
Stronger than steel
In the heart of the Rust Belt, a football team shines on
Posted: Tuesday November 28, 2006 3:42PM; Updated: Tuesday November 28, 2006 3:42PM
In more than two decades as coach, John Magistro guided small-town Bellaire High to five undefeated regular seasons.
Jamie Sabau/SI
Bellaire, Ohio, is a rusty shovel of a town. The steel mill has been closed for decades, and the dilapidated railroad bridge over the Ohio River leads nowhere. The Imperial glass factory that was once the pride of the community has been torn down, and most of the coal mines have closed. The few that remain are non-union and automated, so 150 miners do the work that required 1,200 men 40 years ago. Jobs are scarce; unemployment's high; and abandoned houses remain eyesores on the hillsides.
The high school, which once had over 1000 students, now has fewer than 500. Yet Bellaire's high school football team has continued to win. This season, which ended last Friday with a 49-7 playoff loss to powerhouse Youngstown Cardinal Mooney in the Division IV state semifinals, was the fifth time in retiring head coach
John Magistro's 23 years that the Big Reds were 10-0 in the regular season, and the ninth time under Magistro's tenure that Bellaire won the 47-team Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.
With jet-black hair and a trim physique that makes him appear younger than his 58 years, the outgoing Magistro compiled a 181-76 record while at Bellaire, and twice ('95 and '96) led his team to the state finals. This year was supposedly a rebuilding year, but the Big Reds defied preseason predictions and not only qualified for the playoffs, but took their record to 13-0 by winning their first three playoff games over St. Clairsville, Westfall, and New Lexington by a combined score of 131--54. An uncharacteristic seven turnovers sealed their fate against Cardinal Mooney and ended hopes of sending Magistro into retirement with his first state title.
"That's been a huge motivator for us this year," says
Trey Masciarelli, the undersized (5-9, 170 pounds) cornerback and wide receiver who shattered the school's career touchdown record this year, which had previously been held by
Joey Galloway, now a wideout with the Tampa Bay Bucs. "We wanted to send Coach out with a bang."
Magistro, though, doesn't feel a state championship was needed to complete his legacy. "The biggest charge I get is when a kid comes back and asks me to recommend him for a job," says Magistro, who's moving to Columbus to be closer to his three grown children, and three grandchildren. "The respect I get from my kids is all the legacy I need. We just have so many hard-nosed players here. Bellaire probably has more all-Americans than any other town our size."
Bellaire, which has a population under 5,000, has carried the nickname of "the all-American city" since New York News sportswriter
Francis Wallace dubbed it that in the early 1930s when three Bellaire grads were named all-America in the same year:
Bud Bonar of Notre Dame,
Katz Kadlic of Princeton, and
Miller Munjus of Pitt. When
Knute Rockne made his famous "Win one for the Gipper" speech in 1928, his quarterback was
John Niemec, another Bellaire grad.
Nine former Big Reds have gone on to the NFL, including two now playing,
Ben Taylor, a linebacker for the Packers, and Galloway.
"It's like you see on Friday Night Lights," says Galloway, who captained the team in 1989. "It's a small town, and football is life back there. I'd been a quarterback, and Coach Magistro saw me palming a basketball and dunking in the gym when I was a freshman, and said with my hands, I should be a receiver. He was the first one to tell me that. You meet special people in life, and he's one of those guys who always does things right. His family is like a second family to me."
Magistro's successor has already been named -- offensive coordinator
Gregg Bonar, an assistant coach for the last 23 years -- and if he's got a tough act to follow, toughness comes with the territory in Bellaire. "This is probably the toughest town you'll ever be in," says Bonar, a nephew of Notre Dame's
Bud Bonar. "Kids grow up here knowing what's expected of them. It's tradition. The townspeople expect you to win every game, and I wouldn't want to coach anywhere else."
"My mom went to Bellaire, and she started taking me to games when I was a baby," says senior quarterback
Nick Rocchio, who sat on the bench behind all-everything
Nate Davis for two years waiting for Davis to graduate. (Davis started this season for Ball St.) All Rocchio did when he finally took over the team was break all Bellaire's single-season passing records, throwing for 3,100 yards and 44 touchdowns. "Ever since you're little, all you do is dream of playing for the Big Reds."
"Bellaire doesn't have a pro or college team, so we're who people follow," Magistro says. "We're Ohio State. There's not a Division 1 player on our roster, but I've never coached a team with more heart than this one. I'm sure I'll adjust, but right now it's kicking me to leave."
