Thirty-three years later, Leipheimer wins again

GREENVILE, Pa. -- Here's a trivia question for all of the Thiel College football team's fans who are celebrating the Tomcats' first Presidents' Athletic Conference championship since 1972:
Who was a member of both teams?
The answer is Jack Leipheimer, the current Thiel coach who was a starting junior tight end for the 1972 Tomcats under coach Jim McCullough.
Leipheimer, a native of Hermitage and a graduate of Hickory High, helped the 1972 Thiel team to a 7-2 record, including 6-1 in the PAC for the league title.
Then, 33 years later, he guided his alma mater to its first eight-win season in school history with an 8-0 record, including 6-0 in the PAC for the long-absent loop crown, entering the Buffalo State game Saturday.
Leipheimer, in his fifth season as coach, also has the Tomcats on the threshold of qualifying for the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time in school history.
Thiel will end the regular season Nov. 12 at Carnegie Mellon.
Common traits
Are there any common traits between the 1972 and this year's team?
"They were and are good kids and good players from good families," said Leipheimer, recalling that there were a host of other Youngstown-area players on the 1972 team.
He fondly remembered names like defensive back Dom Gatta, fullback Joe Kuhn and Kuhn's cousin, fullback Mickey Kuhn, all from Niles; as well as offensive tackle Mike Lapmardo (Warren JFK), offensive guard Dan Schneider and center Tom Styduhar, both from Sharon; free safety Barry Oman (Hickory) and Jerry Callahan (Wilmington).
He believes this year's team is similar to 1972's squad in makeup.
"We have great kids," said Leipheimer, who tuned around the program in five years and improved his record to 23-25. "They are outstanding students. We have 19 seniors, 19 juniors and 27 sophomores. We have guys staying in school, being very successful academically as well as on the football field. The team GPA is higher than all of the male students at the college."
Experienced, skilled players
Leipheimer, who served as an assistant coach at Allegheny from 1984-2001 before taking over at Thiel, said experienced players who are very skilled are the team's strong points.
"The biggest thing is we are lining up to play 19 seniors on a roster when we go to away game, so the leadership and experience of upperclassman is probably the most critical part," said Leipheimer, whose first high school head coaching job was at Kennedy Christian from 1979-83.
Plus, Leipheimer finally is reaping the benefits of his own recruiting program.
"This is our first full recruiting class," said the coach, who played quarterback for Hickory High under coach Ted Lazorshak. "Last year actually was our first [recruiting] class, but we were late coming in [by] not being hired until January, and we were late in the recruiting process."
He credits the offensive line, anchored by four-year starting tackle Nelton Neal (Warren Harding), for the team's success this season.
"Our offensive line is the key to our success. We have a very physical line," said Leipheimer, pointing out as evidence that, "This is the first year that Thiel has ever even had a 1,000-yard rusher."
Minton first over 1,000 yards
He was referring to sophomore running back Steve Minton, who became Thiel's first 1,000-yard, single-season rusher in only eight games, by leading the Tomcats to a 24-14 win over Thomas More two Saturdays ago for the PAC title.
Minton rushed for a season-high 217 yards in a career-high 37 carries and two TDs of 3 yards and 1 yard in that victory, and was named PAC offensive player of the week. Minton boosted his totals to 1,001 rushing yards in 209 carries and 18 TDs.
But besides Minton, Thiel also displays a potent 1-2 passing punch of senior quarterback Darrell Satterfield and senior wide receiver Brandon Chambers (Farrell).
Satterfield has completed 136-of-234 passes for 1,777 yards and 14 touchdowns with seven interceptions, while Chambers has caught 51 passes for 768 yards and seven TDs.
kovach@vindy.com