JOHN KOVACH | Colleges Warren's Gerba reaps dividends for Bethany

BETHANY, W. Va. -- A summer of football and academic preparation on the Bethany College campus has reaped dividends for Gary Gerba of Warren, helping him to a strong start in his senior year with the Bison football team.
Gerba, a Warren JFK High graduate and a strong safety for Bethany, was a standout in the Bison's season-opening 34-21 win over Franklin & amp; Marshall, and won league and national recognition.
Gerba had four tackles, three pass breakups, one interception, one quarterback sack and one forced fumble to spearhead a Bethany defense that forced six turnovers.
For his performance, he was named Presidents' Athletic Conference defensive player of the week and was selected to the D3Football.com team of the week.
Bethany's win was impressive considering the Division III Bison were coming off a 1-9 season in 2004 under first-year coach Steve Lee, while F & amp;M was the defending Centennial Conference co-champion.
Continues standout play
"I spent a lot of time in the weight room and running while at Bethany this summer," said Gerba, who is picking up where he left off last season when he was Bethany's second-leading tackler with 54 stops, even though he missed three games toward the end of the season because of an ankle injury.
He eventually returned for the final game to help the Bison beat Defiance, 33-21, for its only win of the season.
"I had a severe ankle sprain," Gerba said. Now, "The ankle is very good."
In addition to preparing for football this summer, Gerba also made a lot of progress in gaining practical experience for his public relations major.
"I was actually in Bethany all summer doing an internship program. I did all the PR work for Bethany's summer camps," Gerba said.
Valuable experience
Gerba said the internship "was a great experience because I got to do a lot of things that people who do things in my major don't usually do. I had a lot of hands-on experience like dealing with writing press releases, problem solving, things that in the PR world you would have to take care of day in and day out.
"Every year Bethany sponsors a summer soccer camp. At one point we had 700 soccer players here at one time," Gerba said. "We have to make sure that everything went well. We had to prepare the fields, the housing and taking care of any special needs. I would be the one to take care of those things."
Gerba credits Bethany's first-game success to preparation.
"I give credit to our coaching staff. We were prepared very well. We had a good off-season. Everyone did their job. We were able to make plays," said Gerba, the son of Brenda and Bill Gerba, who played for coach Tony Napolet at JFK.
He won a letter his freshman year at Bethany by playing on special teams, but bypassed football his sophomore year before rejoining the team.
Gerba said that his role at strong safety is being "the last line of defense for our defense. If the ball is thrown, we have to save the ball. We have certain [defensive] reads that we make according to the defense we are playing, and that is what will determine what I will do in the secondary."
Father is big fan
Gerba said his No. 1 fan is his father.
"My dad has been to every game I played in since I was a freshman," said Gerba, who plans to graduate in May.
He is considering becoming a graduate assistant football coach while working on his master's degree.
Lee lauded Gerba's play against F & amp;M.
"Gary played a super game. He made big plays, not only on the interception, but he had a huge hit to force the fumble. He came through the way we expect our senior leadership to," said Lee.
Defensive coordinator Charlie Giangrosso also praised Gerba, calling him a tough leader.
"Gary is a very physical player and that really showed [against F & amp;M]," said Giangrosso. "He shows the outstanding leadership skills you expect in a senior by bringing players up to his level."
Parker also stars
Also pacing Bethany in the win over F & amp;M was junior wide receiver T.J. Parker (Fitch), who caught two TD passes to tie a school record. He caught a 72-yard TD pass thrown by wide receiver Milton Joyner on the Bison's first play from scrimmage, and an 11-yard strike from quarterback Brent Owens.
Other area players on the Bethany roster are David Riehl (Girard), a freshman defensive lineman, and Kris Simmons (East Liverpool), a junior offensive lineman.
kovach@vindy.com