About the series
With the Northeastern varsity football program approaching its historic first game later this month, reporter Sean McLernon took an in-depth look at some of the personalities involved with the startup squad in a four-part series.

Part 1
Northeastern junior Justin Michalak has been waiting his whole life to play high school varsity football. In fact, Michalak, a cancer survivor, credits football with helping to save his life. Read More

Coach Brendan Brown didn't view the Northeastern program as a risk. Rather, he saw 'a potential gold mine.' Read More

Part 2
When the Northeastern Football Association needed help raising the $250,000 necessary to launch the program, Joe Griffith was just the guy they were looking for. Read More

Griffith's fundraising efforts have been considerable. But some in the community are still worried by the threat of higher taxes. Read More

Part 3
Rebuffed for the head coaching job, assistant Troy Jensen was reluctant to join Northeastern s staff. Two years later, his impact on the program is undeniable. Read More

Part 4
Tyler Wolgamuth is one of the few seniors on the varsity squad. He spent the past two-plus years working hard so he could have one season one shot at gridiron glory. Read More

Behind the scenes
Sean McLernon blogs the behind-the-scenes story behind the Northeastern series on The Lineup Card, our sports blog. Read More

Photo gallery
See some of the faces behind the Northeastern football program up close. View Gallery

Tyler Wolgamuth understands why most of his classmates didn't want to go through what he did.

That's what happens when football is a foreign sport to so many in Manchester, Mount Wolf and York Haven.

It's part of the fallout from his entire class being ineligible to play football as sophomores. There were plenty of other athletic opportunities, and Wolgamuth's peers jumped at them.

"They didn't want to spend a whole year not playing games and just going to workouts," Wolgamuth said with a shrug.

It didn't stop Wolgamuth. The senior, 6-foot defensive end trained with the seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders back in 2006. He played junior varsity as a junior last season. He gave up baseball this spring in order to put all of his

Northeastern's Tyler Wolgamuth is only one of a handful of seniors that will take the field for the Bobcats' varsity team this season. When football first came to the school two years ago as a junior high program, Wolgamuth had to spend the year not playing and just going to workouts.
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(Daily Record/Sunday News photo illustration - Jason Plotkin)
energy into the offseason football training program.

In return, he gets to suit up for the inaugural year of Northeastern varsity football. He gets to play in front of hundreds of screaming fans. He gets to compete against the area's top athletes in the sport he loves.

All of that is certain. But earning a few wins - or even a single victory - during his first and only season is far from guaranteed.

"I look at this season as kind of a free trip to Las Vegas for us," Northeastern coach Brendan Brown said. "We're playing with house money. If we win a game, we've defied the odds. No one expects a first-year program with zero varsity lettermen to win a game."

Those low expectations, coupled with the demands of playing the sport, have left Wolgamuth as part of a group Brown calls "the few and the proud." These 12th graders will be focusing on the relatively bleak present while the younger players on the squad plan and work toward a brighter future.

* * *

Only three or four seniors are expected to open the season as starters for the Bobcats.

"We're fighting against a lot of elements right now," Brown said. "We just haven't played a varsity football game, so a lot of these kids don't know what they're missing yet. I think next year this job is going to be a lot easier."

Win a couple of games, especially early in the season, and Brown's job might become a lot easier even sooner.

The odds are stacked against Northeastern, as they are for any football team making its debut at the varsity level. For a sport that requires so much cooperation among teammates and a deep understanding of the game, experience counts much more than the average varsity sport.

Students and community members might not be so quick to understand those circumstances. The more success on the field for the Bobcats, the more likely the team will be able to draw more talented athletes and maintain interest among the fan base.

Wolgamuth and the other seniors aren't the only ones who could benefit from a victory or two in a season that is, on at least one level, a dress rehearsal for the 2009 campaign.

"Anytime you have a winner, people come to watch you," said athletic director Bryan Stephens, who is a former varsity soccer coach at Northeastern and a 1993 graduate of the school. "You hear the talk around here, whether it be in Mount Wolf or Manchester or even York County. They say it might take us a couple of years to get that first win. I understand that. But to keep success going, to keep kids interested, they don't want to be a part of something where they know they are constantly going to get their butt kicked when they walk out on the field."

Tyler Wolgamuth is one of a handful of seniors playing for Northeastern's new varsity team this fall. He expects the inexperienced team to pick up several wins this season and thinks that contending for the Division II title is a realistic goal.
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(Daily Record/Sunday News - Jason Plotkin)
Wolgamuth said this year's group could definitely give the program a jump-start for the future with more than a couple of wins. And there is one thing that's keeping him optimistic about this year's chances.

"There's no one working harder than us," Wolgamuth said.

* * *

With teams such as Central York, West York and Susquehannock on its schedule, hard work might not be enough to generate wins. Northeastern's male enrollment figure puts the novice Bobcats in Division II of the YAIAA, where they will face several established programs with traditions of success.

Wolgamuth and his teammates are already working to address the inexperience issue. It starts with communication - encouraging

Northeastern quarterback coach George Motley is framed by Tyler Wolgamuth, left, and Justin Michalak during a recent workout.
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(Daily Record/Sunday News - Jason Plotkin)
teammates to talk to each other constantly on the field. The seniors even turn up the music to dangerous decibel levels in the weight room to simulate Friday night crowd noise.

When the Bobcats are on the practice field, the focus is on repetition. Constant drilling on the fundamentals, according to Wolgamuth, should pay dividends in the fall.

"We practice the little things all the time - stances, alignment, assignments," Wolgamuth said. "At practice, we do the same stuff over and over again until we get the little things down. That's what wins football games."

The senior expects to win several times this season. He said that contending for the Division II title and reaching the District 3 Class AAA playoffs are realistic goals for this squad.

Playing the only hand he will ever be dealt, Wolgamuth is going all in.

"We've been working hard," he said. "We like it when nobody is on our side. The pressure is on everybody else."

smclernon@ydr.com; 771-2045

BOBCATS' 2008 VARSITY SCHEDULE

Fri. Aug. 29: vs. East Juniata, 7 p.m.

Fri. Sept. 5: at Biglerville, 7:30 p.m.

Fri. Sept. 12: vs. Central York, 7 p.m.

Fri. Sept. 19: vs. Susquehannock, 7 p.m.

Sat. Sept. 27: at York Suburban, 1 p.m.

Fri. Oct. 3: vs. West York, 7 p.m.

Sat. Oct. 11: vs. Kennard-Dale, 1 p.m.

Fri. Oct. 17:at Littlestown, 7 p.m.

Fri. Oct. 24: at Fairfield, 7 p.m.

Fri. Oct. 31: at Eastern York, 7 p.m.

2008 YAIAA FOOTBALL DIVISIONAL ALIGNMENT

Division I: Dallastown, Central York, William Penn, Red Lion, South Western, Spring Grove, Dover (up from Division II) and New Oxford.

Division II: West York, Susquehannock, Northeastern (new to the league), Kennard-Dale, Eastern York, York Suburban, Littlestown (up from Division III).

Division III: Bermudian Springs, Delone Catholic, Biglerville, Hanover, York Catholic (down from Division II), Fairfield, York County Tech.

YAIAA FOOTBALL HISTORY AT A GLANCE

1960: The York County Interscholastic Athletic Association is founded with nine football teams: Central York, Dallastown, Kennard-Dale, Littlestown, South Western, Spring Grove, Susquehannock, West York and York Suburban.

1964: Red Lion and Hanover join the league, bringing the total to 11 teams.

1966: Kennard-Dale and Littlestown leave the league.

1970: Vo-Tech (now York County Tech) increases the league's total to 10 teams.

1974: Dover makes the YCIAA an 11-team league again by coming on board, and the league is split into two divisions.

1976: Kennard-Dale comes back to the league and Eastern York and York Catholic become the 13th and 14th teams to join the league.

1981: William Penn joins its neighbors in the YCIAA, coming from the Central Penn League.

1992: Delone Catholic, Littlestown and New Oxford all come to the league, now known as the York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association, from the Blue Mountain League.

2004: Bermudian Spring and Biglerville leave the Mid-Penn Conference to join the league now known as the York-Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association. Fairfield, another Adams County school, also comes on board after completing its first varsity season as an independent.

2008: Northeastern becomes the 22nd varsity football program in the YAIAA. It is the last public school in York or Adams counties to launch a football program.