Keeney Set For 25th Season At Panama

PANAMA – When Jack Keeney started coaching the Panama Panthers in 1962, he was barely older than some of his players. Now in 1986, he is entering his 25th year on the sidelines.

“I was 22 on August 31 and started work on September 1,” Keeney noted. “They allowed post-graduates to play so I was on;y a couple of years older than some of the players.. We finished with a 3-5 record.”

Keeney had played high school football for Herb Carlberg, formerly of Falconer, at Brighton High School near Rochester. Then he attended college at Cortland where he played two years of football before suffering an injury that ended his career. He was a student assistant in his senior year. He also participated one year in wrestling and track and field.

The he arrived in Panama and took over the coaching duties in 1962 and remembers two games from that year.

“Northern Area (now Eisenhower had a very strong team,” Keeney recalls. “They had two touchdowns called back in the fourth quarter on two plays in a row. We beat Northern area for the first time ever 12-7.”

After the game, Keeney said, “We had a two community disagreement.”

The second game he remembers was one with Ripley in a foot of mud. “The game was a standstill between the 40-yard lines until we had a bad snap from center on a punt. Ripley took over on our 1-yard line. We drove Ripley back to the 5-yard line on three plays. On fourth down they kicked a field goal and won 3-0. I believe that was the first field goal in Chautauqua County by placement. Maybe someone had kicked one by dropkick earlier. This was the first field goal I had ever seen at the high school level.”

And it was that team that got Keeney started on a long career.

“We had a real young, sophomore dominated team in 1963 and went 0-6-2,” Keeney recalled.

Panama had a very fine 6-0-2 record in 1964 in the Vine Conference with a junior dominated team.

The first championship for Panama and Keeney was in 1965. Standout performers were two-way tackle Paul Fardink, running back Ed Trisket, a present assistant coach; end Neil Sturges; and guard Chester Opalecky.

“We did well in a rebuilding year in 1966 as we were moved up to the Valley Conference,” Keeney mentioned. “We went 4-4.”

After going 3-4 in 1867, the Panthers rebounded in 1968 with a 6-2 record and then had a tremendous year in 1969 while winning the Vince Conference title.

“We outscored the opposition 286-22,” Keeney recalled. “We were a real good football team with Earl Adams at quarterback, John Morse at Fullback, Doug Derby at tackle and Ron Blose at halfback.

The Panthers lost a non-league opener to Westfield in 1970 but rebounded to win the Vine Conference for the second year in a row with an overall 7-1 record.

Both the 1971 and 1972 teams were 5-3 and although Keeney wouldn’t say what his best players or best team was, he said, “1973 ranks among the best. We had the most overall talent on that team.”

That 1973 team had a perfect 9-0 record. Panama’s best overall quarterback, Doug Blanchard, played on another 5-3 club in 1974. The 1975 team fell to 1-7, but bounced back to a 6-2 record in 1976.

The 5-2-1 1977 team lost to Southwestern in the first year of the Special Olympics Bowl.

After going 1-6-1 in 1978, Keeney recalled, “I had one of my better teams in 1979 and we went 2-6.”

The first of three successive years at Rich Stadium was the 6-2-1 1980 team which defeated Ellicottville in the Section VI Playoffs. The 1981 team went 7-1 and lost to West Valley at Rich Stadium and Keeney remembers Pat Catanese set a record at Rich Stadium with a punt return of over 90 yards.

Panama suffered a defeat to Little Valley at Rich Stadium in 1982.

End Tim Card, halfback Todd Remick and tackle Bruce Myers were the spark plugs of the team that made the fourth trip to Rich Stadium and brought home a championship in 1984. Panama went 3-5 last season.

Through all these years of coaching, Keeney has seen many changes. “The equipment has changed and there is a marked difference in padding today.”

Keeney also pointed out the players have changed. “Size and speed is a big difference. The players today are much bigger, stronger and faster.”

But that only follows the changes in football. “The football of today is a faster, spread out game and a much harder hitting game,” he said and he added the players are also different.

“Society has changed,” he said. “Things are in a different focus today. Dedication brings success, but today kids have more things to draw their attention. When I started in 1962, maybe one or two players had a car and a television. They may have had a better focus on the game in the earlier years.”

And the players he coached at Panama were also a different breed. “It’s hard to single out individuals in small, rural schools,” he said. “Their direction has been different. They could have been successful in college, but in this rural area they had to tend more to home responsibilities.”

When asked about the top opposing players he coached against, Keeney said, “The name that sticks out is Shane Conlan of Frewsburg. I remember Shane’s first high school football game was against Panama. He fumbled the kickoff, picked it up and ran 98 yards for a touchdown. From a stick-out as a freshman in high school to an All-American at Penn State is quite an accomplishment.

“I’m not positive if we played against Frewsburg four years in a row or not when Shane was playing but I remember the game when both teams were undefeated and we lost at Frewsburg during the Conlan era.”

Other names that came to Keeney’s mind were Bill Blanchard of Mayville, Randy White of Clymer and Bill Bergey of Pine Valley.

When asked if he ever thought about retiring from coaching, Keeney remarked, “Every time we lose. My wife asks me at the end of every season if I’m going to hang it up. But I always come back.”

And he comes back with the same goal every season: “To win the next game and to win another championship. I don’t care how many wins I have, 120 or 130. I just want to win the next game and the championship.”