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Roy Burkhart

1919 to 1920

Football at Mechanicsburg started in the fall of 1919.  World War I had just ended.  There were only a handful of players and they were coached by their principal, Roy Burkhart.  Burkhart had to start from scratch.  Equipment was poor & the player had to pay it themselves.  The field was rough, there were no bleachers and only a rope define the playing field.  In Mechanicsburg's first ever football season, the 'Cats won 2 out of 6 games.

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1919

2

4

0

.333

15

160

1920

3

3

1

.500

85

73

2

5

7

1

.417

C. G. Boffenmyer

1921 to 1922

Mechanicsburg's second coach only coaches for two years as well.  Boffenmyer only lost four of sixteen games.  His 1921 team beat Middletown 73 to 10 and Marysville 91 to 7

.

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1921

5

3

0

.625

241

70

1922

6

1

1

.857

140

66

2

11

4

1

.733

Harry Mercer

1923 to 1930

Harry Mercer has the best winning percentage of all fourteen Mechanicsburg head coaches.  in his second season, he lead the Wildcats to its first ever undefeated season (10-0).  And, not only did they go undefeated in 1924, they also held their opponents scoreless while racking up the most points ever in a single M-burg season.  That record still stands today.  

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1923

8

2

0

.800

301

47

1924

10

0

0

1.000

439

0

1925

5

4

1

.555

147

84

1926

8

1

1

.888

223

43

1927

8

2

0

.777

271

36

1928

7

1

2

.875

117

24

1929

7

2

1

.777

246

25

1930

8

1

1

.888

300

25

8

61

13

6

.827

George Vorbach

1931 to 1936

Vobach was a the 4th coach of the Wildcats & the 3rd consecutive coach to have an overall winning record.  In his last season, his team became the second in school history to go undefeated.  however, they did ties rival Carlisle in the last game of the year.  Mechanicsburg won the South Penn title outright in 1932, '33' '34 & '36 under Vorbach.  His career came to an unexpected end in 1936 when he died from pneumonia.

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1931

7

4

0

.636

157

64

1932

8

1

0

.888

151

33

1933

7

2

1

.777

221

59

1934

6

4

0

.600

70

89

1935

3

4

2

.429

86

81

1936

9

0

1

1.000

178

31

6

40

15

4

.727

Four out of George Vorbach's six 

teams won the 

South Penn 

Title outright.

1932, 1933, 

1934, & 1936

John Frederick

1937 to 1942 & 

1945 to 1957

After Vorbach's untimely death, Mechanicsburg was hard-presses to find another exceptional coach.  They found John Frederick for whom the filed at Memorial Park Stadium is now named.  Frederick had attended the University of Illinois and Columbia University.  He coached Bessemer High School in Lawrence County, PA for 9 years prior to coming to Mechanicsburg in1937.  Frederick's term as head coach was interrupted on August 5, 1943 when he had to fulfill his military service in the Navy.  He then returned & resumed his role as skipper  of the 'Cats on August 20, 1945.  Throughout his career, Frederick's teams won or shared 3 South Penn titles.  

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1937

7

0

2

1.000

181

6

1938

4

4

1

.500

69

78

1939

4

4

2

.500

105

76

1940

7

2

1

.777

103

20

1941

8

0

0

1.000

162

27

1942

5

1

3

.833

133

45

Term Continued in 1945

Gary Furey

1943

Furey took the head coach position after Frederick left to fulfill his Navel duties.  He coached for only one year ~ four of his team's 5 wins were shutouts!

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1943

5

2

2

.714

104

38

1

5

2

2

.714

Tony Cernugel

1944

Cernugel took over for Furey.  he also only coached one year.  Cernugel's team only won one game ~ a 13-6 win over Gettysburg.

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1944

1

9

0

.100

52

220

1

1

9

0

.100

John Frederick

1945 to 1957

Frederick fulfilled his military service in the Navy then returned & resumed his role as skipper of the 'Cats on August 20, 1945. 

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1945

5

4

2

.555

111

94

1946

7

3

1

.700

220

125

1947

8

1

1

.888

240

105

1948

8

3

0

.727

169

73

1949

8

1

2

.888

221

57

1950

7

2

1

.700

214

91

1951

7

3

1

.700

210

101

1952

9

2

0

.818

174

69

1953

8

2

1

.800

165

58

1954

10

0

1

1.000

279

69

1955

6

5

0

.545

134

94

1956

7

1

2

.875

175

98

1957

6

3

0

.667

125

73

19

131

41

21

.762

JON FREDERICK

COACHED FOR 19 YEARS PRODUCING AN OVERALL RECORD OF 131-41-21 (.761)

Tom Yost

1958

In 1953, Yost started his coaching career as an assistant coach under John Fredrick. In 1958, he stood in as acting head coach until they found another head coach.  Yost spent two years at the University of Pennsylvania as a blocking back on the varsity squad.  He then attended Lock Haven Stat Teacher's College and played end on the football team.  As acting head coach, his team won 4 of their 11 games. 

Year

W

L

T

Pct

Pts

Opp

1958

4

7

0

.363

115

202

1

4

7

0

.363