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The Good Shepherd Rams started in 1955 as the first parochial school on the West Shore to sponsor organized Midget Football Teams in the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) football league. Fourty-nine years later, we are the senior member of the Catholic Football Association (CFA).
The Rams enjoyed four CYO Midget titles in the 60's, one under the direction of Bill Grass, and three under the direction of Harry DeFrank, who went on to become the head coach of Trinity High School girl's basketball. The Rams also had a twenty-two game winning streak in the early 60's.
In 1976, the Rams enjoyed a visit to the Superbowl under the direction of Jack Mitchell and Bob Ott. And, the Superbowl was a challenge for the Midgets again in 1983 and 1984, under the coaching of Bob Ott and Rolla Snyder.
Chuck Bissell's Ponies won a Divisional Title in 1987. In 1988, Ram PeeWees, with Lou Delutis' fine coaching, were also Divisional Champs.
In 1992 and 1993, a new era began for the Rams. Paul Mattus would take PeeWee teams to the Superbowl. In 1997, that same group would again make it to the Superbowl. Though the Rams played a tough game, they fell to the New Cumberland Saints 0 to 6.
In 1995, Good Shepherd celebrated its 40 year anniversary. And, to cap it off, the Rams PeeWees, under Jack Brennan, brought home the Superbowl trophy! It was "A Season To Remember".
In 1999 and 2000, the Rams would repeat under Brennan. The 2000 PeeWees, whose record was 7-1-1, were a part of what has been called the Greatest PeeWee Game Ever Played. The game, against Swatara, lasted over two hours spanning four over-times!
In 2002, Tim McMullen, a Good Shepherd coach for over 15 years, along with Brad Humer, Mark McMullen, Byron Hudson, Keith Newkam, and George Madden carried the Ponies to the
2002 Superbowl. In a hard fought game, the Rams fell to the East Shore Royals.
This same group of players would make it to the superbowl one more time in 2004,
only to fall short against St. Joseph. This athletic group has names that are
now familiar to high school sports followers like: Kuntz, Donahue, Weber, Shover,
and Stroup.
In 2006, Good Shepherd faced a new challenge. With approval to build a new
school, the decision was made to build on the old field. The remaining area was
not big enough for a new football field, so our program had to find a new home
field. After a lot of searching and prayer, an idea presented itself. How about
the field behind Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Enola? It was a
well-known fact that Father Acri there was an avid sports fan. He was approached
and almost immediately said, "Yes". And OLOL field is our new permanent home.
In 2007, Good Shepherd finally reached 50 years, 35 of which were under the
steady leadership of Jack Mitchell. Jack is a rare type of man. He gave to the
community and to his church and to everyone he met, and never asked for anything
in return. In 2007, Jack decided to retire from Good Shepherd, passing the torch
onto Jim Durham, a PA transplant from Texas.
 2008 would give Rams fans one of the most exciting Midget games ever. Good
Shepherd squared off against Holy Name at OLOL field. For 100 tense minutes,
these two teams refused to quit! At the end of halftime, the Rams were
down 0 - 16. They would finally score 5 minutes into the 3rd. At the end of regulation the score was
16 to 16 - both teams had two TD's along with two kicked extra points. In
overtime, each team gets the ball on the 10 and has four downs to score. These two
potent offenses would go on to score each of two possessions, and
extraordinarily also make all PAT kicks! The final entered into the record books
was a 32-32 tie. Fans will long remember the on-target passes by A. Ford, the
circus catches by D. Hergenroeder, the hard running by T. Ramsey, and the memorable
field goals by Q. Frassetta.
These two teams would eventually meet again in the 2008 Super Bowl. Our 9-0-1 Midgets
would lose a tough game, but WHAT A SEASON!
 Not
to be outdone, the Ponys would make Good
Shepherd history. The 10 and 0 Ponys would win the first GS Pony Super Bowl title ever
becoming 2008 Pony Football Champions! Behind
awesome blocking by young men like DeCinti, Simpson, Huffine and Nikolai, they
dominated opposing defenses. Their defense was superb with solid players Ford,
Gothier, Spinelli, and Smith swarming the field. Their backfield was as tough as
they come with Williams, Hergenroeder, Miller and QB Robinson raking up yard
after yard. Their perfect 11-0 season will be long remembered.
Could 2009 match the excitement and intensity of 2008? The answer would be
YES!
Once again both the Midgets and Ponys would ascend to the top of the league
and square off in the Super Bowls. And the outcomes would remain the same. The
Midgets would fall again to Holy Name. Some familiar names led 2009 Midgets
along the way like Rigney, Trumpy, Hergenroeder, Ford, Kuntz, Pelly, Robinson,
and the scrappy Gillespie brothers.
 The
story of the team was again the Pony Team, coached by Brad Humer. Many thought
initially the team would lose a step on 2008 because many good players moved up
to Midgets, but that was simply not the case. Players filled in and the Pony
Express rolled from the start. Led by tough players like Williams, Ford, Glenn,
Worley, Caldwell, Thornton and Hergenroeder, this team would not be denied.
The big story of the year came late in the season. In the semi-final game vs.
Swatara, GS star running back B. Williams was injured and could not play in the Super Bowl.
How
would the team respond in light of losing one of its key players? The answer was
- Others will rise to the challenge! The Super Bowl with Harrisburg was
intense. Both teams had talented players, and would score, but this game would
come down to two things: M. Hergenroeder and the Rams Defense. Hergy was key
with great runs, and special teams play. On defense, late in the game, Harrisburg was driving deep into Rams
territory to tie the game. On the game's turning point, LB N. Caldwell read the offensive play
perfectly and stepped in front of the Bronco pass near the goal line for a
game-clinching interception! The place went wild. Coach Humer had won another
one. The Pony team had repeated and were
2009
Pony Football Champions. M. Hergenroeder was recognized as Super Bowl
MVP. Their two-year record was 22 and 0. The Ponys would win their first 3 games
in 2010 a game. The run would end at 25 and 0!
2011 held more excitement for Coach Humer and his Pony staff. Early on, you
could tell this team was special. The core was solid. A couple of real
footballers had moved up from Peewees, and a few new players had joined from EP.
The puzzle pieces were all there, but could they pull it together and win a
championship? Coach Humer decided to install the spread offense to utilize his
talent. This would prove to be a brilliant move.
2011's schedule would be plagued by weather. The Pony's first game to not
played due to a forfeit. The next week was the bye. On week three, the hurricane
floods cancelled all games. It would be four weeks before our Ponys played a
game! And play they did! They rumbled thru the league except for cold, rainy
night loss to at Holy Name. The played in a tough Super Bowl vs. York, and
emerged victorious 13 to 6, a lot of credit going to CFA Pony Offensive MVP C.
Katshir. P. Morris, the team's QB, was recognized at Super Bowl MVP.
Becoming the 2011 Pony American Conf. Super Bowl Champs
was a total team effort, thanks to great players and a wonderful coaching staff.
More to come from 2012!
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