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With Winfield Facing BHS for First Time in 30 Years, Gary Lhotsky Recalls "The Catch" in 1988 Title Game

By Jeff Toquinto on November 15, 2017 via Connect-Bridgeport.com

The ball, he said, was so perfectly thrown that there was almost no chance he could drop it. The pass, he added, could have been thrown 1,000 times and he’s certain this particular pass would have been the best of the bunch.
 
“It was right there. It just fell into my arms,” said Bridgeport resident and Bridgeport High School alum Gary Lhotsky.
 
Chances are good some already know the catch in question just by reading the name “Lhotsky.” And if you follow Bridgeport High School football you almost certainly know about it.
 
The catch came back on a cold night at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown in 1988. It was the fourth overtime of what many argue is the greatest playoff game in West Virginia prep football history.
 
Trailing 28-27 in the fourth overtime of the Class AA final vs. Winfield and needing an extra point to tie it, the ultra-conservative Wayne Jamison opted to go for a fake kick and a two-point conversion. The snap came to holder Pete Curry who took the ball and lofted it to Lhotsky who made the catch and secured the points needed for the final of Jamison’s four state championships.
 
While talking to Lhotsky about the play is always nostalgic, there’s a reason for it beyond nostalgia. This Friday, for the first time in nearly 30 years, the Indians and Generals will meet again. This time, the two teams will square off in the Class AA quarterfinals at the field named after Jamison Friday at 7:30 p.m.
 
“We were actually talking about that game Saturday. The guys I was sitting with were asking if 1988 was the last time we played Winfield. I didn’t really know, but that got the story going again,” said Lhotsky.
 
The conversation was with three of the friends from his youth. John John Oliverio, Gregg Oliverio and Chris Oliverio were sitting with Lhotsky at the game when the conversation with the old Grand Avenue gang started.
 
“My wife gets tired of hearing about it,” said Lhotsky with a laugh. “People really bring it up all the time, and it started Saturday (when Bridgeport upended Weir in the playoffs) when we knew if we won it was going to be Bridgeport and Winfield again. I don’t mind it at all because, man, that was a pretty cool moment.”
 
It was indeed. The four overtimes, the 29-28 win, the title game being played for the only time at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, and the fact that arguably the state’s most conservative coach of all time rolled the dice (Jamison has said multiple times he just felt his team was tired and it was time to end it one way or the other) all add to the legend of the game.
 
“I’ll be honest, I like hearing and telling the story too,” said Lhotsky.
 
Currently, Lhotsky is a professor at West Virginia University. In one of his sports management classes, which is facility and event management, he takes his students on a tour of Milan Puskar Stadium at Mountaineer Field. Along with a few lessons, Lhotsky said he usually tosses in the story.
 
“I tell my students I get a tear in my eye when I look at the corner of the end zone where I caught the pass from Pete. Of course they want to hear the story and of course I tell them,” said Lhotsky laughing.
 
While Lhotsky thinks about that pass and hears about it nearly three decades later several times a year, he added that he’s thought about something else. What would have happened had he dropped the pass?
 
“If I drop that pass, which Pete nearly made impossible, I’d probably be living on a deserted island somewhere,” said Lhotsky. “The only other thing that bothers me besides me thinking about the drop is occasionally someone will say ‘there’s the guy that won the state championship.’ Trust me, when you say it takes a team effort, it took a team effort that day. Winfield was incredibly talented and strong and we had lineman and linebackers that we’re doing way more than what I was doing.”
 
Lhotsky said he remembers there really wasn’t time to be nervous or think about anything because the call came in and you lined up. He said he did get a few words in to Curry before the play.
 
“I could have sworn that I said to him that if he got it trouble to throw it high because I thought that would give us a chance,” said the 6’4 Lhotsky. “Turns out I didn’t need to say anything.”
 
For those wanting to pat Lhotsky on the back Friday night about the play, they won’t have a chance. Lhotsky, who hasn’t missed a home game if he’s in town since moving back to Bridgeport two years ago, won’t be there.
 
“My middle son Nathan is 12 and he’s going to be in a youth football tournament at 9 p.m. that night so I’ll be out of town,” said Lhotsky. “That’s my priority now.”
 
Surprisingly, there are two more parts to the story Lhotsky said are memorable. One for the right reason and one for the wrong reason.
 
“After it was over, Coach Jamison threw me the game ball. I can still hear him saying, ‘Lhotsky, hold on to that game ball like you did that pass.’ Getting that from Coach Jamison was almost as big as the pass itself,” said Lhotsky, who played left end on offense and cornerback on defense.
 
The bad part? He didn’t necessarily take the advice of Jamison.
 
“I have no idea where that ball is. I’ve moved a few times so it’s probably somewhere in a box. That’s probably something I should find and use it to tell more stories,” Lhotsky said. “I don’t think my wife would mind the football, but she may have a problem knowing it’s going to lead to more people hearing that story.”
 
Editor's Note: Top photo shows Gary Lhotsky in 1988 celebrating after the catch, while he's shown below in his office at West Virginia University.


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