The accomplishments go on and on for Ridgway head coach Mark Heindl.
In 2017, he was named Big 30 Coach of the Year. In both 2018 and 2019 he was honored as the D9 Large School Coach of the Year. He’s won four consecutive District 9 championships and has posted a 72-58 career record.
And now the 12-year head coach can add one more accolade to his résumé.
After finishing the 2019 season at 11-2 and winning his fourth consecutive D9 title, Heindl was named as head coach of the 2020 Big 30 Charities Classic Pennsylvania team.
“It’s a big honor. The Big 30 is a tremendous organization in what it does,” said Heindl, who also spent nine years as a Ridgway assistant and is making his Charities Classic debut.
Joining Heindl as assistants are Mickey Delhunty, Tony Defilippi, Jack Kifer and Rick Viglione.
Delhunty has assisted with Ridgway for 21 years, and serves as the Elkers’ offensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. Defilippi joined the Elker coaching staff this past season after serving as head coach of St. Marys for five seasons. Defilippi has spent 14 years as a head coach and 11 as an assistant in some capacity.
Kifer is Ridgway’s line coach, and has served on the Elker staff for the past six seasons, while Viglione is a 24-year assistant for the Elkers.
“They’re all excited (about the Charities Classic),” Heindl said of his assistants. “Football is a year-round sport. Our coaches coach throughout the year and we’re a tight-knit family off the field as well.”
Heindl says he and his assistants are looking forward to a pair of opportunities — the chance to coach a handful of Ridgway seniors one final time and the chance to coach some of the Big 30’s premier players from other schools in the Keystone State.
Four Ridgway seniors — Paul Gresco, Jake Wickett, Robert Briggs and Greg Simon — will receive automatic invitations to this year’s Charities Classic after being named to the 2019 Big 30 All-Star Team.
Gresco, the team’s quarterback, threw for 2,354 yards and 23 touchdowns in his final season as an Elker. Wickett, meanwhile, featured as an all-purpose player on offense. He finished as the team’s leading rusher with 665 yards and 13 touchdowns and the team’s third-leading receiver with 512 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions. Both were named to the Big 30 Offensive Team.
Briggs and Simon both played in the trenches for the Elkers, and racked up plenty of accolades themselves. Simon was named as the Big 30 Lineman of the Year, was named to the Big 30 Offensive Team and was Ridgway’s second-leading tackler with 95 tackles. Briggs led the Elkers with 143 tackles and was named to the Big 30’s Defensive Team.
And given the Elkers’ successes in 2019, a few more players may end up receiving invitations to this year’s game.
“It means the world,” Heindl said of getting the chance to coach some of his players one final time. “Nobody wants to end on a loss like when we parted ways after the Wilmington game. Now, to coach those seniors, it’s going to be bittersweet. Hopefully we can represent Pennsylvania well and get a victory.”
His staff will get its pick of the litter with plenty of other playmakers this year, too. Seniors named to this year’s Big 30 All-Star Team include the likes of Kane’s Teddy Race and Jake Alcorn, Bradford’s Derek Sunafrank and Coudersport’s Travis Gleason. Those players will receive automatic invitations to the Charities Classic.
“To coach some of the best athletes in the Big 30 area for a great cause is a blessing,” Heindl said. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity, and hopefully we can transition some of the fortune we’ve had over our four years into the few weeks with these guys.”
The 47th installment of the Big 30 Charities Classic is set for the night of Saturday, Aug. 1 at Parkway Field in Bradford. Following last year’s 27-27 tie, New York leads the all-time series 22-21-3, but Pennsylvania hasn’t suffered a Big 30 loss since 2014.
