FREEDOM HS GRIDIRON GREATS

The list of inductees includes 10 living former Bulldogs and two who will be honored posthumously.

Here’s the list of honorees:

JIMBO COVERT

A 1978 graduate, Covert became famous for his exploits as both a football player and wrestler. He won a WPIAL heavyweight wrestling title, but in football, he was an all-star two-way lineman, who, as a senior, helped the Bulldogs to a 7-1-1 record.

Covert moved on to the University of Pittsburgh where he was a two-time All-American tackle. A first-round pick of the Chicago Bears (sixth overall), he was named All-Pro twice during a nine-year NFL career including 1985 when the Bears won the Super Bowl.

RICH EDDER

A 1980 graduate, Edder was an all-star quarterback and punter as a senior. After leading the WPIAL in passing, he was named first-team QB and honorable mention punter on the Midwestern Athletic Conference all-star team.

At Westminster, he was a two-year starter on teams that went 18-4. He earned honorable mention small college All-American honors as a senior and ranks 10th on the Titans’ all-time passing chart with 3,281 yards. In 1991, he was inducted into the Titans Sports Hall of Fame.

JACK FARLS

A 1954 graduate, Farls played football and basketball. As a senior split end/defensive end, he was named the WPIAL’s co-Lineman of the Year. In a win over Beaver that year, he blocked six kicks including two extra points.

He went on to Penn State where he lettered three times. As a senior in 1957, he was known as the Nittany Lions’ “Iron Man” for playing more minutes than anyone else in an era of two-way football. As a sophomore when Penn State upset Syracuse 21-20, Farls preserved the win by blocking Jim Brown’s extra point. A year later, he blocked an extra point against No. 1 ranked Ohio State to preserve a 7-6 win over the Buckeyes. He finished his college career by playing in the 1957 North-South all-star game.

J.D. HAGLAN

A 1974 graduate, Haglan was a standout quarterback who was named all-conference, All-WPIAL, Prep All-American and one of the Top 100 Backs in the Country by Kickoff Magazine as a senior. In games he started, the Bulldogs went 18-3-1.

Recruited by Notre Dame, Michigan, Louisville, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Texas, Syracuse, Pitt, Penn State, and Ohio State, Haglan chose Clemson where he was a three-year letterman as a quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back. After graduation, Haglan got into coaching. Among his several stints was a four-year run as head coach at Catawba College (N.C.) from 1991-94.

CARL HOLSINGER

A 1973 graduate, Holsinger played guard and linebacker on Freedom’s 8-1 squad in 1972. An all-conference all-star, he then played briefly at Western Carolina University.

GUS HOLSINGER

Playing for the Bulldogs in the early 1920s, Gus Holsinger is regarded as Freedom’s first star. He was a fullback/linebacker who also kicked and punted. There are reports that he played college football at Geneva and Thiel.

JIM KARWOSKI

A 1962 graduate, Karwoski had a stellar scholastic career, winning nine letters in three sports and was named All-Beaver County twice as a lineman in football and All-WPIAL as a senior. In track and field, he set school records in both javelin and shot put and won both events at the PIAA Championships.

At West Virginia University, Karwoski continued his football and track career. He set school and Southern Conference records in the shot put. Karwoski coached baseball for 24 years at Penn State Beaver and was named to the National Junior College Athletic Association Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004.

SHAWN LEHOCKY

A 2008 graduate, Lehocky was a quarterback who went on to play at Westminster. A two-year starter, he ranks seventh on the Titans’ all-time passing chart with 3,984 career yards and ninth with 32 career touchdown passes. He was two-time honorable mention on the Presidents’ Athletic Conference all-star team, and four times made the PAC academic all-star team.

JACK LINN

A 1985 graduate, Linn died in a motorcycle accident in 2015. He was 48 years old.

After sitting out his junior season at Freedom while battling lung cancer, he returned to the football field as a senior. A two-way lineman who also averaged 38.5 yards per punt, he was named to the all-state team.

After his career as an offensive tackle at West Virginia University, Linn was drafted in the ninth round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. After spending the ’90 season on injured reserve, he played in 11 games over the next three years while on the rosters of the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals and Lions.

PAUL ROSE

A 1978 graduate, Rose was a running back/defensive back who won the Beaver County Times’ Traveling Trophy award as a senior in 1977 when he led the county in scoring with 83 points. He helped the Bulldogs finish regular-season play in ’77 with an unbeaten record.

KEITH SAUNDERS

A 1974 graduate, Saunders helped the Bulldogs go undefeated during the ’73 regular season. “Skeeter” was a three-year starter at running back and defensive back, earning all-conference honors at both positions. As a senior, he was named conference Defensive Player of the Year.

After high school, he played at Ohio State.

CHUCK WILLIAMS

A 1983 graduate, Williams was one of the Pennsylvania’s most highly-recruited football players when he was a senior. A tight end end/defensive, he whittled down his list of scholarship offers to four: Notre Dame, Pitt, Penn State and UCLA. Williams, who was 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds in high school, chose Pitt after an All-American high school career.

Knee injuries limited his success as a defensive tackle at Pitt and led him to bypass any attempt at an NFL career.

Williams was also a basketball standout, leading Freedom to its only appearance in the WPIAL championship game.