Jack Henzes

Henzes came from Wyoming Area, where the hiring story put him at 30-12 in four seasons, and took Dunmore in 1971. The first team finished 7-3, opening with a 19-7 win over Tunkhannock. He stayed 48 years. Dunmore named Kevin McHale to replace him in May 2019. The same story put the full coaching career at 52 seasons and 444 wins. That 444 includes the Wyoming Area years. It is not a Dunmore record. The 2015 year-by-year table for those four Wyoming Area seasons adds to 31-12. The hiring story's line is 30-12. Both are left as printed.

The 2015 table has the first Dunmore decade at 7-3 in 1971, 5-4-2 in 1972, 9-2-1 in 1973, 9-2 in 1974, 10-2 in 1975, 5-6 in 1976, 3-6-2 in 1977, 10-1-1 in 1978, and 8-3 in 1979. The Big 11 titles are 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1978. The 2023 timeline prints 8-1-1 for 1973 and does not label it. The 2015 account has that as the conference record, with the overall record at 9-2-1. The Eastern Conference finals went to Mount Carmel 15-6 in 1973, Shamokin 33-20 in 1975, and GAR 27-21 in 1978. Vic Fangio played on the 1973, 1974, and 1975 teams. 1974 is 9-2 and has its own page.

1980 was 8-4. On Sept. 19 Dunmore beat Scranton Central 19-8 at Veterans Memorial Stadium, and the 2015 account calls that Henzes' 100th career win. 1985 was 13-0, with the Big 11 and the Eastern Conference Class A title. Bobby Ruddy and Billy Ruddy each ran for more than 1,000 yards. The postseason wins are Williamsport, 28-12, and the Eastern Conference Class A championship over West Scranton, 27-8. 1989 was 13-1 and the PIAA Class 1A championship, 57-18 over Keystone on Dec. 9 at Middletown, after a 27-12 semifinal over South Williamsport. The only loss was Berwick, 6-0, in the Eastern Conference Class A final. Tim Ruddy was the all-state lineman.

1990 was 7-4, and 7-2 in the Big 11, tied for second with West Scranton and Lakeland. Scranton Prep won the conference. Dave Silvestrini was All-Region at fullback and linebacker. Tom Marchese, in his fourth season as the starter, threw for 1,113 yards and eight touchdowns, and the career line in that flashback is 3,474 yards and 32 touchdowns. 1992 was 8-4, and Wyoming Area won the district playoff 20-14, then won the title. 1993 tied Scranton Prep for the Big 11. The narrative line is 7-1 in the conference. The year-by-year table in the same story is 9-2-0. On Sept. 10 Dunmore beat Abington Heights 35-7, Henzes' 200th career win. Dallas won the district playoff 14-6. 1994 was 7-4, and GAR won the district playoff 45-12. 1995 was 10-3, shared the Big 11, and won the first District 2 Class 2A title, 28-14 over Wyoming Area, after 19-15 over Dallas. Henzes was ill, and McHale played on a broken hand. 1999 was 12-1, won the district final 38-21 over Lakeland, and lost the PIAA Class AA quarterfinal to Mount Carmel, 0-22. The 2014 history also lists Lakeland 28, Dunmore 13 after that final and does not name the round. 2000 was 8-3. Week 4 was Scranton Prep 42-6, the 252nd career win, and it is its own page. 2003 was 9-3. Meyers was a 56-19 playoff win, and Lakeland won the district final 21-10.

From 2004 on, the season pages carry the MaxPreps game logs. On Oct. 20, 2006, Dunmore beat Scranton Prep 32-7. The 2015 account calls that the 300th career win. He was 70. On Oct. 1, 2015, the same account had him at 399-157-8, with 369 wins at Dunmore, second to George Curry's 449, and 41 winning seasons in 49, 15 of them with at least 10 wins. The next night, Oct. 2, Carbondale Area fell 46-0, and the Dunmorean calls that the 400th career win. Those figures are the count on Oct. 1, with 2015 unfinished, and they include Wyoming Area. The state finals in the later stretch were losses: Jeannette 49-21 in 2007 at Hershey, Clairton 20-0 in 2012 at Hersheypark Stadium, and South Fayette 28-16 in 2014. The 2017 season ended in the PIAA semifinals against Southern Columbia Area, 19-56, and the timeline calls that Henzes' last game on the sideline. In 2018, after a heart procedure, McHale, Jeff Mills, and Michael DeSando ran the sideline. Henzes was still the head coach, and Dunmore still won a District 2 Class 2A title.

A 2024 tradition story, looking back to 2000, called Dunmore the most successful program in the Lackawanna Football Conference in that span: a 76 percent win rate, 21 winning seasons, 11 District 2 titles, and 10 division titles. It also had 1996 and 1997 at a combined 4-16, and 1998 and 1999 at a combined 20 wins. The 2015 table splits those: 3-7 and 1-9, then 8-4 and 12-1.

On Nov. 19, 2009, the night before the Lakeland final, a coaches survey had him at 339 wins and chasing a third straight district title, which the story said would be a first in his career. Dunmore won that game, 35-8. He collapsed during it and was back the next week. The Aug. 3, 2025 all-quarter-century story puts Dunmore at 196-49 in the 19 seasons from 2000 through 2018. That span is not the 444-win career, and it is not a Dunmore record for the years before 2000.

The 2019 through-the-years account has the late run in his words' shape. In 2014 the Bucks lost the opener, won 14 straight, reached a fourth PIAA final, lost the final to South Fayette, and he was the state's Small School Coach of the Year again. In 2016 York Catholic made them 13-0, tying the 1985 start, before the season ended at 13-1. In 2017 the first 14 wins were a school record, and Southern Columbia in the state semifinals was his last game on the sideline. He resigned in April 2019. Miller Holmes, the quarterback from 2005 to 2008, said the method never changed and that Henzes asked about school and family.

The July 25, 2023 obituary said he died late the night before. He was 87. The career line in that story is 444-164-8 over 52 seasons, third in Pennsylvania then, behind Southern Columbia's Jim Roth, who was still coaching, and Berwick's George Curry. He was the winningest coach in Lackawanna Interscholastic Athletic Association history. The 444 still includes the Wyoming Area years.

His father, John Henzes, built the Blakely Bears. Jack played quarterback for him, was a senior co-captain, and went on to George Washington. In 1960 he joined the Blakely staff with Frank Pazzaglia. His first head-coaching job was Wyoming Area in 1966, four straight winning seasons. After a year away from coaching, he came to Dunmore in 1971. The obituary credits him with the line, Once a Buck, always a Buck.

During the 1985 season the Ruddy twins were in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd. On a later recruiting trip they were in a car accident that seriously injured Bobby and killed Billy. The obituary said Henzes stayed with the family. From the 300th win to the 400th, that story said, took less than nine years. A statue of him was dedicated at Dunmore's football stadium on Sept. 16, 2022.