(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Namath. Law. Revis. Ditka. Dorsett. The names that have gone from playing football on the grass of Beaver County to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy is full of icons.

And you can now add Whitehead to that list.

Beaver County Radio sports director Bob Barrickman joined Matt Drzik on A.M. Beaver County on February 9, less than 24 hours after Central Valley graduate Jordan Whitehead started at safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55.

“He’s a good kid and he’s a gentleman,” Barrickman said of Whitehead. “You just have to be happy for him.”

“What a story for Central Valley,” Barrickman added. “Couple of months ago they win the state championship in football, and now their favorite son–Jordan Whitehead–wins the Super Bowl.”

The ring is the first for Whitehead, but seventh for his teammate in quarterback Tom Brady. Five of Brady’s seven titles, according to Barrickman, were won alongside Beaver County teammates…along with Whitehead, one with Darrelle Revis (2015) and three with Ty Law (2002, 2004, 2005).

              BASKETBALL TALK              

Barrickman also talked about the high school basketball regular season nearing its close, with February 27 being the tentative date for the WPIAL Playoffs to begin. The playoffs are open-invitation due to the pandemic, but as one door opens…another closes.

“You have to win the WPIAL championship to move on to the state playoffs,” Barrickman told Matt Drzik. “So it puts more emphasis on the WPIAL playoffs, because it’s a single-elimination tournament.”

Bob also mentioned that much like the 2020 WPIAL football playoffs, higher seeds will be getting home playoff games with few exceptions for the basketball tournament.

“The only time that there will be a neutral-site game would be a WPIAL Championship game, and they haven’t decided where they’re gonna be yet,” Bob said. “It definitely will not be at the Petersen Events Center–in fact, for the first time in nearly 40 years, the finals will not be at a college or professional arena.”

 

To hear the full interview between Bob and Matt, click on the player below!