Football officials banquet: Notre Dame’s Danny Darno wins first Frank D’Angelo Memorial Scholarship Award

While he was one of the busiest and best-known high school sports officials in the Lehigh Valley, Frank D’Angelo took a lot of pride in his background in education, a career that spanned four decades.

After getting bachelor’s and masters degrees from Bloomsburg, D’Angelo obtained a doctorate in educational leadership from Northcentral University and was involved in education for decades as a teacher, an assistant principal, a curriculum director, a college professor and finished as an interim superintendent.

Even after retirement, D’Angelo was involved as the interim superintendent of the Easton Area School District. He saw his involvement in sports as an “extension of the classroom.”

So, D’Angelo, who died last month at the age of 61 after battling pancreatic cancer, would be very pleased to know that the Eastern Pennsylvania Football Officials Association has decided to honor him by giving a scholarship to a deserving student-athlete.

The first recipient was Notre Dame-Green Pond senior quarterback Danny Darno, who has shined in the classroom as well as on the football field. He received his award from D’Angelo’s widow, Jean, Tuesday night at the EPFOA’s annual banquet held at Shepherd Hills Golf Club.

“We wanted to do this to celebrate Frank’s life because he was a great official, but also a dedicated educator,” said chapter president Tom Halcisak, who played quarterback at West Hazleton High School and Kutztown University before becoming an official. “Frankie was an official and worked my games back at West Hazleton in 1991. I’ve known him a long time and losing him was tough. One of our scholarships each year going forward will be the EPFOA Dr. Frank D’Angelo Memorial Scholarship Award.”

Darno was a team captain at Notre Dame, throwing for more than 2,000 yards and throwing for 26 TDs and rushing for 14.

David Garrett/Special to The Morning Call

Notre Dame-Green Pond quarterback Danny Darno won the Dr. Frank D’Angelo Memorial Scholarship Award. (David Garrett/Special to The Morning Call)

“Danny’s on-field achievements speak for themselves but after looking through his course work and transcripts, his academic career speaks for itself, too,” Halcisak said.

Darno follows in the footsteps of his brother, Andrew, who also won an EPFOA scholarship in 2019. When he received the award, Darno thanked his teammates, his coaches and his family.

“While this is a great individual honor, I want to thank my teammates whether they played with me for a short time or were with me for all 13 years of being a Notre Dame Crusader,” he said. “I thank them for pushing me every day and being my brothers over the last four years. Football is the ultimate team sport and you can’t achieve anything on your own.”

He remembered sitting at the event when his brother won the award in 2019.

“At that time I had my whole high school career in front of me,” Darno said. “Now I can look back on my time at Notre Dame with full appreciation of what [Andrew, now a senior at Muhlenberg] described that night … the life lessons learned and incredible memories you make along the way.”

Notre Dame coach Phil Stambaugh said: “Danny is an outstanding kid. Everything I’ve asked him to do over his career, he has done it. He cares deeply about his teammates and his school. Wherever he goes to college, they’re getting a special kid. He’s the only 2,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher I’ve ever had in all my years as a head coach and calling an offense. He did that last year and nearly did it again this year. He has put up some phenomenal numbers, but his legacy is the great kid that he is.”

Darno will go on to play for the Notre Dame basketball team.

Proud Pirates

Palisades won the EPFOA’s sportsmanship award, which takes into account the behavior of the players, the coaches, the facility, the security, the overall hospitality and support and the school’s sportsmanship.

Pirates coach Bobby Smith, athletic director Brian Gilbert, Principal Rich Heffernan and several of the team’s seniors were on hand to accept a giant purple-colored banner that will be hung in the high school.

Gilbert and Heffernan are former high school coaches and understand how important sportsmanship is to having a quality program.

“We’re losing so many officials and there’s a shortage, so we need to take care of the ones we have,” Gilbert said. “It starts before the game with making sure they’re fed and comfortable and we can allow them to feel secure in getting on and off the field and it’s important for us to conduct ourselves in the best way possible.”

Smith said: “The honor is great for us. We pride ourselves on the respect our players give to the officials and the fans as well. We didn’t have any problems. If you don’t have officials, you don’t have a game. From my point of view, for the officials to present this to us is a great accomplishment. It’s a testament to our kids and our community. It starts with our seniors teaching the younger kids to have respect for the game and the people across from them.”

A loss of experience and talent

Seven officials who combined for 266 seasons were honored at the banquet on their retirements.

They included Rick Leamon, 1974-2023; Bobby Andrews, 1982-2023; Mike Eberwein, 1981-2023; Mike Koch 1994-2023; Rodney Strohl 2008-2023; Pete Konek 1983-2023 and Mark Cesare, who worked games from 1974-2023.