Williamsport Area High School alumnus immortalized with medallion dedication
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A medallion for Hal Spooner, who quarterbacked Navy's 1960 football squad to a 9-1 regular season record and an Orange Bowl appearance, was dedicated at the corner of West Fourth and Hepburn streets Wednesday morning.
Spooner's is the 26th such medallion. Other honorees include Penn State and Montoursville legend Kelly Mazzante and Ed Ott, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates' 1979 championship run.
Spooner was the MVP of the very first Navy-Air Force football game in 1960, leading the Midshipmen to a 35-3 victory. Following the 1960 season, Spooner was also named an All-East Selection as well as an Honorable Mention All-American, according to a news release. In 1961 he was the quarterback coach of Navy's Plebe Team that featured future Hall of Famer Roger Staubach as quarterback.
An all-around athlete, he played three sports at Williamsport High School -- football, basketball and track, while also playing baseball in the Williamsport area. In the U.S. Naval Academy, Spooner played football, basketball and baseball. He was inducted in the West Branch Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Pennsylvania State Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
"Thank you very much," Spooner said at the dedication. "It's really a great honor to be associated with all the people that are already in the walk."
Spooner was formally inducted at the 2020 Williamsport Crosscutters Hot Stove Banquet, but his medallion installation and unveiling were delayed by the pandemic, the news release said.
"It was a great," Spooner said of that banquet. "It was a couple of years ago when it happened, it was very much a surprise."