Date: Fri 29-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Pete-Kohut-Hall-Of-Fame

Full Text:

Pete Kohut - Hall Of Fame 1997

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

One hundred and thirty-five victories . . . eight Western Connecticut

Conference championships . . . one CIAC Class M championship - the resume of

Pete Kohut reads like one long laundry list of accomplishments struggled for

and earned in 21 years of coaching football at Newtown High School.

That resume - starting back in 1965 at the dawn of recorded football history,

at least as far as NHS is concerned - is, in itself, the key that has given Mr

Kohut entrance into the fledgling Newtown Sports Hall of Fame.

Mr Kohut, a long-time English teacher at Newtown High School, was there at the

beginning in 1965 when NHS formed a junior varsity football team. In 1966, the

team bumped itself up to varsity and formally joined the now-defunct Western

Connecticut Conference.

From that point, up until his retirement following the 1987 season, Mr Kohut

and his teams won 135 games, lost just 55, and tied 7. Among those 135 wins

are eight WCC championships and one CIAC Class M state championship.

Success like that is nothing new to Mr Kohut. Back in western Pennsylvania,

where he grew up, Ambridge High School was so strong (despite its small

enrollment) that in three years it produced 11 Division I collegiate football

players.

Further back in time, Mr Kohut was the starting quarterback on his team in his

senior year and did so well that he received several scholarship offers. He

chose Brown, where the academic financial aid (about $5,000) amounted to more

than his father made in a year.

He studied English and American Literature. On the football field, the

Associated Press referred to him as "Little Pete Kohut." But even at 162

pounds, he had an arm.

By his senior year, the AP was calling him "Pistol Pete Kohut," mainly because

he was the total yardage leader of the Ivy League and was named to the All-Ivy

League team and All-America Team Honorable Mention.

After graduating from Brown, he spent two years of his tour in the Air Force

at Bolling Command Base, where he played football for a service team loaded

with All-Americans.

After leaving the Air Force and after spending time as an insurance appraiser

in Brooklyn, Mr Kohut moved to Connecticut and spent three years as the head

football coach at South Kent. He then spent a year teaching and working as an

assistant coach at Canterbury School in New Milford before coming to Newtown.

Newtown has had six-man football in the past. But in 1964, NHS held some

practices for 11-man football. In 1965, under Mr Kohut, the newly-formed

Indians played a junior varsity schedule.

In 1966, it was on to varsity.

And since then Newtown High School became the premier football program in the

WCC.

It was in 1969 that the Newtown Indians enjoyed their first winning season -

the first of many under Mr Kohut. A 6-2 record, though, was only a precursor

to an undefeated 1970 campaign - the first of four such unblemished marks -

where senior QB Jason Stevens hooked up frequently with junior WR Courtenay

Hough and helped the Indians outscore their opponents 294-24. That year, Bob

Berkins became NHS' first-ever 1,000-yard rushing, gaining 1,003 yards on just

54 carries.

The Indians struggled a bit in 1971, but earned co-champion status in 1972. In

1973, the Indians retained the title all by themselves with an 8-0 record. NHS

then secured WCC championships in 1975 (9-0), 1976 (8-1), 1978 (8-0-1, losing

a Class L state championship heartbreaker, 17-7, to Wilton), 1980 (8-1-1,

winning the first-ever WCC championship game but losing a return trip to the

CIAC Class L title game, 12-7 to Rippowam), and 1981 (9-0, winning the WCC

championship, 32-6, over New Fairfield before beating Branford, 20-7, for

Newtown's first-ever state championship).

From 1982 to 1987, NHS had four winning seasons but couldn't return to the

conference finals. In '87, after a 3-7 campaign, Mr Kohut resigned as coach of

the Newtown Indians.

But he didn't resign from coaching. In 1988, he began a stint as an assistant

coach at Western Connecticut State University. Soon after, he began his career

as head coach at New Fairfield High School and eventually took the Rebels to a

WCC championship appearance.

Success follows success.

It is the story of Pete Kohut.