Those involved with Mt. Lebanon High School’s first state football championship knew they had something special even before the 2021 season began.

Four years after defeating heavily favored St. Joseph’s Prep 35-17 in the PIAA Class 6A championship game, the Blue Devils reunited for a luncheon to recapture the magic of that historic season.

“It was definitely a special game. It feels like yesterday, but that’s something you remember forever, right?” said former Blue Devils standout and current Navy Midshipmen running back Alex Tecza. “Doing that with your best friends is pretty cool.

“And to do it when you’re supposed to lose games that year — when no one thought we had a shot against St. Joe’s Prep — made it even more special,” Tecza added. “They’re a powerhouse school that recruits from five different states and has won multiple titles. We were a school district with five square miles to work with. I’d be surprised if something like that happened again.”

Players and coaches from the undefeated 2021 team gathered Sunday, Dec. 21, at Cefalo’s Banquet and Event Center in Carnegie to relive their accomplishments and reconnect, in some cases for the first time since that season.

Former Blue Devils head coach Bob Palko said returning to Mt. Lebanon from State College, where he is now an assistant coach at Penn State, was an easy decision.

“When I heard about the banquet, I thought it was a great idea,” Palko said. “I haven’t had the chance to see many of these kids since I’ve been at Penn State. You miss those opportunities when they come home. It made sense to do it now, before these guys graduate from college.”

Joey Daniels, the team’s senior quarterback in 2021, recalled feeling nervous heading into the title game but said the support of the Mt. Lebanon community was inspiring throughout the season.

“The turnout — not only for our home games, but also in Hershey for the championship — was incredible,” Daniels said. “Even in the semifinal game in Altoona, seeing how many people traveled to support us was super special. Students, parents — it meant a lot.”

That community passion continued the day after the championship, when Mt. Lebanon held a parade along Washington Road in Uptown to honor the team.

“The parade was pretty cool,” Tecza said. “They told us we’d have a little parade, and I thought maybe 100 people would show up. But it was basically the whole town.”

Tecza recalled teammate Tommy Boehner climbing atop a fire truck at the end of the parade and hoisting the championship trophy.

“It was like a movie — something out of ‘Rocky’ or ‘Rudy,’” Tecza said. “Everyone went crazy. That’s a memory I’ll never forget.”

Tecza and teammate Eli Heidenreich were among several seniors from the championship team who went on to play college football. The two were the only teammates to end up at the same school, both finishing their senior seasons at the U.S. Naval Academy.

They closed their collegiate careers with a 35-17 victory over Cincinnati in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2 — a score identical to the 2021 state championship game. Tecza led Navy with 80 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Heidenreich caught five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown to lead the Midshipmen in receiving.

Tecza said that while attending Navy was his own decision, Heidenreich’s commitment helped solidify his choice. He credited Mt. Lebanon’s school system with preparing both players for the demands of Division I football and the academic rigor of the Naval Academy.

As for the future, last month’s banquet may have been the first official reunion, but it likely won’t be the last, Daniels said.

“It was a great time to do this reunion,” he said. “And I’m sure down the road, in however many years, we’ll do it again and go back through all those memories. Who knows?”