Dick Lage
Dick Lage, who was bom in Omaha, Neb., was a 1957 graduate of Replogle High School who went on to be Bedford County's first, and to this point in time, only football player to play in a NFL game.
Lage was a three-year letter winner for the Maroons and had some exceptional games his senior year, including a five-touchdown game against Chestnut Ridge in which Replogle ran for 443 yards.
He also had a hand in both touchdowns in a 13-6 upset win over Roaring Spring as he threw a 23-yard pass to Emie Nave for the first score and sewed up the victory with a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown.
A salesman from the Hickory, N.C. area visited Replogle and asked if there were any college prospects and Lage filled out a form. Clarence Stasavich, the head coach for Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, was intrigued by Lage and came up to meet him. Lage, who was already dressed to run for Replogle's Field Day, ran for Stasavich. Lage later visited the college and was enrolled for the following fall.
During his four years of playing football for the Bears, the team amassed a 38-4-1 mark including four conference titles and won the NAIA national championship for the 1960 season. Lage was a big key to that 15-14 win in the Holiday Bowl over Humboldt State and earned first-team NAIA All-American honors.
To get to the national championship game, the L-R battled Northem Michigan to a 20-20 tie with total yardage being the deciding factor. Lage had a big quarterback sack late in the contest and L-R won the tiebreaker by 22 yards. It is officially listed as "Lenoir-Rhyne declared winner on penetrations."
The previous year, the Bears lost in the national championship game to Texas A&I, 20-7, after beating Southem Connecticut, 47-20 in the semifinals.
Lage also was a track and field member who threw the shot put and discus as well as running a leg in the mile relay.
Lage was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the 12th round of the 1961 draft, 13 picks ahead of NFL great Elijah Pitts and 19 picks ahead of NFL Hall of Famer "Deacon" Jones. Another member of the Browns draft class that year was Pitt kicker Fred Cox, who was more well known as the long-time kicker for the Minnesota Vikings and for inventing the Nerf ball.
He did not play for the Browns, but was later picked up by the Washington Redskins and then the St. Louis Cardinals. He was in the Browns and Redskins camps for the preseason. He played tight end for the Cardinals for one game that regular season, but did not amass any stats. The record that season for the Cardinals was 7-7, but they had a head coach fired, Frank Ivy, who was replaced by three co-head coaches.
Lage came back to the area and taught at Roaring Spring Junior High School for a year before beginning a college coaching career. He started as a graduate student at East Carolina, which was coached by Stasavich, before becoming an assistant professor, assistant football coach, and track coach at Frederick College in Portsmouth, VA.
The University of Richmond was his next stop from 1966 until 1975 as an instructor of Physical Education and assistant football coach. He was in charge of defensive ends and linebacker, and in 1970 he was the defensive coordinator. In 1968 and 1969, the Spiders won the Southem Conference, and in 1968, the Spiders won the Tangerine Bowl.
Lage move on to the University of Virginia as an assistant football coach from 1976 to 1981 and was the defensive coordinator from 1979 to 1981.
He left sports in 1982 and began a career as a realtor until his death in 1987.
In 1984, he was inducted into the Lenoir-Rhyne College Sports Hall of Fame and in 2005, the 1968 University of Richmond team was inducted into the Spiders Hall of Fame as Spider Team of Distinction.
His wife is Emily Catherine (Fritz) Lage and they have three children: Richard Lloyd Lage, Jr., Analisa (Lage) Herring, and Virgina Cranford (Lage) Hendricks. There are five grandchildren: Madison Leigh Hendricks, Ross Michael Hendricks, Braedon Lage Herring, Marley Davis Herring, and Emma Virginia Herring.
---------------
Dick Lage, who was bom in Omaha, Neb., was a 1957 graduate of Replogle High School who went on to be Bedford County's first, and to this point in time, only football player to play in a NFL game.
Lage was a three-year letter winner for the Maroons and had some exceptional games his senior year, including a five-touchdown game against Chestnut Ridge in which Replogle ran for 443 yards.
He also had a hand in both touchdowns in a 13-6 upset win over Roaring Spring as he threw a 23-yard pass to Emie Nave for the first score and sewed up the victory with a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown.
A salesman from the Hickory, N.C. area visited Replogle and asked if there were any college prospects and Lage filled out a form. Clarence Stasavich, the head coach for Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, was intrigued by Lage and came up to meet him. Lage, who was already dressed to run for Replogle's Field Day, ran for Stasavich. Lage later visited the college and was enrolled for the following fall.
During his four years of playing football for the Bears, the team amassed a 38-4-1 mark including four conference titles and won the NAIA national championship for the 1960 season. Lage was a big key to that 15-14 win in the Holiday Bowl over Humboldt State and earned first-team NAIA All-American honors.
To get to the national championship game, the L-R battled Northem Michigan to a 20-20 tie with total yardage being the deciding factor. Lage had a big quarterback sack late in the contest and L-R won the tiebreaker by 22 yards. It is officially listed as "Lenoir-Rhyne declared winner on penetrations."
The previous year, the Bears lost in the national championship game to Texas A&I, 20-7, after beating Southem Connecticut, 47-20 in the semifinals.
Lage also was a track and field member who threw the shot put and discus as well as running a leg in the mile relay.
Lage was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the 12th round of the 1961 draft, 13 picks ahead of NFL great Elijah Pitts and 19 picks ahead of NFL Hall of Famer "Deacon" Jones. Another member of the Browns draft class that year was Pitt kicker Fred Cox, who was more well known as the long-time kicker for the Minnesota Vikings and for inventing the Nerf ball.
He did not play for the Browns, but was later picked up by the Washington Redskins and then the St. Louis Cardinals. He was in the Browns and Redskins camps for the preseason. He played tight end for the Cardinals for one game that regular season, but did not amass any stats. The record that season for the Cardinals was 7-7, but they had a head coach fired, Frank Ivy, who was replaced by three co-head coaches.
Lage came back to the area and taught at Roaring Spring Junior High School for a year before beginning a college coaching career. He started as a graduate student at East Carolina, which was coached by Stasavich, before becoming an assistant professor, assistant football coach, and track coach at Frederick College in Portsmouth, VA.
The University of Richmond was his next stop from 1966 until 1975 as an instructor of Physical Education and assistant football coach. He was in charge of defensive ends and linebacker, and in 1970 he was the defensive coordinator. In 1968 and 1969, the Spiders won the Southem Conference, and in 1968, the Spiders won the Tangerine Bowl.
Lage move on to the University of Virginia as an assistant football coach from 1976 to 1981 and was the defensive coordinator from 1979 to 1981.
He left sports in 1982 and began a career as a realtor until his death in 1987.
In 1984, he was inducted into the Lenoir-Rhyne College Sports Hall of Fame and in 2005, the 1968 University of Richmond team was inducted into the Spiders Hall of Fame as Spider Team of Distinction.
His wife is Emily Catherine (Fritz) Lage and they have three children: Richard Lloyd Lage, Jr., Analisa (Lage) Herring, and Virgina Cranford (Lage) Hendricks. There are five grandchildren: Madison Leigh Hendricks, Ross Michael Hendricks, Braedon Lage Herring, Marley Davis Herring, and Emma Virginia Herring.
---------------
Class of 2007
Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Bedford County, Pennsylvania