John Berdell

Coach Berdell’s winning streak of 25 straight games at Beaver Area HS from 1961-1963 is the longest in Beaver County football history.  He played inside linebacker and defensive end at Slippery Rock University. 

Before coming to Beaver in 1954, John coached football, basketball and track at McDonald Jr-Sr High Schools.  John’s Beaver grid teams were known for strong defense and a basic powerhouse offense that enabled them to pile up a 60-9-4 record from 1957-1964.  Ironically, Beaver’s two best football records during the Berdell regime were the perfect 9-0 slates compiled by the 1961 and 1962 teams, when Beaver was lost in the limbo of a WPIAL reclassification snafu and was ineligible for the annual playoffs. 

The Bobcats were the Midwestern Athletic Conference champions in 1960 and co-champs in 1964 and were WPIAL Class A runners-up in 1960, losing to Sewickley Township High in a 13-7 thriller. 

He ended his coaching career at Beaver in 1964, to devote his full time to administrative duties.  He served as Assistant Principal and then as High School Principal from 1971-1978, Administrative Assistant from 1978-1981 and then Coordinator of Secondary Services.  He was also a PIAA cage official for basketball for 23 seasons from 1949-1972. 

He was inducted into the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.