It was August 1976 and the Golden Falcons’ football team was preparing for what turned out to be another undefeated season when head coach Bill Race received a phone call from another area high school coach who was seeking a scrimmage.

The request was granted but, according to Mistretta (Class of ’77), it was with a Race “guarantee,” something along the lines of, “We’re going to kick your butt.”

Race’s words turned out to be prophetic.

“They went on defense first and that was a big mistake,” Mistretta recalled. “We had 10 plays from the 40-yard line, and we scored on seven of the 10 times from the 40. After our 10th play, Race went over to (the other coach) and said, ‘Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.'”

In this 1991 file photo, Falconer head football coach Bill Race, middle, is flanked by assistants Bill Davenport, left, and Curt Fischer as he addresses the team. All three men are inductees of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame

Falconer ended up going 8-0 that season to extend its winning streak to 28 games, making it one of the longest in Western New York history. Decades later, Mistretta’s memory of that preseason scrimmage is but a blip on his personal radar compared to his appreciation for his high school coach.

“He’s been a special friend, one that you only run across a few times in your life,” he said. “I appreciate every minute I have with the guy.”

That “guy” is celebrating his 90th birthday today.

Not surprisingly, the figurative verbal “bouquets” tossed in Race’s honor far outnumber the pass plays he called from his nearly unstoppable Wing-T offense.

ııı

From first grade on, Tom Ames (Class of ’79) had Race as his gym teacher. And while the former never played football for the Golden Falcons, he and “Coach” spent significant time together as broadcast partners for WJTN Radio.

Twenty years, to be exact.

“We traveled all over New York state covering football and basketball,” Ames said.

“I had some of the best times of my life with Bill,” Ames added. “We both love great food, so we dined at some of the very best restaurants in cities like Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton and Saratoga Springs.

“Bill had such an engaging personality that by the time our meal was finished, we’d know many of the staff. Our post-dinner stops were more of the same.”

Another member of the Ames-Race radio traveling party has been Jim Brown (Class of ’92). A three-year varsity player for Race, he was also a member of the Golden Falcons’ baseball team that reached the state final four his senior year.

There was one problem that spring for the guy known affectionately as “Chummer.”

Grades.

Suffering from what Brown called “senioritis,” he was called into a meeting one day with the school district superintendent and two teachers.

“I’m standing there thinking I’m going to get suspended right before our playoff run,” Brown recalled, “and then who walks in? Coach Race.

“He saved me, he stuck up for me, he went to bat for me. He didn’t have to do that. Football season was over, but that’s just the kind of guy he was.”

As Brown later discovered, Race was generous to a fault.

“He’s a great football coach,” Brown said, “but it’s the kind of person he is that means more to me. He really cares about the guys who played for him. Playing football, he was my coach. Now? He’s my friend.”

Mark Petersen (Class of ’73), a student of and player and assistant coach for Race, has never forgotten what he has learned from his football mentor.

“His two-point play package I have folded up on a piece of paper … and I still have it in my wallet,” Petersen said. ” … I learned from ‘old school.’ There was not a better way to learn the game.”

Yet as much as he absorbed from Race’s Xs and Os, it’s the friendship that is even more meaningful.

“He is a guy who would give you the shirt off his back,” Petersen said. “He did that for all his players. He was loyal to his players and loyal to his coaches.”

When Joel Sopak (Class of ’85) thinks of Race, he recognizes that the latter “accomplished great things on the football field, but for me his true greatness came after coaching.

“Over (my) past 10 years of coaching at Falconer, Coach Race has stopped by numerous times to check in and offer his support. Seeing his concern and compassion for how his past players are doing is truly meaningful.”

Curt Fischer (Class of ’81), who played for and was an assistant under Race, called the latter “one of the most important figures in my life.”

He added: “When I was offered the head coaching job at Maple Grove, I said that I probably wasn’t ready, and he said, ‘No excuses, just do it. You’re ready.'”

Fischer went on to win state titles with the Red Dragons in 1998 and 2008.

ııı

Race retired in 1995. Thirty years later, Petersen maintains that the former remains an “institution” in Falconer.

He arrived in Falconer in 1962 and served one year as an assistant under Coach Skip Mathieson. Beginning in the fall of 1963 and continuing through 1994, he served as the Golden Falcons’ head coach where he posted 174 victories, including 28 straight from 1973-77. Those accomplishments earned him induction into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in February 1995.

“A lot of people don’t understand what he means to this community,” Petersen said. “When he left, the heartbeat of Falconer left with him, in a lot of ways.”

CSHOF President Randy Anderson said Race “is more than an inductee.”

Anderson continued: “He is also a valuable volunteer and member of its board of directors. He has served as a docent at the Hall of Fame nearly every Friday afternoon for the past two decades. Bill has recently been honored by the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau for his volunteer work and he has been a director of the organization for 30 years, including multiple terms as a vice president. ‘Coach’ is always one of the first to raise his hand when something needs to be done.”

ııı

Years ago, Race took Mistretta and Petersen on a trip to his hometown, Archbold, Pennsylvania. Race introduced the pair to his parents and to his friends.

“Mark and I were just ecstatic and we were so proud to be there,” Mistretta said. “That was really huge for him (to take us there).”

Decades later, Race’s former players are thrilled to wish him a happy 90th birthday.

“Every time he comes over here and whenever we see him,” Petersen said, “he always says, ‘Petersen, I love you,’ and I tell him, ‘I love you, too.’

“I mean that.”

And so do many others.