Butch Keller will be honored in a special ceremony Oct. 3 at the HHS auditorium for his coaching achievements at Honesdale and with the Scranton Eagles.
HONESDALE — Legendary football coach Allen “Butch” Keller will be honored during a special ceremony Friday night as part of this year’s homecoming celebration.
Keller taught at Honesdale for more than three decades and led the varsity grid program for 26 years. During that time, he also served as head coach of the Scranton Eagles, the most successful semipro franchise in history.
In recognition of all he accomplished during his teaching and coaching tenure at HHS, Keller will be honored as one of the six members of Honesdale’s inaugural Wall of Fame class.
The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on October 3 in the high school auditorium. It will feature several speakers and a special screening of the PBS documentary: The Forgotten Dynasty — Scranton Eagles Football.
“I’m honored to be recognized at the showing of the documentary,” Keller said. “I’m excited that local fans will have the opportunity to see some of the Scranton Eagles players, including some from Wayne County.”
All are invited to this tribute to Coach Keller and there is no charge for admittance.
A remarkable résumé
Honesdale’s varsity football program had lain dormant for nearly four decades before Keller arrived on the scene in 1967.
In less than two years, he’d revived the sport locally and begun building a team that would quickly begin carving out a spot for itself among the high school elite.
Keller is the winningest football coach in school history. All told, he led the Hornet program for nearly three decades and his teams were in the thick of the playoff hunt every fall.
Keller was twice named “Coach of the Year” while leading the Hornets to three Suburban Conference championships and four Eastern Conference Northern Division Class B titles.
During his years at HHS, Keller did double duty as head coach of the semipro Scranton Eagles. He led this team, which featured many former Hornets, to 146 wins, nine Empire Football League crowns and four national titles.
The Emmy winning documentary about the Eagles was produced by former players Ben Payavis and John Kennedy. It debuted on public television last November to excellent reviews and is available to stream at the WVIA website.
“Watching the documentary brought back a lot of memories,” said Keller, who played for the team during the 1970s. “We wanted to be the best, and worked harder than the other teams. Our players, coaches, owners and staff always took a lot of pride in doing things the right way.”
Keller was inducted into the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall Fame in 2005. He is a member of the Scranton and Northeast Chapters of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame, American Football Association Hall of Fame, United States Football Hall of Fame, and the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Homecoming weekend
The tribute to Keller and special screening of the Scranton Eagles documentary on Friday are just two aspects of Homecoming weekend.
Honesdale will play Susquehanna on Saturday in a Week 7 Lackawanna Football Conference contest.
The Hornets sport a 2-4 record and are fresh off a big 36-0 shutout of Western Wayne in the 33rd annual Wayne-Pike Shrine Bowl Classic. The Sabers are still searching for that elusive first win and coming off a 55-7 loss at Riverside.
Gabe Duda and Kobe White provide a potent 1-2 punch for Honesdale. Duda has rushed for 409 yards and six touchdowns while White boasts more than 500 yards from scrimmage and five scores.
Opening kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday on the turf at the Daniel J. O’Neill Sports Complex.
This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Lackawanna Football Conference Honesdale Wall of Fame Butch Keller
Category: General Sports
