Published: September 05, 2008 02:42 pm      

HS FOOTBALL: Another way to remember the T-NT game

Life has taken Mark Prelewicz away from his hometown, but it hasn’t taken some of his favorite memories, which involve the annual T-NT Classic.

Instead of just replaying those memories in his mind, however, Prelewicz has come up with a way to actually see them over and over again.

Prelewicz came up with the idea of fbgamefilm.com, a Web site in which high school coaches can send game films to Prelewicz, who then compresses and streams them for easy viewing. The idea is to make the recruiting process easier for those involved — especially players and coaches.

“My goal was to help out both the high school and college coach, while giving the entire high school program exposure,” Prelewicz said in an e-mail.

College coaches can create their own accounts and view game film from high schools throughout the country. The site is secure so that just college coaches can view the tapes.

There is also an option to become an FBgamefilm insider, which is free and allows anyone to watch tape of old games, including T-NT games.

“I'm a big fan of the history of the two towns. My grandfather, Mike Susty, was an original inductee of the North Tonawanda Football Hall of Fame. My father told me great stories about George Vetter and the great teams he had with one of the great running backs from NT, John Chisera,” Prelewicz said. “I was a ball boy for Tonawanda since I was about 8 years old. I remember watching the games from the sidelines of Clint Small Stadium and seeing guys like Ken Heyer and Bob Kirisits.”

Prelewicz is a 1998 graduate of Ithaca College, where he was a two-year letter winner. He coached at Tonawanda for one season before accepting a position at Ithaca, where he stayed for two years. He then coached high school football in New Jersey.

“Once I got out of coaching, I decided to give my idea a shot. There aren't many people out there that want to help out the coach,” he wrote. “I contacted a college friend of mine who is a web designer in Manhattan, Dave Gavazzi (Canisius High School '93). He designed the Web site and we've been up for about a year now.”

Though he’s located in New Jersey, Prelewicz’s passion for the T-NT game remains strong.

“The whole experience of the T-NT week is something I'll always remember,” he said. “The hall decorations, car parade, Pep Rally and the way that the two towns pretty much came to a stop for that one game … it's a great game that the rest of the country needs to know about.”

Those who have game films from past T-NT games who can provide Prelewicz with a copy for the Web site are asked to contact him at 732-425-4466 or by mail at P.O. Box 264, Monmouth Junction, N.J., 08852. Tapes will be returned.

Contact editor Jay Skurski at 693-1000, ext. 117.