Louie giammona biography

Louie Giammona, an All-America running back who was known for his quickness, acceleration and ability to block and catch, was inducted into the Utah State University Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony last month in Logan, Utah.

Giammona, a Calistoga High School graduate, played football at Utah State from 1973-75. He is widely regarded as one of the best all-around offensive talents in Utah State history. He was also a kick returner.

During his junior year in 1974, Giammona led the nation in rushing with 1,534 yards and carries with 32.9 per game. He also led the nation with 1,984 all-purpose yards as a junior to earn second-team United Press International All-America honors.

Giammona again earned All-America honors from UPI (honorable mention) during his senior season as he led the nation in all-purpose yards for the second straight year with 2,045 and was fifth in the nation in rushing with 1,454 yards.

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Overall, Giammona still holds the school record for most consecutive 100-yard rushing games with 10 during his junior and senior seasons, while his four career 200-yard rushing games still ranks tied for first all-time.

He is also the school record holder for rushing attempts in a game (45 vs. Kent State, 1974) and season (329 in 1974), and rushing yards per game for a season (153.4 in 1974) and career (116.6). His 3,499 career rushing yards ranked 11th-best in NCAA history at the time, while his career all-purpose totals of 5,201 yards ranked fourth-best in the NCAA.

Giammona was selected in the eighth round of the 1976 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, playing with the team for two seasons before spending five years (1978-82) with the Philadelphia Eagles, coached by his uncle, Dick Vermeil, who is also from Calistoga.

During his stint with the Eagles, Giammona was elected team captain from 1980-82, which included Philadelphia’s 1980 Super Bowl team.

A total of 56 individuals and one team have now been inducted into the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was founded in 1993 with 12 initial members.

Located inside the Steve Mothersell Hall of Honor, the Hall of Fame gives fans the opportunity to view biographical information and watch videos on each of the inducted members. Both the Hall of Fame and the Hall of Honor are located inside the Jim and Carol Laub Athletics-Academics Complex in the north end of Romney Stadium.

Clark Miller was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. Miller was a standout tackle for Utah State, earning “Outstanding Lineman” honors during the Senior Bowl and the “Most Valuable Player” award of the East-West Shrine game in 1962.

He was a standout player for Utah State during the 1960 and 1961 seasons, helping the Aggies to an 18-3-1 record, including two Skyline Eight championships and two straight bowl appearances.

At Utah State, he played alongside All-American defensive tackle Merlin Olsen.

Miller, who died Nov. 5, 2008 at the age of 70, played nine years in the NFL. He was a resident of Oakville.

One of the big games of the week takes place Friday at the new Memorial Stadium when Vacaville (4-1) and Napa (5-0), both ranked, open the Monticello Empire League season. It’s a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, giving fans their first chance to see a game at the stadium after 10 months of work.

Vacaville is No. 4 and Napa is No. 13 in the Sac-Joaquin Section rankings.

Vacaville is also No. 9 in the NorCal Preps Top-10 Coaches Poll.

• Sophomore free safety John Boyett was named as the Student Athlete of the Week for Sept. 27.

Boyett scored his first career touchdown on a 39-yard interception return, the fourth interception of his career, as the University of Oregon beat Arizona State, 42-31.

The Napa High graduate had a career-high three pass breakups against Arizona State. He shared the team-high with eight tackles against Tennessee and had four stops against New Mexico.

• Henderson State linebacker Kyle Mathieu had two total tackles and a quarterback hurry as the Reddies shut out visiting Arkansas-Monticello, 47-0, Saturday at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia, Ark.

Mathieu played football at Vintage High, Solano Community College and Santa Rosa JC.

Vanessa Jordan took two shots, including one on goal, for the Westminster women’s team, but the Griffins saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 2-0 loss against visiting Rocky Mountain College Sunday afternoon at Dumke Field in Salt Lake City.

Jordan started and played 90 minutes for Westminster (6-5-1 overall, 1-1 Frontier Conference). She is a junior midfielder and a Vintage High graduate.

Kyleigh McAhren of Napa played well for the Bucknell volleyball team in two matches last week.

The junior middle hitter from Justin-Siena had four kills and two block assists in Bucknell’s 3-0 sweep of host Lafayette in Easton, Pa.

McAhren had eight kills on a .200 hitting percentage in Bucknell’s 3-0 win over host Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa.

She also had two set assists, two service returns, one dig and one block assist.

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