Published: August 04, 2008 10:39 pm      

HIGH SCHOOL: Masters headed for state Hall of Fame

Just the other day, Mike Masters was thumbing through some of his father’s old newspaper clippings. There was one from a 1950 edition of the Tonawanda News that immediately caught his eye.

“There was a quote from his baseball coach, Clint Small, at Tonawanda that said ‘Our catcher, Gene Masters, is like having another coach on the field,’” the younger Masters recalled.

“That’s exactly what he was made to do — coach.”

And Masters did so with so much success that he is scheduled to be one of six, including former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, inducted into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame at a ceremony Wednesday in Rye Brook.

“This is a great thing for the Western New York community because it’s a chance for those that knew him to be connected with him one last time,” Mike Masters said. “For the family, it’s a great honor but it’s also very emotional because he passed away in 2001.”

The Tonawanda High School and University at Buffalo graduate began his coaching career at tiny Brocton High School in 1957. During his six years at the school, Masters won three football titles and a pair of baseball championships. Then in 1963, Masters moved on to the newly-formed Grand Island High School and immediately made the Vikings competitive.

While at GI, his football teams captured 19 league championships, four consecutive Class B titles (1989-92) and made 10 playoff appearances. He finished with 248 career wins on the gridiron, the highest all-time total among Section VI coaches and eighth most in the state. The football field at GI is named in the 1980s Western New York Coach of the Decade’s honor.

On the diamond, Masters compiled 440 wins, 15 championships, 10 Niagara Frontier League titles and five sectional championships. He also coached five players that were drafted in Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft.

While the win totals may seem eye-popping to some, for Mike Masters they’re just the result of hard work from a coach and his players.

“He had such a great competitive fire,” Mike said. “No matter what he was doing, he was going to give you 100 percent. I think that right there is exactly why the Vikings did so well for so long. He coached with that kind of fire and expected the same kind of fire back from his kids.”

In fact, current GI football and baseball coach Dean Santorio said that’s probably the biggest influence Masters had on him as first a player and then an assistant coach.

“The biggest thing that I remember was how hard he worked and how he prepared,” Santorio said. “He was so focused on making his players believe that if they put in the work and never doubted themselves, they would have a great chance to win. I try to do that as much as possible today.”

Masters was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Tonawanda High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.

Contact reporter Nate Beutel at 282-2311, ext. 2262.