Sparks’ Coach Changes Losing Program and Emphasizes Hard Work Part II
Sparks’ Coach Jumpstarts Winning Program in 2008
By Al Bruno,
Winning for the South Park Sparks’ was not an immediate accomplishment – it would take a couple of seasons of hard work and restructuring, but a winning culture was very apparent with Coach Delaney’s presence, rallying his players and leading the charge.
In 2008, the Sparks managed to secure only one win with eight losses. The only win came on the last day of the season, giving the Sparks’ something to build upon for the next season. Then in 2009, the Sparks played more competitively with a record of three wins and five losses. They were getting better, according to Coach Delaney, and just missed qualifying for the Harvard Cup playoffs for the final time – a football tradition that would come to an end for the city of Buffalo in 2009.
The Sparks would finish with three wins and six losses in the 2010 season. This was the first year in a number of seasons that the South Park Sparks were able to field a junior varsity team because player participation had noticeably increased from previous years. The Sparks’ found their quarterback that year, Maurice Howie, a talented passer and all-around athlete, who threw for 1,052 yards as a freshman.
In the 2011 season, the Sparks improved to four wins and five losses and missed the NY state playoffs. Howie was showing strong promise and had a very good sophomore year, throwing for a total of 1,545 yards. The next year in 2012, the Sparks had four wins and five losses and they would miss the NY state playoffs again. Howie had a great season and was being noticed, locally, throwing for 2078 total yards as a junior.
Remarkably, he totaled 4675 passing yards and 47 touchdowns in his first three seasons. Howie is the current record holder of the total passing yards record for both South Park HS and the city of Buffalo, and no one probably remembers him, sadly until now, for his contributions to the South Park Sparks.
That same year the Sparks would finally improve their weight room with $200,000 worth of new, state-of-the-art equipment, including three, wood-deck, power-lifting stations.
The Sparks were greatly improving from year-to-year and Howie was developing nicely, according to Coach Delaney, but an unfortunate tragedy would cause pain and even suffering to the team and coaching staff. It was discovered that Howie and another student were involved in the shooting death of a taxicab driver in South Buffalo.
The announcement was a crushing, heartfelt blow to the South Park HS community, and it affected Coach Delaney personally, sending him into a depressing tailspin, wondering
and questioning his life and his career direction with teaching and coaching in the city. Many times Coach Delaney sat and cried because of all the lost potential Howie had to offer the Sparks. Maurice Howie was much more than a student and football player to Coach Delaney; he had a special, caring relationship with him.
Friends and family were very supportive, encouraging him to continue his work at South Park. Coach Delaney rebounded and regained his vision, and he asked himself, “Who will do these things here at South Park if I don’t do them?” He knew that only he could be the difference-maker and continue to grow the football program.
The 2013 season was a promising year for the Sparks with seven wins and two losses and making the NY section 6 playoffs for the first time. The Sparks lost in the first round to Williamsville North, 21 to 0. Williamsville North would advance and then lose in the NY Class A finals that year.
In 2014, the Sparks had built winning momentum from the year before. They finished with an impressive record of eight wins and two losses. In the playoffs, the Sparks decisively defeated Starpoint, 22 to 14, in the first round and then Hamburg, 19 to 10, in the second round.
That year South Park became the first Buffalo Public School team to play in the sectional finals at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, in Orchard Park. Unfortunately, the Sparks’ lost to Sweet Home, 27 to 18, in a game that the Sparks’ led early in the fourth quarter that they would eventually lose in the closing minutes.
The expectations for the team were very high going into the 2015 season. Many, including Coach Delaney, believed they had a very competitive team that should go deep into the state playoffs and compete for the NY Class A Championship.
The Sparks did the unthinkable that year with a record of 12 wins and one loss, beating Our Lady of Lourdes, 49 to 46, in the state championship game. The Sparks enjoyed a magical season in 2015. Senior quarterback Tyree Brown accounted for six touchdowns that day, four rushing and two passing, and was named NY Class A Player of the Year. It was a dream come true.
That winning aura and feeling reigned over the South Park HS community that fall, winter, and spring, but the summer would unfortunately bring two more tragedies to the Sparks and Coach Delaney.
In August 2016, Laron Watkins, a South Park graduate and football player, was walking from work when he was shot and killed. Two weeks later Christian Gilles, also a South Park graduate and football player, was involved in the stabbing and killing of his girlfriend’s brother. “I was in total shock and could not believe that these senseless tragedies occurred. It made me realize that these awful things are really the undesirable part of this job,” recalls Coach Delaney.
Still reeling from the emotional pain from the summer tragedies, Coach Delaney rallied his players, now the defending NY Class A Champions, for training camp and the season in late August 2016. They played well in the first half of the 2016 season, but the Sparks fell a little short, finishing with a record of six wins and three losses and missing the playoffs by one game. This would be for the first time in five years that the Sparks would miss the state playoffs.
What Coach Delaney has been able to accomplish in his nine years at South Park HS is nothing short of remarkable and resonating. It is and will be remembered as an urban epic of mythic proportions, an unprecedented honor for the annals, earning its rightful place in Buffalo’s sports lore.
In 2008, Coach Delaney accepted the most difficult assignment in the city. He seized the coaching opportunity and purposely led South Park to a hard-earned, most deserving, state championship seven years later. He was able to accomplish his mission because of the life lessons he learned as a youngster from Tim Sr. in his native, South Buffalo – hard work, extra hours and planning all year long, and an unmatched dedication that equals success. As a result, Coach Delaney is often consulted and is now recognized as an advocate and ambassador for city football programs.
