Bob Rovito

• Post by: mcalibrary
• January 11, 2024
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INDUCTEE

Bob Rovito was a 1952 graduate of Kulpmont High School where he started at tackle for three years for the Wildcats. Although the Kulpmont teams of 1938, 1944, and 1945 are the most mentioned when talking about the great ones, Bob’s 9151 team could be the best of all. The team that year went 10-0 and scored 333 points while giving up only 47. They were denied their destiny when Tamaqua refused to play them during the regular season because of a 61-0 drubbing the year before. Because of the old Saylor rating system, the Wildcats were nosed out of championship play by Pottsville for the Southern Division Crown. The Wildcats were coached that season by co-coaches Ed Stavenski and Bobby Balent. They would also register the most points ever scored in a game for Kulpmont in a 66-0 rout of West Mahanoy Township.

Rovito’s teams would go 24-7-1 during his three years as a starter. One of the losses in his junior year was to Coaldale and, Navy and Virginia Coach, George Welsh. Welsh would throw 4 touchdown passes that day and later in life would list beating the Wildcats as one of the highlights of his career. Bob would graduate and move on to Mansfield and, along with teammates Nick Bruno and Fred Murdock, would have to play against old QB Sugar Lashendock, who had gone on ot Bloomsburg State Teachers College.

Bob would go on to play for two years at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, going undefeated and winning the Army Championship.

Rovito would take his talents to Yonkers, NY and over a period of time earned his business degree in New York’s State School System. He would continue to coach Pop Warner football for 10 years in Yonkers before moving on to Valley Cottage. He would continue to coach at the Pop Warner level for 20 years until 1986. Three of his teams would qualify for the national championship games in Coral Gables, FL and Jacksonville, FL.

Rovito worked as a hospital administrator at Nyack Hospital for 20 years before his retirement. He and his wife, the former Jackie Arasim, are looking forward to their 50th wedding anniversary in October. They are parents of three children: Robert – who played on Weidner College’s National Championship in 9182, Ronald – a football official in New York, and Karen – a registered nurse. They have 9 grandchildren and currently reside in Valley Cottage.