If you want some indication of how good Donald “Mike” Waters was as a football player at Chambersburg, check out these statistics from a 39-7 win over Hanover in October of 1950 at Henninger Field:
- In 13 carries, he gained 154 yards (11.8 avg.), including scoring runs of 80 yards and 23 yards.
- He intercepted a pass and returned it 65 yards for a score.
- Waters picked off another pass, returned it 15 yards, and that led directly to a Trojan TD.
- He returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.
- In total, he touched the ball 16 times and produced 319 yards (19.9 avg.) and 4 TDs.
Waters was a rock-solid star for the Trojan football and basketball teams, playing four years in each. He did not start in his first football game as a freshman, but did play. He started every other game, and missed only one game in basketball, because of sickness. He was believed to be the first Chambersburg player to earn four letters in football.
He also competed in track & field in his freshman year before the program was disbanded, and was an outfielder in baseball for two seasons. He earned 11 varsity letters in his career.
Waters was probably best at football, where he played fullback. In his senior season, he was named to the 1950 All-Pennsylvania Scholastic football team as a second-team selection. He was the first Trojan in 14 years to receive that honor.
In his career, Waters carried the ball 385 times and gained 2,333 yards for a 6.06 average. More importantly, he crossed the goal line 47 times for touchdowns, helping Chambersburg to South Penn League titles in 1948 and 1949.
As a freshman in 1947, Waters had 93 carries for 466 yards (5 yard-per-carry average) and scored 7 TDs. The next fall, he toted the ball 119 times for 681 yards (5.4 avg.) and scored 10 touchdowns.
Waters upped his numbers as a junior, although he had fewer carries. He had 84 carries for 536 yards (6.2 avg.) and had 13 scores to lead the South Penn. As a senior, he had 89 carries for 650 yards (7.1 avg.) and led the league with 17 touchdowns.
The Chambersburg basketball team found plenty of success with Waters playing as a guard. In the four years he started, the Trojans put together an awesome record of 74-6.
Waters was named to the All-South Penn team as a sophomore and junior, and was controversially bumped to the second team as a senior, even though he had another productive season. He scored 193 points, was a strong defensive player and the Trojans were 23-2.
After his school career ended, Waters became a member of the Chambersburg Cardinals semi-pro football team. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania South Central Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986. The old Second Street Playground is now named in his honor.
By Ed Gotwals
