A Legacy Under the Lights: The Jervis Family and the Heart of Lackawanna Trail Football
By: Doug Noldy | SportzWire | November 7, 2025 | Photo courtesy Andrea Mecca @Borden_Photography
For Lackawanna Trail senior captain quarterback, and outside linebacker Tyler Jervis, his family’s sixty-plus-year football history is intertwined with his own. As he and the Lions continue their playoff run, Jervis aims not only to add to their legacy but is also cherishing every single moment of the time he’s able to spend with his grandfather and father on the football field during his senior season.
How it all started: Jervis’s football roots run for over half a century.
For Tyler, he’s not only playing for his father and head coach, Steve, but his grandfather, Steve Sr. as well. Steve Sr. who serves as the kicking and punting coach for the Lions, has a deep football history and background unlike no other. Mr. Jervis played at Tunkhannock High School from 1960-1963 as an offensive lineman. Even though he had some collegiate offers, Jervis entered the workforce as a print operator at a book manufacturing facility and then became employee #100 at Procter and Gamble in Mehoopany, Pa., something he holds dearly today.
Jervis Sr. helped pioneer midget football at Tunkhannock.
Steve Jr. fell in love with the game of football at an early age and couldn’t wait to put on the helmet and pads and play organized youth football. There was a problem though: Tunkhannock at the time did not have a midget/pee-wee program. When Steve was 7 years old, he played on the C-team at Trail. Mr. Jervis, with the help of three other dads, pioneered the project, and the midget/pee-wee program was now underway at Tunkhannock.
Photography: Andrea Mecca @Borden_Photography
New program leads to many challenges.
As any newborn program in any sport, funding and equipment are certainly an issue. When the Tunkhannock program began, old equipment was donated by Courtney Baxter to help get the program on its feet. A year later, Mr. Jervis graciously received a loan for $20,000 from Dave Febbo in Old Forge for uniforms and equipment for the program. A loan that Mr. Jervis proudly quoted, “He took our word for it, and we paid it off in three years.”
Mr. Jervis, now a co-founder of the midget program at Tunkhannock, coached his son, Steve, throughout the program’s early years. The program’s remarkable success led to the formation of two teams in each division. The program’s popularity attracted 480 participants in both football and cheerleading. To accommodate such a large number of participants, the end-of-season banquet had to be held at Genetti’s in Wilkes-Barre.
Coach Jervis moves on to play at the high school and collegiate level.
After Coach Jervis’ playing days ended at the midget level, it was time for him to move up to the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity level. At his quarterback position, Steve played a pivotal role in leading the Tigers to their inaugural and sole district championship in 1992. However, his exceptional performance on the baseball field prompted Steve to pursue baseball at his third base position at Lafayette College, where he dedicated four years to the sport.
The coaching journey begins.
Coach Jervis, in 1997 as an intern, went to Kings College in Wilkes Barre and was under the guidance of head coach Rich Minello, now the head football coach at Dallas High School. In the late 1990’s Jervis went on to coach at his alma mater Tunkhannock where he served as an assistant coach on the junior high and varsity programs and served as the head coach of the baseball program from 2000-2002, Jervis also got his first head coaching position in football at Tunkhannock, graciously accepting the job and held the position from 2002-2007 compiling a record of 23-39. As a young coach, making and finding his way, Jervis had several area coaches he idolized.. George Curry, Jack Henzes, Nick Donato, and Paul Marranca were the most successful coaches not only in the area, but in the state. A young coach Jervis talked to them as much as possible and quoted ,“I’d pick their brains anytime I could.”
Photography: Andrea Mecca @Borden_Photography
Coach Jervis and the Wing-T arrive at Lackawanna Trail. And so does the championships.
Jeff Wasilchak, who in the late 1990s and early 2000s solidified the Lions’ status as high school small school power both on the local and state levels, went to coach and follow in his father’s footsteps at Lakeland, leaving a void at Lackawanna Trail. Coach Jervis ultimately had a tough decision to make but accepted the head coaching position to lead the Lions. Jervis introduced a simple yet complex Wing-T offense that required the coaching staff and players to buy into it. For seven years, Jervis and his staff sold the system to the players, who eventually became fully invested. Under their leadership, since 2016, the Lions won eight District 2 championships, two District 2-11 subregional titles, and a state finalist in 2018. Lackawanna Trail has consistently been a competitive program on both the local and state levels, a goal that Jervis and his staff preached from the start.
Every Dad’s dream, to coach and watch their son’s succeed, both on and off the field.
For Mr. Jervis, he not only gets to see his son Steve succeed as a coach, but also watching his two grandsons succeed as well is something Mr. Jervis said “is a true blessing for me and Ive appreciated every moment of it”. Mr. Jervis and his wife Sandy, who is always the first to receive a hug from Tyler after every game, will celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary later this month.
Coach Jervis credits his dad for showing him the love, passion , respectfulness for the game of football. Jervis was able to share and pass that same love and passion to his two sons, Stephen and Tyler. For Coach Jervis, it’s been an absolute pleasure coaching his two sons on the varsity level. “We’ve spent a lot of quality time together on the practice and game fields and love that we were able to do it together, those memories will last a long time.” Coach Jervis’s wife Kirsten, is highly involved with the program and helps organize team meals and ensures the team has food after every away game.
Stephen was the Lions signal caller and middle linebacker from 2020-2023, leading the Lions to the state quarterfinals in 2023. Stephen, who also excelled in the classroom,is currently majoring in Physics at Colgate University.
Tyler, who looks up to Stephen in every aspect, including his accomplishments both academically and athletically, took over the reigns at the quarterback position in the 2024 season. As a starting quarterback, Tyler has led the Lions to a 21-3 record and has accounted for twenty eight touchdowns in his career. For Tyler, playing for his dad, he quoted “it means the absolute world to me, makes our relationship that much better knowing they have my back and something that ties our family even closer together talking about football at dinner time. It being my last year doing it seems so weird but yet so exciting, I’m just looking to make the most of everything”.
For the Jervis family, there will be more memories to be made as their journey and season continues. One other thing is for certain, the Jervis’s, the coaching staff and the rest of the Lions have an entire community having their backs, a community full of Lion Pride.
Photography: Andrea Mecca @Borden_Photography
