PITTSBURG — Eight individuals and the undefeated 1954 team will be inducted Saturday into the Pittsburg High School Football Hall of Fame.
Kevin Billeci, Jimmy Briggs, Steve Craffey, Kevin Confetti, Louis Esposito, Sammie Lynch, Joe O'Brien and Anthony Shipe will be honored at a dinner at 7 p.m. at the Elks Lodge. Tickets are $5.
The Hall of Fame started in 1995. This year's inductee class spans the school's storied history in the sport.
The 1954 team went 8-0 and is considered one of the best in school history.
Billeci played on the 1980 North Coast Section championship team as a sophomore, then started the next two seasons. The guard/defensive tackle earned all-league honors on both sides of the ball.
Briggs was the star of the undefeated 1951 team, also known as the "Blitz Kids." He was a halfback and a defensive back as the Pirates outscored their opponents 290-26 that year.
Craffey was a two-way lineman on the 1958-59 teams and earned a berth in the North-South Shrine Game, then the biggest all-star game in California. Craffey has since died.
Confetti was a standout defensive tackle on the 1984 league champion, then played on the offensive and defensive lines in 1985, when the Pirates won the North Coast Section 3A title. He later returned to Pittsburg to coach football.
Esposito was named as a contributor for his 36 years filming Pirates games. He has rarely missed a game in that time, and he also was instrumental in the rebuilding of the Pirate Stadium press box 12 years ago.
Lynch was a two-year starter at linebacker and also started at guard as a senior in 1966. During his junior year, Pittsburg had one of its best teams in school history, winning the league championship.
O'Brien was a two-time all-league lineman in 1988-89 who went on to earn NCAA Division II defensive player of the year honors at Santa Clara in 1992. The school then dropped football, so he finished his career at Boise State University, where he was Big Sky Conference defensive player of the year in 1994.
Shipe was a center and linebacker on the Pirates team that upset De La Salle in the 1991 NCS 3A championship game. As a senior in 1992, he had 128 tackles after having 105 the previous year.
