CATAWISSA, Pa. — Both Julian Fleming and Cal Haladay dominated on the football field at Southern Columbia. They helped the school win three straight state titles, finishing their high school careers with a 63-1 record.
Since then, the former Tigers went their separate ways, both moving on to play in the Big Ten -- Fleming at Ohio State, Haladay for Michigan State -- but Saturday, the two were back where it all began -- Catawissa, holding a football camp for a good cause.
Fleming and Haladay haven't played on Jim Roth Field at Southern Columbia since 2019, but Saturday, they were happy to take some pictures on it. The former high school teammates, turned college rivals came together to hold a skills camp for boys and girls from kindergarten through 6th grade. Their way of saying thank you.
"Yeah, this is the first thing that we've done and I think it was good," Haladay explained. "To give back to the community, too and come back and be at Southern and just give back to the community that supported us all throughout high school and it was good for a good cause."
That cause is to raise money for the Pediatric Arachnoid Cyst Foundation, which brings awareness and support the condition affecting Fleming's two-year-old cousin, Journey.
"It's been a really, really rough journey for my family and it's hard for me, being so far away and not be able to be as big a part of her life as I would like to be," Fleming explained. "So, just know I could spread a little bit of awareness, just to kids and families around who definitely didn't know what it was because I didn't before, either. So, it just means a lot, being able to get that awareness out and being able to put some money towards it."
All while teaching the next generation in Columbia County what he and Haladay know best: football.
"Just to be able to pass down some of the things that all of us have learned, coming up through high school and being able to go on to the next level and just being there the past couple years, just the knowledge that you soak in, you can pass on to the younger generation," Fleming said.
"I know I looked up to the high school guys or even the college guys," Haladay added. "Getting to spend time with people like that, just, it means a lot as a kid. So, I'm just hoping I can kind of pass this off to those little kids and I hope they enjoyed it and had fun today. I think this could become a yearly thing. Come home right before the 4th of July and just have a good time with some kids."