Steve Piskor, left, was inducted in the Plano East Hall of Honor last Friday. Roy Woods, right, presented the plaque to Piskor. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Steve Piskor’s 4-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Zane Burgess with 34 seconds remaining has long lingered in the minds of the 14,000 fans in attendance at John Clark Stadium — a play that shifted the series between the Plano East and Plano football teams.
Plano East had never defeated Plano in their first three meetings as crosstown rivals.
That finally changed in 1985, when the Panthers defeated the Wildcats 21-17 for their first-ever win over Plano in the four-year history of Plano East. Piskor’s touchdown reception proved to be the difference.
But Piskor remembers plenty of other plays made by his teammates — not just his own — that helped Plano East earn the victory.
The eight plays preceding his touchdown reception were part of the most glorious drive in Plano East’s four-year varsity program history. Facing fourth-and-10 at the Plano East 20-yard line with 1:20 remaining, Burgess escaped several would-be tacklers and heaved a 54-yard pass to Tom Cadematori along the sideline at the Plano 25.
“I look at it more as great win for the team,” he said. “That’s how I remember it. Everyone had to play really good for us to win that game. The coaches had a good game plan. We were all focused. We executed the game plan pretty much to a ‘T.’ Plano’s quarterback at the time was Tony Cook. He was a really good player. Good runner, good passer. We were able to keep them in check.
“I just remember the eruption from the crowd after the touchdown. It was so loud. After the game, if you go anywhere in Plano and you had a Plano East jacket, you were treated royally.”
Memories of that game — and that catch — were rekindled Friday night. Piskor, a two-sport standout in football and baseball who graduated with the Class of 1986, was inducted into the Plano East Hall of Honor at Tom Kimbrough Stadium between the first and second quarters.
“It’s something that’s special,” he said. “It’s gratifying, but I’m looking at it more at as a team award. We had a bunch of good guys there. It is a good reflection on the whole group of guys.”
Piskor was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, before moving with his family to Plano in seventh grade. He developed a passion for both baseball and football, playing both sports in middle school and high school, but football had a special way of energizing him.
“In Plano, football becomes part of your blood,” he said. “They’ve made movies about Friday Night Lights, but the movie is not far off what it’s like to play in Plano. I’ve lived in other places, but there is nothing like Texas high school football.”
Piskor also played cornerback, forming a standout defensive backfield duo with Roy Woods.
Highly recruited in both baseball and football, Piskor was selected by the New York Mets in the sixth round of the 1986 Major League Baseball Draft.
He chose to pursue professional baseball immediately after high school, spending four years in the Mets’ organization before returning to Texas to continue his education and football career at the University of North Texas, where he completed his degree.
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