North Schuylkill adds 5 to football Hall
Sep. 18—FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — The North Schuylkill Football Hall of Fame inducted five new members and presented a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of its 46th class during a halftime ceremony at the Friday, Sept. 9, game against Pine Grove at Ghosh Orthodontics Field at Spartan Stadium.
Here are this year's inductees:
Patrick Gownley
A 2016 graduate, Gownley started three years at safety and three years at running back/fullback. He was named to the Republican Herald second team at defensive back, first-team Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Dream Team, Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association All-Area first team, Hazleton Standard-Speaker All-Area first-team defensive back and Anthracite Football League first team. He also participated in track and field for four years and was named captain his senior year.
A Curvey Scholar recipient, Gownley graduated from Villanova University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. He is a DVSports replay technician for Villanova University's football and basketball teams and is employed full-time as a staff engineer for McMahon Associates in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
Jordan Dziczek
Dziczek was a 2015 graduate, earning two varsity letters at offensive tackle. As a senior, Dziczek was selected to the Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association All-Star team, earning first-team honors. Dziczek also earned varsity letters in baseball.
Dziczek graduated with a degree in business management from Lebanon Valley College and is employed as a performance supervisor for Keurig and Dr. Pepper.
Major Jordan
A 2017 graduate, Jordan started four years on defense at linebacker and four years on offense at running back/fullback. He was a three-time first-team All-State selection on defense.
Jordan graduated with a school-record 483 tackles (50 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 8 interceptions) while accumulating 2,179 rushing yards, 332 receiving yards and 33 touchdowns. Jordan was named to the Class 3A All-State first team at linebacker by the Pennsylvania Football Writers and PA Football News his senior year after totaling 150 tackles. He was named one of the four best linebackers in the state by PA Football News and was tagged as an All-Eastern/Western PA "Super 25" linebacker. Jordan was named WNEP Dream Team Defensive Player of the Year as a senior after being selected to the Dream Team as a junior linebacker.
Throughout his career, Jordan received numerous first- and second-team honors on offense and defense along with Defensive Player of the Year honors from the Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association, Schuylkill Football League, Shamokin News-Item, Pottsville Republican-Herald, Hazleton Standard-Speaker and PA Sports Writers.
As a senior, Jordan was selected to the PSFCA East/West All-Star game, was a Big 33 nominee and was also the Schuylkill Chapter No. 25 football scholar-athlete. He was the Ron Jaworski Mini Maxwell Football Club Award recipient. Jordan also earned varsity letters in basketball and track before receiving a full scholarship to Lafayette College.
At Lafayette, Jordan started at linebacker for four seasons, serving as team captain for his final two seasons. He was selected to the All-Patriot League second team three times in his collegiate career while also earning numerous academic honors and awards. He graduated with a degree in engineering studies/construction project management. Jordan is employed by Torcon Inc., Red Bank, New Jersey, as a project engineer.
Wagner graduated in 2017, earning four varsity letters while starting three years at defensive back and two years at wide receiver.
As a junior defensive back, he was selected to the Hazleton Standard-Speaker first team, Republican Herald All-Area first team, Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association All-Star first team and Anthracite Football League first team.
As a senior, Wagner was selected to the Republican Herald All-Area first-team as a defensive back and Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Dream Team/All-Star first-team defensive back/wide receiver. Wagner was a three-time T-102 Player of the Game.
Wagner was also a three-year letterman in baseball and four-year letterman in track. He is pursuing a doctorate in pharmacy at Wilkes University and is a pharmacy intern at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill.
Richard Zahodnick
A 2017 graduate, Zahodnick was a four-year varsity letterman playing defensive back, quarterback, receiver, running back and special teams.
As a sophomore athlete, Zahodnick was named Republican Herald and Standard-Speaker All-Area honorable mention. As a junior, he was selected as an athlete to the Republican Herald All-Area second team and Hazleton Standard-Speaker and Shamokin News-Item All-Area first teams at wide receiver/running back. As a senior, Zahodnick was selected to the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, News-Item and Republican Herald All-Area first teams at wide receiver/running back.
Zahodnick was also a Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Dream Team selection on offense and first-team All-Star athlete. For his career, he amassed more than 3,000 all-purpose yards. Zahodnick started three years at shortstop for the District 11 champion and state semifinalist Spartan baseball team. He graduated from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in health professions and is pursuing his master's in bioinformatics and data analytics at Johns Hopkins.
Lifetime Achievement Award Joseph W. Halko
The North Schuylkill Football Hall of Fame presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to Joseph W. Halko for his 35 years of dedication as a trainer to the athletes of the North Schuylkill School District.
From 1984-2019, Halko volunteered his expertise on the sideline of every football game, never missing a single game, both home and away. He treated injuries during and after games while rehabbing, if necessary, for days or weeks. He was involved with pre-game preparations including taping, padding casts, making splints and injury prevention. He also dealt with head injuries and injury prevention screenings.
Halko was an expert with ankles, knees, thighs and fingers. This treatment and care quickly extended beyond the football field to athletes in other sports. Hundreds of athletes from neighboring schools were rehabbed in Halko and Phil Malloy's Pottsville office — PTS — Pottsville Area Physical Therapy Services.
"Mr. Halko," as he was called, treated countless athletes not only on the field and in the locker room, but also in his own home during evening hours. That included Saturdays and Sundays. Many athletes reached out to Halko and were rehabbed beyond their years at North Schuylkill. Former players (and their parents) will be quick to attest to Joe's "healing powers." In fact, four out of the five athletes being inducted this evening received the "Halko healing touch."
In 1999, Halko was instrumental in establishing the first full-time athletic trainer position at North Schuylkill. He has since been inducted into the North Schuylkill Football Hall of Fame as an honorary inductee.
Halko recently retired from his Pottsville office but continues to assist his brother Bill's Pine Grove therapy service, West Schuylkill Physical Therapy. He is also continuing to provide therapy to former Spartan standout Jaden Leiby.
Contact the writer: Lboyer@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6026; @pubsportsboss on Twitter
