John Halcovich

• Post by: mcalibrary
• January 3, 2024
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INDUCTEE

“Halco” graduated from Mount Carmel Area High School in 1971, where he was a three- year letter winner in both track and football. In track, he was a district runner-up in both the high and low hurdles to local and state hall of fame inductee Henry Hynoski. But it was in football where he really made his mark. Named after Ted Hendricks – Miami Dolphin All Pro defensive end – The Stork” was a fixture at defensive end from 1968 thru 1970 for the Big Red. That Golden Era produced teams that won three consecutive Southern Division titles along with The Eastern Conference Crown in 1969. They compiled a 34-2 record and never lost a regular season game. To this day, Halco is the “bell weather” against which every other defensive end at Mount Carmel is measured. Following the 69 and 70 seasons, John was named to every All Anthracite all star team and was given honorable mention all state by the Associated Press in 1970.As a 175 lb defensive end, Halcovich remarkably became one of the most recruited players from those championship teams. After initially signing a letter of intent with Nebraska – the reigning National Champions who would go on to win back to back titles – Halco ultimately decided to stay closer to home and accepted a full scholarship with Boston College, the alma mater of his coach Joe Jazz Diminick.

Halcovich would prove all the recruiters to be right. After a sterling season on BC’s freshman squad, John became a starter in his sophomore year and was named the most valuable defensive player against then No 4 ranked Air Force Academy. Even though at 180 lbs, he was the lightest defensive end in Division One football, Halco started and lettered all three seasons at BC. During that period in which the Eagles went 23-10, John had the pleasure of playing against three Heisman Trophy winners; John Cappaletti of Penn State, Tony Dorsett of Pitt, and Earl Campbell of Texas. John also battled former high school teammates Gary Howanec – Brown, Henry Hynoski – Temple, and Ken Diminick – Villanova.

Today, with John’s induction into the Romance Chapter, his class of 71 can boast of having 8 of its members as inductees and his 70 team now counts 12 of its players as members of the hall .

John graduated from BC’s school of management in 1975 with a BS in marketing and has spent 26 years working in the environmental industry. He is currently a National Account Manager for Zep Manufacturing and resides in Bryn Mawr, Pa. With his wife, the former Ali McGinley, and two children, Christina Jean and John Thomas ( who already has that defensive end look made famous by his dad).