INDUCTEE Greg Doviak was the quarterback who led the beginning of the “Diminick powerhouses” even though that ‘66 team did not win the championship. A late season loss to Shikellamy prevented that team form getting into the championship game; but their 10-1 record ushered in the beginning of an eight year reign where the Tornadoes were the most dominant football team in Eastern Pennsylvania. In 1966, Greg had as fine a quarterback year as it is possible to have. He threw at least one touchdown pass in every game. In nine of the 11 games, his passing yardage exceeded 100 yards. Twice he threw more than four touchdown passes in a game. And against Bloomsburg he had a total offense contribution of 402 yards. All these are tornado records which still stand. Greg ranks as the second leading passer in tornado football history. He threw 26 touchdown passes in 1966 alone. Greg capped that fantastic season by being named first team All State quarterback by both the Associated Press and United Press International. He was nominated a member of the Big 33 Squad and represented the East Team as quarterback in that late summer game. Greg attended Bucknell University from where he graduated in 1971. While with the Bisons he was a three letter winner, and part of the time shared quarterback duties with Sam Havrilak, who later played for the Baltimore Colts. Greg received his Masters Degree from Penn State in 1973. He is married and has one daughter aged 10, and is expecting another child in July.

INDUCTEE Marty DeFrancesco almost single handedly forced people to accept Lourdes High as a football power capable of playing on even terms wit other schools. Not that the Raiders hadn’t produced fine teams and excellent individual players prior to Marty’s career; but it was in 1974 that Lourdes entered the Southern Division and he led them immediately to the Southern Division crown and tie for the Eastern Conference Championship. In a sense, he accomplished for Lourdes what Joe Namath has accomplished for the American Football League. During his three-year career at Lourdes, the Red Raiders won 29, lost two, and tied one. In 1973, he set a school record with 13 interceptions and was AP all State Honorable Mention and First Team All Anthracite. The following season he was named Second Team All State by the AP on defense and Honorable Mention on offense. He also set Lourdes’ career interception record with 22 and threw the longest pass for a touchdown ever at Lourdes – a 95-yarder against Berwick. He was also the only player named to both offensive and defensive squads on the All Anthracite Team named by the coached. He was recruited heavily by the major colleges, including Penn State and Michigan, as a defensive back, but decided to attend Brown University where he majored in Pre Med. While at Brown, he quarterbacked and captained the Bruin frosh. He lettered the next three years. He graduated from Brown University in 1979 and received a degree in Medicine from Milton S. Hershey Medical School in 1984. He is married to the former Barbara A. Atkinson of Lower Burell, Pa., who is a physician.

INDUCTEE If you check the record books you won’t find the name of Frank “Jiggs” Ficca among the leaders in any statistical category. But here’s a funny thing: Get into a discussion with a knowledgeable Tornado football dan and start liting the best players to have played Mt. Carmel High football, and chances are good the name “Jiggs” Ficca will come up in the conversation. Frank was the leader of the 1954 team which won the Eastern Division Championship, the first in 27 years- and while he didn’t ring up the big statistics, he scored 3 TDs and an extra point in leading the Tornadoes to an early season win over Tamaqua, which was expected to challenge for the championship. Along the way he made many of the big plays as he led the team to a 10-0-1 record. Trailing 7-0 against Coal Township late in the game, Frank was inserted even though he was nursing a sprained ankle. He caught a 32-yard pass bringing the ball down to the 2-yard line, but re-injured his ankle and went to the sidelines again. “Speedy” Butella carried the ball over from the 2, making the score 7-6 Coal Township. While the coached debated what play to use for the tying point, Frank ran on the field and kicked the only extra point he ever attempted. The tie with Coal kept the win streak alive and allowed the Tornadoes to win the championship, and won on to win the Eastern Pennsylvania Championship. He wet on to letter three years as a running back and defensive back at Villanova under Coach Frank Reagan. He works for an investment firm in the Philadelphia area and lives in Gulph Mills, Pa.

INDUCTEEE Bob was the holder of 48 individual records at Mt. Carmel High School. Yet, to characterize his career only on the basis of statistics is unfair and does not fully picture what he accomplished in a three-year athletic career at Mt. Carmel High School. If you can believe it, he was an even better player than the statistics indicate. Yet, some of the stats boggle the mind, He scored 54 touchdowns, and the average length of each touchdown was 32.2 yards. He averaged 9.7 each time he touched the ball in a career that accounted for more than 45000 yards. In 1976 alone, he scored every possible way you could score n football: Rushing, receiving, punt return, kickoff return, fumble, recovery, interception return, extra point rush, extra point pass, extra point catch, extra point kick, field goal and tackle for safety in end zone. He holds the MCA record for scoring in basketball and averaged .495 for three years as a starter for the Tornadoes baseball team. He is the only Tornado to have jerseys retired in both football and basketball. He was chosen All State First Team as a defensive back by the Associated Press in 1977. As a defensive starter in the Big 33 game, he was the outstanding player on the field-and then put into the game on offense late in the game is carried once for a 48-yeard touchdown run. He opted for a career in baseball and accepted grant-in-aid to play baseball at the University of Maryland. Over a four-year period as a starter for the Terps he hit .356.

Doctor Jim Morrison was a terrific all-around athlete who lettered for three years in both basketball and football for Mt. Carmel High School. Yet for many old-time fans his entire career as an athlete is focused on one play. But what a play it was! Doc caught a toss from Mike Terry for the extra point that enabled the Tornadoes to beat Bellefonte 7-6 and win the fist ever State Championship for Mt. Carmel in 1927. The game was played in the snow on December 8, 1927 at Beaver Field on the Penn State Campus. The Big Red had scored on a touchdown run my Mike Terry to come from behind to tie the score 6-6. Because of the condition of the field it was obvious that a single point would loom large in the final outcome. The Tornadoes lined up as if to kick the extra point…with QB Bert Jones apparently set to hold the placement for Mike Terry’s attempted kick. But the ball was snapped directly to Terry; and Doc Morrison was able to get free in the end zone to catch the deciding point. Mt Carmel made the point stand up for the victory and the state title. Doc continued his athletic career in college as a baseball player for the Gaels of Mt. St. Mary’s as a freshman. But after a single season there he transferred to Georgetown, where he earned his degree in Dentistry. He was always a great sports fan and supporter of local athletics. But he is remembered most for that one play in 1927 that won a state championship.

INDUCTEE Joe “Sammy” Ososki is a Mt. Carmel boy who left home and “made good” a great example of a person who used his athletic career as a springboard to success in other fields. He was one of Mt. Carmel’s greatest runners; one of the few who captioned the team as both a junior and a senior. In 1939 he enrolled at Fordham University and was an immediate sensation. In 1942 Fordham defeated University of Missouri 2-0 in the Sugar Bowl. After the game, the New York Times called him, “Fleetest in Fordham’s galaxy of runners.” He was a great runner; but humble to the point that the Immortal sports writer Red smith characterized him as “a guy named Joe”. World War II intervened and he left Fordham in 1942, joined the Marines and fought at Iwo Jima. After the war he returned to Fordham where he graduated in 1947. In his final year at Fordham, he played on the Eastern Collegiate All-Star Team, which lost an exhibition game to the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. The Giants liked him well enough to sign him to a contract, but he injured his knew while playing for the Jersey City Giants, which ended his playing career. He immediately became an assistant coach at Fordham University and began a recruiting pipeline which resulted in more than 30 Coal Region youngsters playing at Fordham. He remained at Fordham until they dropped their football program in 1953. Joe “Sammy” Ososkie is the kind of person and athlete Ed Romance had in mind when he felt the need to start a regional Hall of Fame to honor athletes for their contributions.

INDUCTEE Carmie DeFrancesco was one of the great Tornado running backs of the 10-year period from 1965 through 1975 who looked like they were all produced on an assembly line. They were all small, lightning quick, score-from-anywhere-on-the-field types. Names like Hamernick, Veach, Pizzoli, Hynoski, Gary Diminick receded him. At that time, the Tornadoes were so deep that a running back never really got an opportunity to get the ball until his junior year or senior year. Despite that, Carmie lettered four years during the period when the Tornadoes completely dominated Coal Region football. Their record during the four-year period suited up was 44-3. He played on three consecutive Southern Division Class A champions. And also despite the fact there was so much talent the ball carrying suits has to be split up, he still was able to elbow himself into the record books. He is one of the only seven Tornado rushers to gain more than 1,000 yards in a season. Against Shamokin in 1970, he rushed for 217 years (the third best in school history). He played at Juniata College from 1971 to 1975, lettering all four years and starting at tailback the final three. He presently owns and manages NAPA Auto Parts of Mt. Carmel and Shamokin, and coached the backs at Mt. Carmel High School. He is married (the former Karen Welker) and has three children, only one of them a running back.

SCHOLAR ATHLETE Our scholar athlete for ’86 compiled some terrific statistics, both academically and athletically. Joe ranks Number 1 in his class of 138, with an average of 97.8 in all subjects. He scored 1600 in his college boards, for which he received a letter of Recognition from the P.H.E.A.A. He was a Hugh O’Brien ambassador- and award given in recognition of outstanding scholarship and student leadership of both the National Honor Athletic Society and the National Honor Society. He has been a member of Student Council for 4 years. He was also President of the Key Club, a service organization, for 1985 and 1986. He was no shrinking violet athletically, either. He lettered 3 years for the tornado football team, which he captained the last year. He was voted first team linebacker on the all Susquehanna Valley Conference Team; and was a Big 33 nominee on two different occasions. He also won both the Len Eshmont and the Bobby Pizzoli Awards. He’s a 4-year letter winner in track. He won letters in wrestling as a freshman and sophomore; but a shoulder injury prevented him from wrestling afterwards. High School Principle Rich Beiershmitt called Joe, “A silent leader, a hard worker, and terrific role model.”

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD Frank Sheptock went on from establishing All-Time Defensive records as a linebacker at Mount Carmel Area High School to doing the same thing on the College level at Bloomsburg State College. In his freshman year, Sheppy made the ECAC Honor Roll 3 times enroute to becoming First team All PSAC Linebacker. As a sophomore he began to roll. He made the Honor Roll 5 times and repeated as First Team All PSAC Linebacker. He was also All Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Linebacker, Bloomsburg University Undergraduate Athlete of the Year and Associated Press First Team All American Linebacker. He obliterated every individual defensive record for the Huskies. In a move that reflected how much esteem he was held in by his teammates, HE WAS elected Captain of the team in his sophomore year. Last year, as a junior, he again captained the Bloomsburg Squad, He was named All ECAC Player of the Week four times. At the end of the season he was once again named All Eastern Athletic Conference Fist Team Linebacker and repeated as Associated Press All American First Team Linebacker. As he begins his final year this fall, he has an opportunity to be the School’s first three-time All America. He also has an almost certain opportunity to be drafted by the NFL or USFL at the completion of his college career.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD About three quarters of the way through the current season, Marie Fantanarosa sprained her ankle and was forced to miss several games. At the time, with the Lady Tornadoes needing to win practically every game to qualify for post-season play, their prospects seemed dim. But instead of collapsing, the Team discovered it had more talent than it realized; and began to blossom. Lisa Balichik, particularly, began to assert herself and became a solid force both as scorer and floor leader. Lori Adamcik, began to play a bigger role as rebounder and made her presence felt. Cheryl Darrup got more playing time and as a result was a seasoned player when the playoffs rolled around making contributions not normally expected from a sophomore. Margot Guinan was a solid, stabilizing presence throughout. She ran the offense as point guard, and played consistently fine defense. Lil Cole provided excellent support coming off the bench for both Adamchik and Balitchick. Melissa White had played very well whenever she got the opportunity; and now she was joined by four young players, Kim Little, Shannon Guinan and the Schicchitano twins Mary and Peggy all of whom made important contributions along the way. When Maria returned they were a much better team. And their goal of winning the District Championship became a realistic one.