PSFCA Hall of Fame - Class of 2021

George Curry

George Curry grew up in the coal-mining town of Larksville, Pennsylvania. He attended St. John’s Parochial Elementary School and then Larksville High School. George Curry received a football scholarship to Temple University, where he earned his B.S. Degree in Social Sciences. He attended The University of Scranton, where he received his Master’s Degree in Administration and Supervision.

He became the winningest coach in Pennsylvania history with 455 wins, 6 State Championships, and 3 National Champions in USA Today. Coach Curry was all about education and getting millions of dollars in scholarships for his players. Curry was proud of the fact that 78% of his football players who have gone on to higher education have graduated (that is higher than the non-athlete graduation rate). Coach certainly got his players ready for the world. He taught commitment, accountability, leadership, and work ethic. He was also a stern disciplinarian. The players bought into his style!

His overall coaching stint, included four (4) years at Lake Lehman High School, thirty-eight (38) years at Berwick High School, and three (3) years at Wyoming Valley West High School. He coached 12 regular season undefeated teams and had a 47 game regular season winning streak from 1981 to 1985. Curry was named “Coach of the Year” 28 times. The Berwick Bulldogs were named USA Today National Champions in 1983, 1992, and 1995. Curry also coached 13 teams that were ranked in USA Today. Curry coached the Dawgs to Pennsylvania’s first ever State Championship 15-0-0 season. Most of Berwick’s wins during the Curry era came against schools larger than Berwick. Curry and his wife of 48 years, Jacqueline, have four children and six grandchildren.

Andy Evanko

Andy is a graduate of Curwensville Area High School and Dickinson College. He became the head coach of Curwensville in the year 2000 after spending 16 years as a junior high coach and a varsity assistant. In his first year he took Curwensville to their first undefeated team in 42 years, won the Allegheny Mountain League Championship, the District 9 Class A Championship and on to the state playoffs, and never looked back. He led the Golden Tide to 34 District 9 playoff games and made it to the District 9 playoffs 17 of his 19 years as head coach, the last 15 in a row. He won three District 9 Class A titles and was runner up three times, he won three Allegheny Mountain League Championships and was runner up three times. He had 15 players named to the Associated Press All-State team.

He made it to the final 4 in the state playoff in 2004 and final 8 in the state 3 times. He was presented with the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame "Lifetime Achievement Award." He has also received the Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association
"Hall of Fame Award" in 2005, the Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association – Lezzer Lumber Football Classic – North Coach of the Year twice, the "Progress News" Coach of the Year three times, the "Tri-County Sunday/Courier Express" Coach of the Year three times, and the Allegheny Mountain League – South / Coach of the Year twice.

In 2019 Coach Evanko lost his battle with ALS leaving behind a loving family. He fought ALS the same way he fought every game he coached, right to the final whistle. As a fitting tribute to him the Curwensville football stadium was named Coach Andy Evanko Stadium.

Mickey Minnich

Mickey Minnich started his career in 1963 as an assistant under George Chaump. When George left to coach at Ohio State in 1967, Mickey assumed the head coaching position in 1968 for four years. In 1977 he became the head coach for Steelton-Highspire and remained there for four years. His record for those eight years was 77- 8-3, and he had one state championship team at each school. His total coaching record of both schools as an assistant head coach is 133-11-5.

He was a head track coach John Harris for three years with only one loss and he won a state championship for three straight years.

Mickey was selected to coach in the Big 33 game twice as head coach and once as an assistant. In 1977 Mickey became active in the PSFCA and in 1979 the Big 33 Game left Hershey to be played in Altoona. From 1979 until 1984 Mickey and Gump May were the game directors.

Mickey was the executive director for the PSFCA for 30 years, from 1977 to 2007 and he was the Big 33 PSFCA game director for six years, from 1979 to 1984. He was also Executive Director for the Big 33 Football Classic for 22 years, from 1985 to 2007.

Mickey took a sabbatical leave in 1984 to chair the Big 30 feet game back in Hershey. After that game Mickey decided to leave education and become Executive Director of the Big 33 Football Classic and continued in that role for 22 years until he retired in 2007.

In is 22 years with the big 33 he raised over $2.5 million for academic scholarships he left the Big 33 Scholarship Foundation with an endowment for scholarships at 700 and $77,000.

Ken Salem

Ken Salem is a graduate of Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, PA (1987), Saint Francis University (1991/2006), and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1998). Ken was blessed to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Steve Petro, who was a legendary football player, coach, and administrator at the University of Pittsburgh.

Ken began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the freshmen football team at Bishop McCort. He later joined Hall of Fame Coach Frank Krevetski as a varsity assistant coach in 1993. Ken was named Head Coach at Bishop McCort in 1996, becoming the youngest head coach in the school’s history at age 25.

Ken led the Crimson Crushers for fifteen seasons, never registering a losing season. The Crushers qualified for the District playoffs in every season of Ken’s coaching tenure except his inaugural year in 1996. The Crushers also appeared in nine District championship games, winning five championships in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

The Crushers advanced to the Class "A" State Championship in 2009, falling to Clairton High School in Hershey. Ken resigned the football position after the 2010 season to chair a capital campaign for the high school as principal and CEO.

Ken received Coach of the Year Honors nine times, three Tribune Democrat All-Area Coach of the Year Awards (2001, 2006, and 2009), three Southern Allegheny Coaches Association Awards (2001, 2006, and 2009) and three Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Accolades (2006, 2008, 2009). Ken was selected as the head coach in the Ken Lantzy Finest 40 All-Star Football game in 2002, 2007, and 2010.

Ken continues to volunteer with youth mentoring and sports organizations since retiring from football and is currently an executive with Thomas Automotive. Ken is married to Lee Pelow Salem and together they are proudly raising three boys, Gabe, Jake, and Luke.

Robert B Stem

Robert "Bob" B. Stem Bob is a graduate of Phillipsburg High School (1958) and Syracuse University (1962).

His scholastic coaching career covered two states and spanned five decades. He coached 19 seasons at Bethlehem Catholic (1983-2001) and another 15 at his alma mater in New Jersey (1973-81; 2005-2010), compiling a 285-98-6 career record with six state championships – two in Pennsylvania and four in New Jersey.

He went 173-55-2 at Bethlehem Catholic with two PIAA state titles (Class 2A 1988; Class 3A 1990). His Bethlehem Catholic teams also won six District 11 titles, including three straight from 1999-2001. He spent two stints at Phillipsburg and finished a combined 112-43-4 with four NJSIAA state titles (1977, 2005, 2008-2009). His last game as a coach was a 3-0 overtime win over rival Easton on Thanksgiving Day 2010. He is the winningest coach at both Phillipsburg and Bethlehem Catholic. He is in the McDonald's All-Star Football Classic Hall of Fame and the Easton-P'Burg Hall of Fame.

At Phillipsburg, he was an all-state selection as a football player in 1957 and a state champion wrestler his senior year. He started on the 1959 national championship team at Syracuse, was a two-way starter as a junior and senior and was a three-year letter winner. He captained the 1961 team and was teammates with Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. In 2014, he was honored with Syracuse's Letter Winner of Distinction Award.

He played professionally with the AFL’s Boston Patriots, who drafted him in 1963, and with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.

Bob, a retired elementary teacher of 35 years, lives in Easton with his wife of 58 years, Janice. They have four children (Tammy, Bobby, Trisha and Terri) and five grandchildren (Matthew, Morgan, Tyler, Addison and Elsa).