Five Legends To Join District IV Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class Of 2025
By: Ed Weaver / June 4, 2025
The District IV Football Coaches Association is proud to announce the induction of five new members into its Hall of Fame Class of 2025. The ceremony will take place at halftime during the District IV UPMC All-Star Game on Friday, June 20, at Towanda's Endless Mountain Athletic Complex, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m.
Full bios for each inductee will be available in this year's game program, plus added to this website after the game.
Darwin "Shubby" Marquette
"Shubby" was born in Shamokin then later moved to Dornsife where he graduated from Trevorton High School in 1961, where he was an outstanding quarterback, running back, and defensive back for the Red Devils. His love of football was evident. Right after graduation he became an assistant coach, and then head coach for the Trevorton Midgets for the next 25 years. When Trevorton merged with Mahanoy Joing to become Line Mountain, Marquette joined as an assistant coach. He remained their for the next 57 years. He was also head coach for a year in 1997, going 8-3.
At Line Mountain Coach Shubby was more than just a coach. He was a mentor, a motivator, and a builder of players. Coach Shubby was a part of nine championships, including the District IV Class 2A championship in 1995.
Dave "Whitey" Williams
Williams began his 35-year coaching career after graduating from Bloomsburg State in 1978. Williams majored in education and played baseball and basketball until an ACL injury ended his playing career. He then turned his focus to coaching after the loss of his Father, Don, a Korean War Veteran, at the age of 46. After 10 years as a teacher and assistant coach at his alma mater Tamaqua, Williams had a 16-year run as the head coach of Shenandoah, Mount Carmel and Nazareth, compiling a 153-53-1 record.
Williams was named PSFCA Coach of the Year three times and was also the Associated Press Pennsylvania Coach of the Year in 1996 after his Red Tornadoes went a perfect 15-0 and defeated Tyrone 25-6 for the Class 2A state championship. During his coaching career Williams compiled a 21-4 state playoff record.
John Zalonis
Zalonis was born in Frackville, Pa. in 1945 and attended Mahanoy Area School District. Upon graduation, Zalonis matriculated to Bloomsburg State and earned a degree in secondary education (biology). Zalonis' coaching career spanned four different institutions. He was the head coach at South Williamsport from 1986-1994, where he compiled a record of 75-34-1. Zalonis led the Mounties to a District IV title in 1989, then District IV and Eastern Conference championships in 1993 en route to finishing runners up to Duquesne. Zalonis was also the head coach at Montgomery for 7 seasons, the co-Defensive Coordinator at Loyalsock for three years, and Linebackers Coach at Bucknell for three years.
Zalonis coached linebackers in the 1993 Big 33 Football Classic, was inducted into the West Branch Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, the North Anthracite Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, and received the Ray Keyes "Brotherhood Sports Award" in 2002.
Mark Strzelecki
Strzelecki was hired as a History Teacher and Assistant Football Coach at Troy High School in 1977. After 3 seasons as an assistant, he was named Head Football Coach at Troy in 1980. After winning only one game in his first season, he went on to compile a record of 64 wins over the next nine seasons. During his 10 year career, he led the Trojans to 3 NTL Titles, and the school's first undefeated team and District IV Championship in 1988. His .678 winning percentage was first among NTL coaches during the decade of the 1980's.
Tom Dickinson
Dickinson came to the Northern Tier as a member of the Mansfield University football squad where he played defensive tackle. Following graduation, he served as an assistant coach for the defensive line at MU for ten years. In 1994 he accepted the position of Head Football Coach of the North Penn-Mansfield High School and served in that position until his retirement in 2021. Over those years he accumulated a record of 154-134, making him the winningest coach in the school's history. North Penn's previous thirty-four years record before Tom’s arrival was 68-208-6.
Ed Weaver is the owner of Circle W Sports in Wellsboro, PA, is the Sports Director for The Home Page Network and the creator of WellsboroAthletics.com and WellsboroFootball.com. You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.
