Six Receive Lifetime Achievement Awards From Central PA National Football Foundation
By: Ed Weaver | March 17, 2025 | Photo: Rob Irwin
Six individuals were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contributions to Central PA Football at the 28th Annual National Football Foundation Banquet on Sunday, March 16.
Receiving awards were William "Bill" Nichol, Max Shoemaker, Dick Purnell, Jim Zauzig, Ray Klinger, and Chris Fivek.
Nichol is a long-standing member of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Football Foundation. This is one of 121 local chapters nationwide involving over 12,000 members. He is a present Board Member and was a 15-year Treasurer (until 2017). The Central PA Chapter awarded $224,000 in academic scholarships while Bill was Treasurer.
Shoemaker has accumulated a record of 221-120-1. While at Bedford he was 96-47-1 in 13 years and is 125-73 in 17 seasons at Chestnut Ridge. Shoemaker has led teams to 19 District Championships while advancing two teams to the Elite 8 in 1993 and 2019. His squads have qualified for post season play in 28 of the 30 seasons he has been a head coach. He was selected SAFCA South Coach of the Year and head coach in the Ken Lantzy Finest 40 All-Star football game in 1993 and 1997, and in 2001 he was honored by being selected as an assistant coach in the inaugural East/West All-Star game.
Purnell was the head coach at Shikellamy for 25 years and amassed a 167-94-5 record (.637) while guiding teams to two Eastern Conference (1965, 67) four Eastern Conference Southern Division, and nine Susquehanna Valley Conference championships. His teams won 37-straight regular season game between 1964-68. In 1987 he was recognized for outstanding and dedicated service to the Eastern Conference, and became a charter member of Susquehanna University's Sports Hall of Fame in 1967.
Zauzig started coaching Junior High football at Huntingdon in 1978. For over the next 20 years, he coached football at Huntingdon as an assistant at different levels, also a two-year stint at Tyrone, as a varsity assistant winning several varsity titles. Jim took over as head coach at Huntingdon in 1997, and for the next 15 years he had only one losing season. Jim is the winningest head coach in Bearcats history. He helped the program win 7 league titles, 6 district titles, 13 postseason appearances and one season as the final four participants in the 1998 Class 3A State Championships.
Klinger has been an official in the Garid Zauzig Football Chapter for over 20+ years and has officiated NCAA Football for 10+ years.
Fivek applied to the PIAA in September of 1988 to become a football official after a car accident ended his college playing career at Albright. Fivek started in the Harrisburg chapter and spent the bulk of his 36 years in the State College Football Chapter. Fivek officiated the 2027 Big 33 Football Classic and has been part of the Penn State University "Chain Gang" for the last 18 years.
