The Maxwell Football Club recently named three area football players as Mini Max High School Award winners.

A total of 55 players were selected from schools across the state of Pennsylvania. They were nominated by their coaches throughout the 2024 season, and were evaluated based on criteria that includes football performance, academics and community service.

The three local athletes that received the honor were Jim Thorpe’s Justin Yescavage, Marian’s Michael Gelatko and Northwestern’s Eli Zimmerman.

The Maxwell Football Club also released the Delaware and New Jersey Mini Max Award winners. The club will select one player each from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey as the Player of the Year for each state. These will be announced at the annual Mini-Maxwell Awards on Feb. 2, 2025 at the Drexelbrook Catering and Event Center in Drexel Hill, PA.

Yescavage, a wide receiver for the Olympians, caught 55 passes for 756 yards and four touchdowns this past season. Gelatko, a tight end for the Colts, ended the year with 27 receptions for 295 yards and four scores, while Zimmerman set all kinds of records for the Tigers in leading his team to a state championship. The running back collected 2,665 rushing yards and 277 receiving yards, and also scored 38 touchdowns, including six on punt returns.

On this year’s honorees, Maxwell Football Club President Mark Dianno said, “This is another exceptional class of student athletes who will represent the Mini Max Award very well. During their high school careers, they had to contend with circumstances of the pandemic impacting their families, communities, schools, teachers, academics, practices, coaches, and games; yet they consistently rose to meet those challenges and performed extraordinary feats on the fields, in their classrooms and in their respective communities.

“On behalf of the entire board of directors and all the members of the Maxwell Football Club, we congratulate and salute this exceptional group of student-athletes on being 2024 Mini-Max Award winners and wish them much success in their future endeavors.”