Villanova Univeristy Athletics

A standout guard for the Wildcats during his collegiate career and later a successful high school coach, George Pavalko was a member of Villanova teams which posted a .725 winning percentage in his four years on the varsity squad. He played from 1946-49 and graduated in 1950 with a degree in Economics. Pavalko was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1990.
 
Pavalko was a native of New Philadelphia, Pa. and had been a two-time Keystone State all-state guard at Blythe Township High School during his scholastic career. He served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and was awarded two Purple Hearts for his service in the Pacific theater. It was after the war ended that Pavalko, along with several other college-aged military veterans, came to Villanova to continue their education.
 
The Wildcats were 28-10-2 (.725) during Pavalko’s career, made consecutive bowl game appearances in 1947-48 and tallied the first bowl game victory in school history with a 27-7 win over Nevada on January 1, 1949, in the Harbor Bowl in San Diego. Pavalko played at guard for a stellar Villanova line which protected the teams dominant backfield featuring future Hall of Famers such as Joe Rogers, Ralph Pasquariello and later Pete D’Alonzo.
 
Pavalko played three seasons for Hall of Fame coach Jordan Olivar and one for Jim Leonard in his 1949 senior season. Villanova was 6-4 during the 1946 season and notably ended the year with consecutive road wins over Detroit (23-6) and Florida (27-20). The next season, it was the Wildcats defense which stood out and gave up just 10.6 points per contest in a 6-3-1 campaign. Villanova held five opponents to seven or fewer points and reached a bowl game for the first time in 11 years, falling to Kentucky by a final score of 24-14 in the Great Lakes Bowl in Cleveland.
 
The momentum of a successful season carried over into 1948 and the Wildcats opened the year with a 34-14 win over Texas A&M at Franklin Field. Later in the year Villanova upended Miami (Fla.), Detroit and North Carolina State in road games in addition to a 13-13 tie at Kentucky in a Great Lakes Bowl rematch. Villanova faced Nevada in the Harbor Bowl and tallied a 27-7 victory, one of only two bowl game wins in program history.
 
Villanova averaged 25.6 points per game during the 1948 campaign and pushed that mark to 29.4 points per game during Pavalko’s senior year in 1949. That season the Wildcats were 8-1 under Leonard and posted shutout wins over Texas A&M, Penn State and Duquesne in addition to other strong victories against Boston College, Detroit and North Carolina State. In the season finale against N.C. State, the Wildcats rushed for 627 yards to set a single game school record which still stands.
 
Following his collegiate career, Pavalko coached at Nativity B.V.M. High School in Pottsville, Pa. where he led his 1959 team to the championship of the Anthracite Catholic League and the newly-formed Anthracite Catholic Football Conference. That was only the fifth season of football that the school had played and Pavalko led his team to a 7-3 overall record county-wide against Catholic and public schools.
 
Pavalko passed away in 1995 at the age of 72.