Locals set to be honored at George Wah Dinner
The yearly celebration of area high school football seniors who combined athletic prowess with classroom success is drawing near.
The 58th Annual George Wah Scholar-Leader-Athlete Awards Dinner will be held 4 p.m. Sunday, Mar. 8 at the Princeton Marriott. The always-classy event, which honors players from one youth league, 22 high schools and two colleges — along with nine adults who have made an impact on area football — is sponsored by the Delaware Valley Chapter National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
For ticket or ad information contact Ron Hoehn at 609-731-6610.
“We are always excited for this time of year,” DelVal chapter executive board member Eric Hamilton said. “We have enjoyed watching these young men play football over the past several years, and now we enjoy celebrating their accomplishments on and off the field. This is another outstanding crop of honorees, whose academic achievements are as remarkable as what they did on the field.
“We also feel that our chapter award recipients comprise a top-notch group of individuals. Their contributions are invaluable to the sport of amateur football.”
The night’s biggest honoree is Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, who will receive the Robert F. Casciola Distinguished American Award. Heather Anderson, President and CEO of Special Olympics New Jersey, is the George O’Gorman Contribution to Amateur Football award winner, while Notre Dame’s Sean Clancy, who recently had the “interim” tag removed from his title, gets the Hank Johns Coach Award.
Other chapter award recipients are Eugene Ferguson (Jack Millard Officials), Brian Caloiaro of the Northern Burlington Junior Greyhounds (Contribution to Youth Football), Casey Mann (Eunice Kennedy Shriver Champion), Sidney Holcombe (Tony Persichilli Meritorious Service) and Brian DeAngelo (Nick Gusz Good Guy).
Princeton University’s Andrew Griffin will receive the Judge Arthur Lane Scholar-Leader-Athlete, and The College of New Jersey’s Erik Graham gets the Earl H. Dean Scholar-Leader Athlete. Kole Briehler of the Hopewell Valley Youth Football Organization is the chapter’s Little Scholar winner.
The 22 high school honorees hail from Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Burlington, Hunterdon and Middlesex counties and each will receive a $1,000 scholarship. Additional scholarships, which will be announced at the banquet, are for $5,000 (Jack Stephan), $2,500 (Ron Rick Sr.) and $1,500 (Ed Cook). PSE&G will present the Roy Van Ness Trophy to the school of the Stephan winner.
Colonial Valley Conference honorees are Chris McCrea (Allentown), Michael Abelowitz (Ewing), Jacob Darby (Hamilton West), Kyle Reiss (Hightstown), Chris Hollander (Hopewell), Matthew Kildea (Lawrence), Quentin Autry (Notre Dame), Louis Pasculli (Nottingham), Fredrick Otte (Princeton), Connor Fitzsimmons (Robbinsville), Matthew Lambert (Steinert), Jazzir Merricks (Trenton) and Major Wilbur (West Windsor-Plainsboro).
Mercer County prep school winners are Ian Franzoni (Hun), Claude J. Vilfort (Lawrenceville), Lucas Johnson (Peddie) and Ricky Eng (Pennington). Honorees from counties surrounding Mercer are Ryan Blanchard (Bordentown), Lucas Johnson (Peddie), Jayson Zane Emery (Florence), John Devine (New Egypt) and Dylan Farina (North Hunterdon).
The Trentonian will provide an in-depth look at each winner throughout February.
The 2019 scholarship sponsors are (Heisman) AIG, Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company, Fisher Capital, (All-American) Borden Perlman, New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance, South Jersey Industries, (All-Conference), Trenton Orthopedic Group at Rothman Institute, JB Autism Consultants/Dr. Jim Ball, Kelly Myers, Greg Bellotti family, Nassau Communications/Ken Fisher, Central Jersey Pop Warner, Robert & Janet Casciola, Sunshine Classic, Gunnell family, In Memory of Coach Robert E. Salois and the Polakowski family.
A silent auction will take place with sports memorabilia provided by Best Authentic. Also providing services are Audio Visual & Videography by Ocean View Productions, Tuxedos by Gianni Formal Wear, Nassau Communications and Escarpeta Photographics.
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @Fish4scores