Academics will take center stage Wednesday night when the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame honors high school football scholars at its 49th Annual Scholar Athlete Awards Dinner at Martin's West.
Five regional winners from the 75 nominees from Baltimore City, Anne Arundel, Baltimore Carroll, Frederick, Harford and Howard counties will take home a share of $20,000 in scholarship money.
In addition to the scholars, former Poly coach Roger Wrenn, who retired after 42 years in Baltimore City, will receive the Herb Armstrong Service to Football Award. Wrenn, who spent most of his career at Patterson and finished with a career record of 285-114-2, led his team to the regional championship and a 12-1 record last fall.
Also, one boy and one girl will receive the third annual Courage Awards, presented by the National Football League Former Players Chapter. A football player and a female scholar athlete will be recognized for on and off the field accomplishments and contributions.
The area's top high school and college football programs also will be honored. All four of last fall's state champion teams will be awarded the Ben Eaton Sr. Championship Award. Dunbar claims the award, named after the Poets' former coach, for winning the Class 1A title along with Old Mill (4A), River Hill (3A) and Middletown (2A). The Baltimore Sun's No. 1 team and the MIAA A Conference champion last fall, Gilman wins the A. Paul Merton Award as the area's top-ranked team.
On the college level, Towson, Salisbury and Johns Hopkins will be cited for their exceptional fall seasons. Towson coach Rob Ambrose will be recognized for earning National Coach of the Year in the football championship series division.
Following are the nominees for the five regional scholar athlete awards:
Andrew Agnone, St. Paul's
Deonte Alston, Patterson Mill
Evan Aston, Edgewood
Edward Bafford, Dulaney
Jacob Bart, Marriotts Ridge
Brian Bieman, Severn
Alex Breno, South Carroll
Malik Carver, Western Tech
Joshua Ceribelli, Calvert Hall
Chavez Cheatham, Aberdeen
Brandon Cherry, Boy's Latin
Joshua Chiasson, St. Mary's
Robert Conlon, Liberty
Artemus Davis, Poly
Connor Davis, Fallston
Daryn Davis, Eastern Tech
Riley Davis, River Hill
Matthew Decker, Archbishop Spalding
David Dell, Francis Scott Key
Richard Doney, Catoctin
Shawheem Dowdy, New Town
Tyler Drake, Broadneck
Trevor Eades, Franklin
David Eldridge, Hereford
James Etheridge, Centennial
Darien Evans, Chesapeake-BC
Colby Everett, McDonogh
Keegan Farley, North Carroll
Luke Fernandez, Manchester Valley
Johnathan Galarraga, John Carroll
Nicholas Gober-Keller, Annapolis
Elijah Harris, Long Reach
Ernest Hawkins, Dunbar
Montree Howard, Dundalk
Michael Hunt, Brunswick
Noah Johnson, Howard
Calvinaugh Jones, Meade
Cyrus Jones, Gilman
John Juliano, Urbana
Rafael Kess, Old Mill
Howard Klotz, Wilde Lake
Timothy Madore, Parkville
Brendan Magistro, C. Milton Wright
Jacob McQuay, Perry Hall
Austin Meirick, Northeast
Andrew Meiselwitz, Havre de Grace
Eric Middleton, Patterson
Jordan Miller, Arundel
Ryan Monardo, Bel Air
Kevin Monje, Patapsco
Jonathan Moran, Loyola
Kyle Ockenfels, Mt. St. Joseph
Johnathan Pace, Joppatowne
Blake Richardson, Glenelg
Logan Ryder, Century
Michael Scarlato, Archbishop Curley
Walter Scott, Kenwood
Derrell Shelton, City
Andrew Shriver, Winters Mill
Mitchell Simmons, Milford Mill
Gurvir Singh, Sparrows Point
Stephen Slay, Severna Park
Evan Smith-Finney, Woodlawn
Ryan Stinar, North Harford
De'Andre Taylor, W.E.B. Dubois
Kenneth Thomas, Atholton
Tyrrell Tucker, Walkersville
Azubuike Ukandu, Towson
Joseph Usher, Reservoir
Nathan VanderWoude, Westminster
Storm Wallpher, Mt. Hebron
Colin Wilson, South River
Antoine Wright, Catonsville
Joseph Wright, Southern
Judson Ziegler, Middletown