IRVING, Texas (Oct. 10, 2018) – In an effort to expand its role as a leader in promoting the scholar-athlete ideal, the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today the 69 members of the inaugural NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Class. The announcement marks a new initiative by the NFF to honor the top high school scholar-athletes from around the country and the NFF Chapter Network as the best and the brightest at the local level. The members of the class all played their final high school season during the 2017-18 school year.

"Launching this new initiative allows us to shine a national spotlight on some of the most deserving high school student-athletes honored at the local level by our expansive Chapter Network," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We hope that this new honor will become one of the most prestigious local awards that a high school player can receive, and it really brings into focus the phenomenal work that our chapters do in identifying the most outstanding young leaders in their communities. We would like to congratulate all of the 69 honorees in the inaugural class, who all deserve to be held out as examples for future generations to emulate."

With 120 chapters and more than 12,000 members, the NFF Chapter Network impacts more than 500,000 student-athletes at 5,000 high schools in 47 states each year. The centerpiece of their efforts are the annual chapter awards banquets, which recognize more than 3,500 of the nation's top scholar-athletes and distribute more than $1 million in scholarships.
 
From this pool of 3,500 scholar-athletes, the NFF chapters submitted these 69 outstanding individuals as the best from their local area. Criteria to make the class include but are not limited to academic achievement, athletic accolades and community involvement. Each chapter is limited to one honoree, distinguishing them as the top scholar-athlete from all the high schools covered by the chapter.
 

NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Class Notes

• 69 Honorees
• 3.9 Average GPA
• 60 Team Captains
• 13 Valedictorians
• 43 National Honor Society Members
• 22 First Team All-State Honorees
• 9 National Merit Scholars

 
 
East Region Honorees

• Spencer Alston – RB/DB, South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia. Submitted by the NFF National Capital Chapter.


• Thomas Booker – TE/DE, Gilman School in Baltimore. Submitted by the NFF Greater Baltimore Chapter.


• Joseph Bumpus – TE/LB, Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Submitted by the NFF Essex County Chapter.


• Paul Cocozziello – QB, St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey. Submitted by the NFF Bill Denny/Rutgers FB Letterwinners Chapter.


• Erik Dehkes – LB/TE, North Hunterdon High School in Annandale, New Jersey. Submitted by the NFF Delaware Valley Chapter.


• Santiago Quintero – WR/LB, Madison High School in Madison, New Jersey. Submitted by the NFF Greater Morris County Chapter.


• Kyle Shafer – QB, Pompton Lakes High School in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. Submitted by the NFF Passaic County Chapter.


• Mbaba Sow – DB, Woodlands High School in Hartsdale, New York. Submitted by the NFF Westchester Chapter.


• Matt Valecce – QB, Fordham Preparatory School in New York City. Submitted by the NFF New York City Chapter.


• Aaron Wagner – DB/WR, Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Submitted by the NFF Central Pennsylvania Chapter.


• Logan Yoder – QB/FS, Tri-Valley High School in Hegins, Pennsylvania. Submitted by the NFF Schuylkill/Pottsville Chapter.


• Garrett Zobel – DL, La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania. Submitted by the NFF Philadelphia Chapter.

 
Midwest Region Honorees

• Blake Clark – QB, Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. Submitted by the NFF Iowa Chapter.


• Tyler Cory – OG/DE, Tecumseh High School in New Carlisle, Ohio. Submitted by the NFF Springfield Chapter.


• Michael Dowell – DB, St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio. Submitted by the NFF Mike Cleary/Northeastern Ohio Chapter.


• Timothy Hostetler – LB/TE, Fairfield Senior High School in Goshen, Indiana. Submitted by the NFF Moose Krause/South Bend Chapter.


• Matthew Kiesel – WR, Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville, Indiana. Submitted by the NFF Southern Indiana Chapter.


• Dante Landolfi – FB/LB, Upper Arlington High School in Arlington, Ohio. Submitted by the NFF Columbus Chapter.


• David Madden – WR/LB, St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin, Illinois. Submitted by the NFF Chicago Metro Chapter.


• Jake Malven – WR/DB, Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Missouri. Submitted by the NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter.


• Cameron Misner – QB, Avon High School in Avon, Indiana. Submitted by the NFF Central Indiana Chapter.


• Cole Patrick Ragan – OG, Anthony Wayne High School in Whitehouse, Ohio. Submitted by the NFF Toledo Chapter.


• Anthony Reo – OL/DL, Paw Paw High School in Paw Paw, Michigan. Submitted by the NFF State of Michigan Chapter.


• Aaron Robillard – QB/DB, North Branch Area High School in North Branch, Minnesota. Submitted by the NFF Minnesota Chapter.


• August Schott – OL, West Lafayette Senior High School in West Lafayette, Indiana. Submitted by the NFF Joe Tiller/Northwest Indiana Chapter.


• Isiah Woods – DE/RB, Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas. Submitted by the NFF Arkansas Chapter.

 
Northeast Region Honorees

• Ben Beliveau – OG/DE/LB, Laconia High School in Laconia, New Hampshire. Submitted by the NFF Joe Yukica/New Hampshire Chapter.


• Daniel Brey – OL/DL, Joel Barlow High School in Redding, Connecticut. Submitted by the NFF DeSantis-McDougall/Fairfield Cty Chapter.


• Owen Garrard – RB/LB, Scarborough High School in Scarborough, Maine. Submitted by the NFF State of Maine Chapter.


• Evan Gwozdz – QB, Middleborough High School in Middleborough, Massachusetts. Submitted by the NFF Jack Grinold/Eastern Mass. Chapter.


• Tyler Hamilton – QB/DB, Hartford High School in Hartford, Vermont. Submitted by the NFF Vermont Chapter.


• Dathan Hickey – RB/DB, Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Connecticut. Submitted by the NFF Doc Boisoneau/Northern Conn. Chapter.


• Will Levis – QB, Xavier High School in Middletown, Connecticut. Submitted by the NFF Casey-O'Brien/New Haven Chapter.


• David Schwartz – OG/DE, Longmeadow High School in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Submitted by the NFF Western Massachusetts Chapter.


• William Such – RB/LB, Cranston High School West in Cranston, Rhode Island. Submitted by the NFF Emo DiNitto/Rhode Island Chapter.


• Isaac Tomblin – FB/LB, East Lyme High School in East Lyme, Connecticut. Submitted by the NFF Southeastern Connecticut Chapter.


• Derek Willson – RB/LB, Schuylerville High School in Schuylerville, New York. Submitted by the NFF Capital District Chapter.

 
South Region Honorees

• Henry Gavin Carpenter – T/DE, Cathedral School in Natchez, Mississippi. Submitted by the NFF Miss/Lou Chapter.


• Davis DeLozier – DB/WR, Webb School in Knoxville, Tennessee. Submitted by the NFF East Tennessee Chapter.


• David Lee Gray II – DT, Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina. Submitted by the NFFCHOF Bill Dooley Chapter.


• John Bailey Gullatt – LB, West Monroe High School in West Monroe, Louisiana. Submitted by the NFF S.M. McNaughton Chapter.


• Oso Ifesinachukwu – DE, Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas. Submitted by the NFF Greater Austin Chapter.


• Duane Johnson – WR, Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida. Submitted by the NFF Brian Piccolo/Ft. Lauderdale Chapter.


• Jacob Kuhlman – QB, Barron Collier High School in Naples, Florida. Submitted by the NFF Collier County Chapter.


• Reese Moore – TE/DE, Seminole High School in Seminole, Texas. Submitted by the NFF Texas Tech Chapter.


• Alex O'Connor – LB, Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress, Texas. Submitted by the NFF TD Club of Houston Chapter.


• Copeland Petitfils – LB, High Point Christian Academy in High Point, North Carolina. Submitted by the NFF Corrigan/Faircloth Chapter.


• Keith Ramos – DB, Miami Springs Senior High School in Miami Springs, Florida. Submitted by the NFF Miami Touchdown Club Chapter.


• Thomas Roberts – DL, Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross, Georgia. Submitted by the TD Club of Atlanta-NFF Chapter.


• John Thomas Scott – TE, Tennessee High School in Bristol, Tennessee. Submitted by the NFF Mountain Empire Chapter.


• Nicholas Sligh – C, Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia. Submitted by the NFF University of Georgia Chapter.


• Harrison Patton Smith – P, Brentwood Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. Submitted by the NFF Middle Tennessee Chapter.


• Nathan Tatko – LB, Northpoint Christian School in Southaven, Mississippi. Submitted by the NFF Memphis Chapter.


• R. Mason Ward – NG/DT, Keller High School in Keller, Texas. Submitted by the NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas Chapter.

 
West Region Honorees

• Max Borghi – RB/WR, Pomona High School in Arvada, Colorado. Submitted by the NFF Colorado Chapter.


• Tommy Brown – OL, Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. Submitted by the NFF Orange County Chapter.


• Dawson Butts – RB/CB, Upton High School in Upton, Wyoming. Submitted by the NFF Wyoming Chapter.


• Ethan Crawford – S, Christopher High School in Gilroy, California. Submitted by the NFF CA Central Coast Chapter.


• Louis Farrar – TE/DE, Charter Oak High School in Covina, California. Submitted by the NFF Pasadena/San Gabriel Chapter.


• Thomas Fishburne – QB, Steele Canyon High School in Spring Valley, California. Submitted by the NFF Walter J. Zable/San Diego Chapter.


• Spencer Gilbert – DL, St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. Submitted by the NFF Los Angeles Chapter.


• Robert Heirmann – WR, Valley View High School in Moreno Valley, California. Submitted by the NFF Riverside County Chapter.


• Rob Howe – OL/DL, John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. Submitted by the NFF San Fernando Valley Chapter.


• Jacob Jeffries – WR/LB, San Mateo High School in San Mateo, California. Submitted by the NFF Northern California Chapter.


• Bertrand Odinet III – OT, Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. Submitted by the NFF Valley of the Sun Chapter.


• Luke Ross – QB, Sumner High School in Sumner, Washington. Submitted by the NFF Tacoma Pierce County Chapter.


• Justin Scott Seiber – QB, Kentwood High School in Covington, Washington. Submitted by the NFF King County/Seattle Chapter.


• Travis Spreen – OL/DL, Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon. Submitted by the NFF Oregon Chapter.


• Tanner Ward – DB, Folsom High School‎ in Folsom, California. Submitted by the NFF Sacramento Valley Chapter.

 
About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include Football Matters^®, the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy^®, annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments – a proud partner of the Campbell Trophy^®, Herff Jones, New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Sports Business Journal, SportsManias, Under Armour and VICIS. Learn more at footballfoundation.org.