High School Breakfast of Champions is January 11; Coach and Player of Year Finalists and All-Connecticut Team Announced
New Haven, Conn. – As part of its 47th annual Weekend festivities, the Walter Camp Football Foundation will host a High School “Breakfast of Champions” on Saturday, January 11 at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven. The seventh annual event will begin at 9 a.m. and be broadcast live at www.sportingnewsct.com. Ansonia High School, the Class S champion and state’s top-ranked team, will be honored along with the three other state champions – Southington (Class LL), New Canaan (Class L) and St. Joseph (Class M).
2013 WCFF Breakfast of Champions
In addition, members of the 2013 Walter Camp All-Connecticut Team, presented by Achieve Athletics, will be recognized. Here is the team:
OFFENSE
QB: Stephen Barmore (Southington)
RB: Arkeel Newsome (Ansonia), Ervin Philips (West Haven)
WR: Alex Jamele (Southington), Nick Weissauer (Foran)
TE: Julian Dunn (Newtown)
OL: Ryan Hovan (Ansonia), John Tondalo (North Haven), Steve Hashemi (St. Joseph), Colin McKeown (Fairfield Warde), Ryan McKenna (New Canaan)
DEFENSE
DL: Zach Maxwell (Southington), Connor Buck (New Canaan), Calvin Daniels (Bethel), Mark Evanchick (Darien)
LB: Ethan Suraci (North Haven), Cole Harris (New Canaan), Nick Crowle (Fairfield Prep)
DB: Lars Pedersen (St. Joseph), Dario Highsmith (Middletown), Jordan Kowalski (Ledyard), Harold Cooper (Hillhouse)
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK: Kyle Smick (Southington)
P: Daly Hebert (Darien)
KR: Jack Shaban (Joel Barlow)
The state Coach of the Year award will be presented by Stadium System. The three finalists include: Tom Brockett (Ansonia), Mike Drury (Southington) and Lou Marinelli (New Canaan).
The four finalists for the state Player of the Year include: Southington senior quarterback Stephen Barmore, Middletown junior quarterback Dario Highsmith, Ansonia senior running back Arkeel Newsome and West Haven senior running back Ervin Philips.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, which is presented by NFP Sports, will be presented to former New London head coach Jim Buonocore. Buonocore won four state titles and totaled a 209-94-8 record as head coach. Lastly, Walter Camp Weekend sponsor Generation UCAN will present the “UCAN Inspire Award,” to Westhill senior Evan Skoparantzos.
Ansonia, as the 2013 Kelly Award winner, will be recognized at the organization’s national awards banquet on later that evening at the Yale University Commons in New Haven. In addition, the Foundation will recognize the 2013 All-American Team and the 2013 Player of the Year, quarterback Jameis Winston of Florida State. In addition, three individuals – former Notre Dame and Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann (Distinguished American), former Penn State and Oakland Raider standout lineman Matt Millen (Man of the Year) and former North Carolina All-American Ken Huff (Alumnus of the Year) – will be honored with major awards.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.
