Walter Camp Foundation, Inc.

Walter Camp Hosts Breakfast of Champions

As part of its 44th annual Weekend festivities, the Walter Camp Football Foundation hosted a High School “Breakfast of Champions” this morning at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven. The event was sponsored by the Dan Orlovsky Foundation.

New Haven, Conn. – As part of its 44th annual Weekend festivities, the Walter Camp Football Foundation hosted a High School “Breakfast of Champions” this morning at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven. The event was sponsored by the Dan Orlovsky Foundation.

Xavier High School of Middletown, the Class LL champion and state’s top-ranked team, was honored along with the three other state champions – Masuk (Class L), Hillhouse (Class M) and St. Joseph’s of Trumbull (Class S).

The state’s Coach of the Year award, presented by Stadium System, was given to John Murphy (Masuk). Murphy led the 13-0 Panthers to the South-West Conference and Class L state titles. Other finalists included: Tom Dyer (Hillhouse) and Sean Marinan (Xavier).

The state Player of the Year, presented by Town Fair Tire, was awarded to Masuk junior quarterback Casey Cochran. Cochran passed for 3,345 yards and 40 touchdowns for the Class L state champion Panthers. Other finalists included: Ansonia senior running back Montrell Dobbs and New Canaan senior wide receiver Kevin Macari.

The Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by NFP Sports, was presented to Larry Ciotti, former head coach at Daniel Hand High School who won five state titles during his 19 seasons (141-42-2 record).

In addition, the announcement of the Walter Camp All-Connecticut Team was made:

2010 WALTER CAMP ALL-CONNECTICUT TEAM

OFFENSE

QB: Casey Cochran (Masuk)

RB: Montrell Dobbs (Ansonia), Max DeLorenzo (Berlin), Tyler Girard-Floyd (Montville)

WR/TE: Alec Pacelli (Daniel Hand), David Coggins (Sacred Heart), Kevin Macari (New Canaan)

OL: Chris Valenti (Bethel), Conor Hanratty (New Canaan), Aaron Echevarria (Naugatuck), Dean Tsopanides (Torrington), Matt Digby (Norwich Free Academy)

DEFENSE

LB: Graham Stewart (Xavier), Rob Gau (Staples), Tyler Matakevich (St. Joseph), Stephan Dance (New London)

DB: Brian Kelly (Brookfield), Jack DeBiase (Woodland), Anthony Facchini (Norwich Free Academy), Tariq Odom (Bloomfield)

DL: Tommy Jordan (Ridgefield), Eric Mischke (Xavier), Desmond Gray (Ledyard), Anthony Sanders (Platt), Charlie Kunze (Darien)

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker: Jon Testani (Masuk)

Punter: Mitchell King (Valley Regional)

Returner: James Ward (Wilbur Cross)

This evening, the Foundation will host its national awards banquet at the Yale University Commons in New Haven. The 2010 Walter Camp All-America Team, Player of the Year Cam Newton (Auburn), Coach of the Year Chip Kelly (Oregon), and Connecticut Player of the Year John Moffitt (Wisconsin/Notre Dame-WH) will be recognized. In addition, three individuals – NFL Hall-of-Famer Chuck Bednarik (Pennsylvania) and former NFL All-Pros Will Shields (Nebraska) and Tedy Bruschi (Arizona) – will be presented 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.