Walter Camp All-Connecticut Teams Announced; 10th Annual Breakfast of Champions is January 14
As part of its 50th annual Weekend festivities, the Walter Camp Football Foundation will host its tenth High School “Breakfast of Champions” on Saturday, January 14 at The Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale. The event starts at 8:30 a.m.
The Darien Blue Wave, the No. 1 team in the state’s high school football season-ending polls and recipient of the Foundation’s Kelly Award, will be recognized along with the three other state champions – New Canaan (Class L), Hillhouse (Class M) and Ansonia (Class S). In addition, members of the 2016 Walter Camp All-Connecticut Teams (1st and 2nd) will be recognized.
The finalists for the 2016 Coach of the Year are Mark Fritz (Rocky Hill), Reggie Lytle (Hillhouse) and Rob Trifone (Darien).
The three finalists for the 2016 Player of the Year are Zach Davis (Sheehan), Ben Mason (Newtown) and Nico Ragaini (Notre Dame-West Haven).
The Lifetime Achievement Award, which is presented by NFP Sports, will be presented to former West Hartford coaches — Bob McKee of Conard High School and Frank Robinson II (posthumously) of Hall High School. McKee coached three sports (football, baseball and wrestling) at Conard, and posted an impressive 168-61-15 football record from 1957 to 1984. Robinson, also a three-sport coach (football, wrestling and track & field) at Hall, had a 201-92-9 record from 1957 to 1987.
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.
First Team Walter Camp All-Connecticut
Offense
QB: David Wells (Shelton)
RB: Anthony Godfrey (West Haven), Vance Upham (Southington)
WR: Nico Ragaini (Notre Dame-West Haven), Russell Thompson-Bishop (Bloomfield)
TE: Ryan Fitton (Staples)
OL: Byron Dickens (West Haven), Andrew Stueber (Darien), James Makszin (Norwalk), Seth Willis (Newtown)
C: Travis Jones (Wilbur Cross)
Defense
LB: Ben Mason (Newtown), Glenn Cunningham (Xavier), Timothy Russaw-Gardner (Windsor)
DB: Kyle Godfrey (West Haven), Jason Pinnock (Windsor), Ryan O’Connell (New Canaan), Markell Dobbs (Ansonia)
DL: Finlay Collins (Darien), Quinlin Fay (Darien), Jack Kircher (New Canaan), Brendan Holtzclaw (Westhill)
Special Teams
PK: Mike Munson (Stafford/East Windsor/Somers)
P: Mike Bevino (Notre Dame-Fairfield)
Returner: Jawaun Johnson (Norwich Free Academy)
Second Team Walter Camp All-Connecticut
Offense
QB: John McElroy (Trumbull)
RB: Zach Davis (Sheehan), Matt Brehon (Hillhouse)
WR: Chris Longo (Ridgefield), Corey Millhouse (Hamden Hall)
TE: D. Major Roman (New London)
OL: Nick Roehm (Staples), Niko Kvietkus (Xavier), Chazz Sanders (Ansonia), Reed Oettinger (New Fairfield)
C: Robert Valeri (Shelton)
Defense
LB: Malcolm Martin (Ansonia), Ricky Montalvo (Rocky Hill), Paul Williams (Greenwich)
DB: Grant Nieves (Rocky Hill), Tyshaun James (Middletown), Garret Burdick (Valley Regional/Old Lyme), Zhyaire Fernandes (Bunnell)
DL: Cord Fox (Darien), Derrick Sims (Hillhouse), Ayinde Johnson (Fairfield Prep), Jared Nelson (Glastonbury)
Special Teams
PK: Joe Zoppi (Shelton)
P: Bryson Cafaro (Ansonia)
Returner: Kristian Sapp (Cromwell/Portland)
