The Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Lineman Award finalists were recently revealed, and a few of York County’s top athletes made the cut.
The Gaziano Award is given to the state’s top offensive and defensive linemen, who demonstrate elite play on the field, as well as strong character off of it. The winners are scholar-athletes who not only excel on the gridiron but also contribute to the community.
There are three offensive finalists as well as three defensive finalists. Kennebunk’s Cole Hoffman and Wells’ Sean McCormack-Kuhman were named offensive finalists, while Sanford’s Michael Lunny was named a finalist on the defensive side.
“I smiled as hard as I could and was like ‘really?’ It was a surprise. (Winning) would mean the world to me, it would be amazing to win that. Just the honor of being a finalist is crazy, I’m lucky to even be recognized,” said Lunny on hearing the news. “Starting my freshman year I was just learning the sport and fell in love with it. Just the competition — It’s like a war every time you go out there between the two schools and there’s so much pride at stake.”
What is unique about this award is that is singles out the unsung heroes on the field that are the guys up front.
“Just being named a finalist is such an honor. To be recognized as one of the best offensive lineman in the state was an honor. Being a lineman, you don’t usually get a lot of recognition except for your teammates and coaches, so to be recognized for that is huge for me as a person and player,” said McCormack-Kuhman.
The Gaziano winners also receive a scholarship along with the award from the Frank J. Gaziano Scholarship Awards Committee.
“It’s a great award. The Gaziano family and the national distributors do a great job of giving scholarship money to football players and it’s awesome. It’s the only scholarship of its kind and I’m really happy to be a finalist for it,” said Hoffman.
McCormack-Kuhman was proud of his performance this past season, which resulted in a Class D state title. He is also proud of the work he does with the youth in the Wells community.
“This community has given so much to me so to give back feels really good. Last summer, I worked at the rec department and to be with those kids and to be role model to them, I take that really seriously. You want to be the best person you can be for them,” said McCormack-Kuhman. “It would be a great feeling (to win). Obviously the scholarship money would be huge — and to be recognized as the top offensive lineman in the state would be huge for me and also my character, to be able to balance being a good football player and good person off the field would be a great feeling of achievement and success.”
Hoffman echoed those sentiments.
“I’ve always tried to be aggressive and work as hard as a I can. I do my best in everything I can, on and off the field, and that’s a really important thing,” said Hoffman. “If you’re going to be a lineman you have to be the most unselfish person on the team. You have to be one of the most unselfish players on the team and it’s an honor to be able to have this.”
The Gaziano Award winner will be announced at a banquet at the Augusta Civic Center on Jan. 27th at 12 p.m. The other offensive finalist is Bonny Eagle’s Zach Klein. On the defensive side, Leavitt’s Aidan Parmenter and Bonny Eagle’s Ario Pike made the cut.
— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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