Thirty of Fairfield County’s finest football-playing scholar-athletes were honored April 10 by the Ralph DeSantis chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. Also honored at the dinner at Continental Manor in Norwalk were the head and assistant coaches of the year in the SWC and FCIAC, as well as two officials of the year.
Three players received $500 scholarships to be used towards their college education as well: William Bass (Bassick), Richard Holmes (Danbury), and Chris Payne (Wilton).
Wilton’s Tim Eagen was introduced as the FCIAC’s coach of the year by his mentor, Tom Fujitani, who he served under as an assistant coach for several years, and thanked his assistant coaches and the Warriors’ booster club for its efforts in helping to build a top-notch program. Ridgefield’s Kevin Callahan introduced one of his former players, New Fairfield’s Andy Buchsbaum, as the SWC’s coach of the year.
Carl Cairo (Greenwich) and John Pereira (Pomperaug) received their league’s respective assistant coach of the year awards.
The scholar-athletes honered were:
- William Bass, Bassick
- Nick Verderosa, Bethel
- Chris Green, Brien McMahon
- Kenneth Cobb, Bridgeport Central
- Steven Moss, Brookfield
- Jeffrey Farrell, Bunnell
- Greg Passineau, Canterbury
- Richard Holmes, Danbury
- George Rhein, Darien
- Matthew O’Laughlin, Fairfield Ludlowe
- Thomas Marx Jr., Fairfield Warde
- Jonathan Meyers, Greenwich
- Scott Hickling, Joel Barlow
- Victor Ciancetta, Masuk
- Chris Lemoine, New Canaan
- Patrick Cassidy, New Fairfield
- Jonathan Henion, New Milford
- Eric Puffer, Newtown
- Cyprian Oyomba, Norwalk
- Patrick Purrell, Notre Dame-Fairfield
- Stephen Barton, Pomperaug
- Tyler Strittmatter, Ridgefield
- Michael Dinihanien, St. Joseph
- Jason Zins, Staples
- Justin Shumyhora, Stratford
- John O’Leary, Trinity Catholic
- Jameson Cherilus, Trumbull
- John Midy, Westhill
- Dylan Hannum, Weston
- Chris Payne, Wilton
Also honored were a few unsung heroes of the game, the referees. Without them, of course, the games wouldn’t count in the standings. Bob Seirup, who has been working with the Fairfield County Football Association for 54 seasons, was honored as its official of the year. Bill Vasutro was the Colonial Football Association’s honoree.
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