EAHS football banquet

(Senior members of the E-town football team talk before the team banquet last night).

I was invited to attend the E-town football banquet last night, and I have to say, it was really great. The banquet committee had the high school cafeteria decorated wonderfully. They even cut out a lot of the football articles I had written this year and had them on display at the entrance, which definitely made it more awesome (or awful, depending on how what you think of my writing). Seriously, though, thanks to them for inviting me and for doing a great job transforming the cafeteria. It looked great.

If you've never been to a football banquet (this was my first one in E-town), the seniors are seated in front of everyone else at a head table. Behind each of them, their jersey hung with their names added to the back. In front of them was a mini E-town helmet complete with their number on the back. Very, very cool. It's definitely something they'll always treasure. I sure wish I got those back in high school. I just got a certificate and a pat on the back while we dined on chicken patties leftover from that afternoon's lunch. Good times.

Senior wide receiver/defensive back Steven Nunez served as the emcee for the start of the banquet, introducing EASD Superintendent Amy Slamp and EAHS Athletic Director Shane Piper before turning the microphone over to head coach Jeff Polites. Jeff did a great job of mixing in humor and offering heart-felt memories of all 14 seniors. He also recognized some cheerleaders, the assistant coaches, the game managers, the trainers and the many other people that make up the Elizabethtown football family.

The food was also great – especially the ham loaf.

After dinner, Polites introduced head junior high coach Ray Livingston, who talked about his teams' season and thanked his coaches. After that, head JV coach Eric Clair (who has been with Polites during all 11 of his seasons as head coach) talked about the JV squad and talked to the seniors a bit.

The varsity was last, and Polites kicked it off with some awards. Here are the awards and their recipient.
Academic Awards – named after former EAHS player Steve Sczobocan (sorry Steve, if I spelled that wrong). This award goes to the player with the highest GPA in each grade for grades 10 through 12.
Grade 10 winner was Joe Martin.
Grade 11 winner was Zach Myers.
Grade 12 winner was Evan Good (for the third straight year, I believe.)

Ironman Awards. These are given to players who have perfect attendance for all team functions. And considering the amount of meetings, film studies, practices, etc. football teams do, there was an incredible amount of winners here, which goes hand-in-hand with the Bears' recent successes.
The winners were: Dylan Allison, Steven Nunez, Kyle McNeil, Ryan Heistand, David Kennedy, Alex Kirchner, Tyler Clark, Conrad Heisey, Shane Rosenberry, Zach Myers, Josh McMasters, Andy Breault, Andrew Haldeman, Mitch Light, Jared Danneker, Tyler Miller, Travis Eppley, Mike Rehrer, Brock Rutherford, Joe Martin, Brendan Kain and Jamie Guzman.

Polites then handed out varsity letters or pins to all of the underclassmen who earned them.

Finally, he spoke of the 14 seniors. They were: Nate Clarke, Tyler Miller, Jeremi Jones, Kyle McNeil, Larrian Payne, Conrad Heisey, Shane Long, Shane Rosenberry, Jamie Kehler, Alex Kirchner, Evan Good, Corey Hutchinson, Josh McMasters and Steven Nunez.

One by one, Polites called them up to the podium, where he shared a story about each and what that player meant to the team. This was my favorite part of the banquet. The night is essentially all about the seniors and the way Polites recognized them was very special.

The evening ended with a great highlight tape compiled by Bill Hunking, who takes photos for the team. He had tons and tons of absolutely AMAZING photos of players, coaches, trainers, ball boys, cheerleaders, you name it, all set to music. He also mixed in some video, which was shot by Dwayne Hernley. There was also a special segment at the end dedicated to the seniors. There was one baby picture, the player's individual team photo, the parent's night photo, one action shot and then one video clip for all the seniors. Amazing job.

All in all, it was a great night and I think the football program for allowing me to attend and witness it.