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Girard streak hits two
Curbstone Scholarship
Gallery
Nick Hall of Girard smiles after finding out he won the Student Athlete of the Year Scholarship, Sunday evening at the Georgetown
Hall receives Curbstone Coaches honor at banquet
By Greg Gulas
BOARDMAN
For the second consecutive year, a Girard High School football player has earned the Curbstone Coaches’ Byrd Giampetro Scholarship Award.
Nick Hall, a three-year letter-winner at wide receiver and safety, joins former Girard running back-strong safety Jacob Ryser as back-to-back honorees who have earned the organization’s annual $1,000 stipend.
Nine finalists vied for the top honor, which was presented Sunday during the annual football banquet at the Georgetown Banquet Center. The others were Koby Adu-Poku (Boardman), Robert Best (Struthers), Wesley Best (Hubbard), Frankie Centofanti (Springfield Local), Jake Cummings (Canfield), Will Danklefsen (Lakeview), Carmen Furillo (Brookfield) and Keenan Green (Columbiana).
“I’d like to thank my friends and coaches for pushing me to be the very best that I could be every single day,” said Hall, who plans on attending Youngstown State University in the fall and majoring in physical therapy. “Coach [Pat] Pearson is a great guy to play for and be with on a daily basis.
”Some coaches can be destructive with their coaching methods, but Coach Pearson and the entire Girard staff built us up in a positive way all the time.”
A 3.792 student who ranks 25th out of 135 in his graduating class, Hall had 35 receptions for 636 yards and four touchdowns last season, averaging 18.2 yards per catch.
Defensively, he registered 88 tackles including nine for loss along with five pass break-ups and two fumble recoveries.
As a junior, he hauled in 16 catches for 139 yards (8.69 per reception) and defensively, added 75 tackles along with a tackle for loss and four pass break-ups.
He was a first-team All-American Conference Blue Tier selection as a junior and senior. He also was all-Trumbull County and all-Northeast Inland first team, and earned special mention all-State. He also was a special mention all-Northeast Inland pick as a junior.
Hall was very active academically. He was inducted into the school’s National Honor Society and Beta Club. He was a member of its Teen Institute, Student Council, yearbook staff and the Italian Club.
He is class president for a second year and has volunteered as an assistant for area Special OIympics on four occasions.
Banquet chairman Sam Rogers called Hall one of the scholarship’s most deserving recipients.
“Nicholas is one of those special applicants that stood out,” Rogers said. “This is always a very special evening because you are honoring the area’s cream of the crop on the scholastic level.”
To be considered for the award, a student-athlete must have earned a 2.50 cumulative grade point average or better, must detail all in-school and out of school activities and submit three signed letters of recommendation.
YSU head football coach Bo Pelini served as guest speaker, telling those being honored to think hard and be accountable about the choices that they make.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of many great organizations and worked with Hall of Fame players, all-pros and All-Americans,” Pelini said. “All were good people who had goals.
“The things that you do on a daily basis have to match the goals that you have set for yourself.”
He dared the honorees to be different in order to achieve those goals.
“Down the road you will eventually ask yourself if you maximized your opportunities,” Pelini said. “I challenge you to be different, have character and listen to the people who care about you most in your life.
“I tell my team not to talk about it, just show me.”