Rudy Award Announces 12 Finalists

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Character, courage, contribution and commitment...those are the characteristics that the officials of the High School Football Rudy Awards are looking when examining the list of candidates for the second annual award named after Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who became a not-so-famous, famous player while at Notre Dame while only playing two downs as a 5-6, 165 pound walk-on.

Yesterday, Trusted Sports and Ruettinger announced the twelve finalists for this years awards.  The finalists were chosen from over 250 nominees, who teammates, coaches and their communities believe inspire others to excellence on-and-off the field.

Here are the finalists...

Chance Anthony - Hardinsburg, Kentucky
Kamron Clark - Canton, South Dakota
Kenny Daily - Bend, Oregon
Tyler Dutruch - Slidell, Louisiana
Jake Eilers - Breese, Illinois
Michael Harris - Fort Worth, Texas
Schuylar Hurd-Johnson - Indianapolis, Indiana
Reid Layton - Seminole, Texas
Phillip Madriaga - Aiea, Hawaii
Cody Rye - Ironwood, Michigan
Tray Waite - Warren, Ohio
Kyle Wilcox - Seffner, Florida
**profiles of the finalist can be found at www.highschoolrudyawards.com

"These twelve finalists are amazing! I'd like to meet each and every one of them so I can shake their hand and let them know how much they've inspired me," said Drew Bledsoe, former NFL quarterback and Chairman of the Selection Committee. "Over the Holidays I've shared some of their stories with friends and family, and we're in awe by what these kids have been through. They really honor the soul of the High School Football Rudy Awards, which is all about motivating others, and demonstrating immense courage and integrity. Every single one of them is a 'Rudy'."

The winner, who will be chosen January 18th, will receive a $10,000 scholarship, with two runners-up and a fan favorite determined by on-line voting receiving $5,000 scholarships.

Final USA Today Super 25 Rankings

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Euless Trinity's (Texas) loss was South Panola's  (Batesville, MS) gain in the final USA Super 25 high school football rankings.

Trinity spent the entire season at the top of the Top 25, but Saturday's 28-24 loss to #18 Pearland in the Texas Class 5A Division I championship game dropped the Trojans to #11 in the final poll and allowed the Mississippi champs to claim the mythical national title.

South Panola claimed the #1 spot thanks to its state record ninth state championship on December 4th when the Tigers beat previously unbeaten Meridian 28-7.  It was the Tigers 27th straight win.

Euless Trinity's saw its 28-game win streak end on the next to last play of the game when Brandon Carter couldn't bring down the ball in the end zone.  Pearland finished ninth in the final poll.

USA Today Super 25

1. South Panola (MS) 15-0
2. De La Salle (CA) 14-0
3. St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) 15-0
4. Bingham (UT) 13-0
5. Hamilton (AZ) 15-0
6. Phoebus (VA) 15-0
7. Don Bosco Prep (NJ) 12-0
8. Miami Central (FL) 14-1
9. Pearland (TX) 15-0
10. Wheaton Warrenville South (IL) 14-0
11. Euless Trinity (TX) 14-1
12. St. Edward (OH) 15-0
13. Daphne (AL) 15-0
14. Mullen (CO) 14-0
15. Byrnes (SC) 12-3
16. Butler (NC) 16-0
17. Fishers (IN) 14-1
18. Cocoa (FL) 13-0
19. North Allegheny (PA) 15-1
20. Folsom (CA) 14-1
21. Palo Alto (CA) 15-0
22. Everett (MA) 12-0
23. Brookville (GA) 14-1
24. Centennial (CA) 14-1
25. Lake Travis (TX) 14-2

Final Week of 2010 High School Football Season

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

I seems like it was just yesterday when I was writing with great anticipation about the start of the 2010 high school football.  Now, here I am sitting in the freezing cold of Chicago getting ready for my first-ever trip to watch football in Texas.

This weekend's Texas football championship games at Cowboys Stadium, along with title games in California, Florida and Pennsylvania will close-out a great season that has seen plenty of excitement.  If you don't believe me, just look back at all of the stories posted on the various high school huddle blogs.

Personally, I taken High School Football America thousands of miles this year to find great stories.  I'm in the process of writing and editing the video vignettes that we captured.  I even had time to start the first-year of a two-year documentary project on the Pius X High School (Roseto, PA), which is one of the smallest schools to play 11-man football in America.

While this weekend should be an eye-opener for me and my reporter Trish Hoffman, it's going to be hard to beat the story of Lowell High School (Michigan) and its Pink Arrow Pride game that has now raised nearly three-quarters-of-a-million dollars for Gilda's Club in the Grand Rapids area.

To learn more about the videos that we will be releasing in January, go to www.highschoolfootballamerica.com.

Lots of State High School Football Championships to be Decided this Weekend

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

This is a BIG weekend for high school football championships, and the High School Football Huddle is here to keep you up-to-date with all the scores and game stories.

Championship weekend kicks-off today with three title tilts in Alabama.  The Super Six Championships began this morning with Hamilton taking-on Leeds for the 3A title.  At 3 PM, Sweet Water faces Hubbard for the 1A crown.  The 5A championship game gets started at 7 PM with Briarwood Christian squaring-off with Spanish Fort.

Click on the links below to see the scores from around the nation.

High School Football Championship Scores
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, December 2-5, 2010

Alabama Championship Scores
Arkansas Championship Scores
New Jersey Championship Scores
Rhode Island Championship Scores
South Carolina Championship Scores

Easton (PA) HS Football Team Plays Three Games in Eight Days

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Three football games in eight days!

As crazy as that sounds, the Easton (PA) Red Rovers did that last week on the way to a Pennsylvania district championship.  Easton beat Whitehall Saturday night 13-10 to advance to the state's Class AAAA quarterfinals on Saturday against defending state champ LaSalle College.

The victory came just two days after the Rovers lost 3-0 in overtime to arch-rival Phillipsburg (NJ) in a Thanksgiving morning snow storm.

It's not the first time Easton has played the 8-day tripleheader...it's happened five times in the last 10 years.  The reason, the school will never change its 104-year Thanksgiving Day tradition with the Stateliners.  That game means TOO MUCH to the school and the community.

The man that led the Rovers through that eight day stretch is head coach Steve Shiffert, who has been head man of the program for 18 years.

Click here to listen to an interview I did with Shiffert on Sunday on the National High School Coaches Association Sports Hour.

Joe Paterno has Nothing on Oklahoma Assistant High School Football Coach

by Jeff Fisher
Oklahoma High School Football Huddle

                                                                    Copyright Marlow High School

Now before you jump all over me about the headline, I know you can't compare Joe Paterno with an assistant high school football coach.

That being said, I love the story I just found on the Oklahoma High School Sports Express on Marlow High School assistant football coach Bill Carter, who's still roaming the sidelines at 88-years young.  Yes, the man is five or so years older than Joe Pa.

Carter, who was named Coach of the Year in Texas in 1963, just completed his 69th season on the sidelines this year.

Tune-in to My First National High School Coaches Association Radio Show

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

It's been a fun Thanksgiving weekend in the Lehigh Valley...who said you can never go home?!

Aside from celebrating the holiday, I watched some great high school football and returned to my broadcasting roots...radio.

Saturday began with a two-hour guest appearance with old friends Jack Logic and Joe Craig on the Jack, Joe & Company radio show on WGPA-AM. It was a nice stroll down memory lane with plenty of talk about my early days on WEST-AM in Easton. The segment with my first broadcast partner Bruce Nagy, who's now living in California, made it a perfect start to the day.

Last night I spent a chilly night watching high school football in my favorite high school stadium...Cottingham Stadium in Easton, Pennsylvania. The 1920-era stadium came alive in the cold night air around when the Easton faithful celebrated the Red Rovers' district gold medal with a come-from-behind 13-10 win over Whitehall, which avenged an earlier season defeat at the hands of the Zephyrs.

Now, I'm preparing for my debut show as host of the National High School Coaches Association Sports Hour. You can listen to the show starting at 6 PM EST on the Artist First Radio Network.

My first guest is Easton head coach Steve Shiffert, who will talk about preparing his team to play three games in eight days, which included a Thanksgiving Day game against the Red Rovers' arch-rival Phillipsburg.

Also joining me on the first show will be Pius X (Roseto, PA) head coach Phil Stambaugh, who just finished a successful first year as head coach of the Royals.  Pius, which is the subject of a documentary I'm doing for High School Football America, was 8-4 and finished in second-place in Class A in District 11.

My third guest will be Mollie Omenski of GTM Sportswear, sponsor of the NHSCA Athlete of the Month.

To tune-in, click here.

Thanksgiving Day High School Football

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

As I noted the other day, there's nothing better than high school football on Thanksgiving morning!

Yesterday, visit to the 104th renewal of the Easton (PA)/Phillipsburg (NJ) rivalry was made even better by a surprise snow storm that blanked the field turf at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium with a coating of white that made it a picture-perfect setting, but was deadly to the offensives.

The only points of the game came on the final play off the game when Phillipsburg kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to beat their arch-rival 3-0.

The win ends the Stateliners season on a high note, but Easton must now rebound quickly.  The Red Rovers face Whitehall Saturday night for a district championship and berth in the PIAA state quarterfinals. It will be Easton's third game in eight days.