Joe Tiller NFF Chapter

The July 26, 2020 event focused on 15 NFF scholar-athletes who were nominated by their schools throughout Northwest Indiana for the annual Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award and 35 Lafayette Journal & Courier student-athletes nominated by high school athletics directors in the J&C coverage area.

Also invited for recognition were 16 J&C sport-by-sport players of the year selected by the J&C sports staff and 63 Indiana Football Coaches Association North All-Star nominees from Regions 1 and 4. Personalized certificates were presented to each of the 41 prep athletes who attended the Honors Dinner.

In addition, Coach Brian Nay and team captain Kyle Onken of the Lafayette Central Catholic football team received its State Championship Trophy from the NFF for its Class 1A title of 2019, in keeping with a tradition started by the Tiller Chapter last year.

Along with the awards and recognition for high school athletes, the Tiller Chapter presented seven other awards, nominated and selected by chapter members and various entities, to recognize outstanding accomplishments in our communities. Some of these presentations took place July 26 while others, including two Hall of Fame recognitions and two awards involving Drew Brees, will happen during future events.

The entire list of awards are as follows:

State Championship Trophy – Lafayette Central Catholic H.S.
J&C Female Student-Athletes of the Year – Bailey Burton
J&C Male Student-Athletes of the Year – Ayden Ayres
NFF Chapter Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Ayden Ayres
NFF State Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Ayden Ayres & Sam Carson
Patrick Mackey Courage Award – Isaiah Harris
Citizenship Award – Aaron Lai
Tyler Trent Courage and Resilience Award – Kamryn Dehn
Bernie Flowers Contribution to Amateur Sports Award – Rob
Kochon
Todd Clark Outstanding Game Official Award – Darren Harris
Impact Award – George Karlaftis
Distinguished American Award – Drew Brees
Drew Brees Mental Toughness Award – Raheem Mostert
Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductees – Jim Everett & Marshall
Overley
College Football Hall of Fame Inductee – Anthony Poindexter

The individual awards, beside the team trophy for Central Catholic and the scholar-athlete of the year trophies, presented July 26 included:

Patrick Mackey Courage Award to Isaiah Harris, for his courage and hard work in developing into a standout football player at Bowman Academy;

Bernie Flowers Contribution to Amateur Sports Award to Rob Kochon, the long-time West Lafayette Little League President who survived the Covid-19 Virus after 29 days on a ventilator;

Todd Clark Outstanding Game Official Award to Darren Haas, a veteran high school and college football and baseball official with 21years of experience;

Tyler Trent Courage & Resilience Award to Kamryn Dehn, a Purdue student for overcoming her health issue and disabilities;

Citizenship Award to Aaron Lai, a Purdue student who walked 100 miles from West Lafayette to Bloomington to raise money for the Tyler Trent Scholarship Fund,

Impact Award to George Karlaftis, Purdue’s defensive end from West Lafayette who earned first-team freshman All-American status last fall.

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the 2020 Honors Dinner is that we pulled it off - rescheduled, relocated and survived the COVID restrictions to host the largest event in Tippecanoe County in a four-month stretch and nobody got sick.

Each high school athlete was introduced separately and received his or her certificates of recognition from Matt Lancaster, our 2009 NFF Scholar-Athlete of the Year from West Lafayette High School, who played college football at Butler and is now a dentist in Lafayette.

Each honoree then stepped on to the stage to pose for a photo with Kelly Kitchel, President of the Joe Tiller Chapter, Sam King, sports writer for the J&C and Brad Smith, a board member for both the NFF and the Indiana Football Coaches Association.

Here’s the list of athletes, along with their high schools, reason for their honor and their colleges plans as of last summer:

From Seeger High School - PJ Amble, who was selected as a Region 4 All-Star. He is attending Franklin University and playing football.

From McCutcheon High School - Conner Ayers, who was selected as the J&C Big School Player of the Year for baseball in 2019 and is now a sophomore at Purdue, where he is a pitcher on the baseball team.

From Carroll High School - Ayden Ayres, who was named the NFF Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the Joe Tiller Chapter of the NFF and the co-winner of the same award for the State of Indiana. He also earned the distinction of being named the J&C Student-Athlete of the Year. Additionally, he was selected as a Region 4 All-Star. Ayden attends Rose-Hulman, where he plays football.

From Central Catholic High School - Carson Barrett, who was selected as the J&C Small School Player of the Year for boys basketball. Purdue University is Carson’s college choice.

From Covington High School - Colton Brown, who was an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee. He was selected as a Region 4 All-Star and is continuing his education at DePauw University to play football.

From McCutcheon High School - Bailey Burton, who was named the J&C Female Student-Athlete of the Year. She is continuing her academic career at Purdue University.

From Harrison High School - Jacob Cain, who was a NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee. He was selected as a Region 4 All-Star and chosen to play in the North-South all-star game, which was cancelled. He attends Butler University and is playing football.

From John Glenn High School - Sam Carson, who was the NFF Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the Moose Krause Chapter in South Bend and was named co-winner of the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the State of Indiana. He is a two-time national champion in clay shooting and now attends the University of Notre Dame.

From North Newton High School - Ashley Churchill, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee and is attending Butler University.

From North White High School - Chase Connell, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee, continuing his education at Indiana University.

From West Lafayette High School - Carson Cooke, who was named the J&C Player of the Year in boys soccer. He is now a senior at West Side.

From Clinton Prairie High School - Nolon Davis, who was selected as a Region 4 All-Star and is continuing his education at Indiana University.

From Rossville High School - Payton Dennison, who was selected as the J&C Small School Player of the Year for baseball in 2019 and is now a sophomore at Olney Community College, where he plays baseball.

From Covington High School - Tanner Dreher, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee, who is continuing his studies at Quincy University while playing baseball.

From Harrison High School - Lexi Fraley, who was named the J&C Player of the Year in girls soccer. Lexi is a senior at Harrison and plans to attend Ball State University next fall where she will play soccer.

From Faith Christian High School - Brock Gasvoda, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee and is continuing his education at Florida Gulf Coast University.

From Clinton Prairie High School - Bailey Good, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee is attending Purdue University.

From Carroll High School - Kelsey Hammond, who is a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She is continuing her education at IU-Kokomo where she is playing volleyball.

From Bowman Leadership Academy - George Johnson III, who was an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee and was chosen Academic All-State and a Region 1 All-Star. He is attending Saint Xavier, where he plays football.

From Attica High School - Eli Kirkpatrick, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee and is continuing his studies at Purdue University.

From Fountain Central High School - Paityn Krout, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She is continuing her education at Valparaiso University.

From Clinton Prairie High School - Rebekah Lloyd, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She attends Spalding University.

From Delphi High School - Jayden McClain, who was an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee. He attends IUPUI.

From Lafayette Jeff High School - Marquis Munoz, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. He was named a Region 4 All-Star and chosen to play in the North-South All Star game, which was cancelled. He is a freshman at Purdue University where he walked on to the Boilermaker football team.

From West Lafayette High School - Alaina Omonode, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She is continuing her education and competing in the track & field team at Grand Valley State University.

From Central Catholic High School - Kyle Onken, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee and an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee. He attends Indiana University.

From Attica High School - Abby Pattengale, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She is continuing her education at Purdue University.

From Rensselaer Central High School - Hannah Redlin, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She attends Indiana State University where she participates in track & field.

From Clinton Prairie High School - Blake Richardson, who was a NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee. He is continuing his education at Purdue University.

From Central Catholic High School - Daniel Roach, who was named the J&C Small School Offensive Player of the Year in football. He was selected as a Region 4 All-Star and chosen to play in the North-South all-star game, which was cancelled. He attends Purdue University as a preferred walk-on for the football team.

From Frontier High School - Brooks Sailors, who was an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee and is continuing his education at Purdue-Fort Wayne, where he will play baseball.

From North Montgomery High School - Emily Sennett, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She is continuing her studies at the St. Elizabeth School of Nursing.

From Seeger High School - Emily Shrader, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee and is attending the St. Elizabeth School of Nursing.

From Chesterton High School - Ben Slatcoff, who was an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee. He was selected as a Region 1 All-Star. He attends Aurora University, where he plays football.

From Faith Christian High School - Maria Smith, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She attends Cedarville University in Ohio.

From Lafayette Jeff High School - Julie-Ann Stephany, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. She is continuing her education at Ivy Tech.

From West Lafayette High School - Aidan Sturgeon, who was an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee and was selected as a Region 4 all-star. He was chosen to play in the North-South all-star game which was cancelled. He attends Rose-Hulman, where he plays football.

From Andrean High School - JJ Wadas, who was an NFF Scholar-Athlete nominee and was selected as a Region 4 all-star. He was chosen to play in the North-South all-star game, which was cancelled. He is continuing his education at Butler University where he plays football.

From North Newton High School - Colin Wagner, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. He was selected as a Region 4 All-Star and chosen to play in the North-South All-Star game. He will continue his education at IUPUI in the fall.

From North Montgomery High School - Drew Webster, who was a J&C Student-Athlete of the Year nominee. He is continuing his education at Lakeland College.

From Harrison High School - Quinton Wood, who was selected as the J&C Big School Defensive Player of the Year for football. He was also selected as a Region 4 All-Star. He

For the first time in the eight-year history of the award, co-winners have been named for the National Football Foundation’s State of Indiana Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.

The co-winners for 2020 are Carroll High School’s Ayden Ayres, representing the Joe Tiller Chapter, and John Glenn High School’s Sam Carson, representing the Moose Krause Chapter. The announcement was made at the Tiller Chapter’s NFF Honors Dinner on July 26 at the Northend Community Center in Lafayette with both Ayres and Carson among the 225 attendees.

Two other finalists, who were unable to attend, were Dawson Hurley of
Evansville Reitz Memorial High School, representing the Southern Indiana Chapter, and Brett Wethington of Western Boone High School, representing the Central Indiana
Chapter.

The judging process, which included equal representation from each chapter, resulted in the closest voting ever for the annual award. Judging is based 40% on academics accomplishments, 40% on athletics accomplishments and 20% on character and citizenship.

“On behalf of the NFF chapters in Indiana, I want to congratulate all the scholar-athletes who were nominated and all the coaches and principals who nominated them this year as we advanced the NFF’s recognition and scholarship program to all football-playing high schools in Indiana,” said Jim Vruggink, the executive director for the Tiller Chapter, who coordinated the judging process for this award.

Here are the four finalists for the State of Indiana Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, one representing each chapter.

AYDEN AYRES (Carroll H.S. – Northwest Indiana Chapter)
Ayden, the son of Liz Ayres, is studying engineering at Rose-Hulman. He earned a 4.2 GPA and a 1480 on the SAT. Ayden was the valedictorian at Carroll and was named the school’s top scholar all four years of high school.

He was named a Lilly Scholar, an IFCA academic all-stater in both football and track, was an Indianapolis Colts academic all-state selection and was recently selected as the Lafayette Journal &
Courier’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year.

Ayden was named Carroll’s offensive player of the year and an all-Hoosier Heartland Conference performer in 2019 as he played both running back and safety for the Cougars. His athletic prowess was also on display at Carroll on the baseball and track teams.

Ayden's extracurricular activities also included 10 years of 4-H, church youth group, National Honor Society and Carroll’s mentor program. He served as the treasurer of both 4-H and National Honor Society. Ayden is the oldest of six children in a home where he had to assume the “father-figure” role due to the absence of his father.

SAM CARSON (John Glenn H.S. – Moose Krause Chapter)
Sam, the son of Mike and Chris Carson, studying pre-med at Notre Dame. He ranked first in his class of 136 to earn valedictorian honors. Sam was named IFCA Academic All-State, Jr. Academic All-State for wrestling and was a four-time SSRF/NRA All-Scholastic Team selection.

A team captain as a senior, Sam was a two-year letterman as a defensive lineman for the Falcons, totaling 25 tackles and six tackles for loss. His other athletic endeavors included three varsity seasons on the wrestling team and two national championships and
six state championships in clay target shooting. He was accepted at all three military academies (Army, Navy and Air Force) and had decided to go to Air Force, but had to change plans when he was diagnosed with a health condition that disqualified him from the military.

Sam participated in several activities at John Glenn including National Honor Society, student council, peer tutoring, John Glenn Theater Company and the rhythm express show choir. He served as junior class president and was on the senior class board.

His community involvement consisted of Hoosier Boys State Delegate, Halloween Fundraiser and KOSKO Shotgun Sporting non-profit club.

DAWSON HURLEY (Reitz Memorial H.S. – Southern Indiana Chapter)
Dawson, the son of John and Darby Hurley, is attending the United States Naval Academy and was unable to attend the Honors Dinner because he already started his Naval appointment at the end of June. He held a 3.94 GPA in high school.

Dawson was a three-year letterwinner as a wide receiver for Memorial, helping the Tigers win state championships his sophomore and senior seasons. As a senior, he earned All-Metro and All-Conference honors while serving as a team captain. An accomplished athlete, Dawson also played basketball, baseball and track for Memorial.

Dawson served in many leadership capacities at Memorial. He was a class official all four years, junior class president and a member of the Senior Class Leadership team.

He also spent his time in peer mentoring and service organizations such as Snowflake, Key Club, Teen Advisory Council and Link Crink. At his parish, St. Benedict, he is an usher. He volunteered for a plethora of activities including Special Olympics, Memorial
Feeder League Football, Reitz Memorial Dance Marathon, Teen Court and Challenger League Baseball.

BRETT WETHINGTON (Western Boone H.S. – Central Indiana Chapter)
Brett, the son of Jeff and Jessica Wethington, is now attending Indiana University as he pursues a career in the medical field. He is joining the Hoosier football team as a preferred walk-on as well.

Brett earned a 4.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, graduated ninth in his
class and earned IFCA Academic-All State honors.

Brett was a two-year starter on offense and defense for Western Boone, leading the Stars to a 29-1 record and back-to-back state championships in 2018 and 2019 as a running back and linebacker. A three-sport athlete, Brett also played varsity baseball and
basketball for the Stars. He served as a team captain for both the football and basketball teams.

Brett served both his school and community through Athletic Ambassadors, Spanish Club and National Honor Society. He volunteered at football and basketball youth camps.