From press release:

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today the names of the 26 finalists for the 2012 NFF High School National Scholar-Athlete Awards, which will honor one young man from each of the country's five regions as the best and the brightest for their accomplishments as athletes, scholars and citizens at the high school level. The five winners, who are now playing college football but are being recognized for their previous accomplishments in high school, will be announced the week of October 8. 

Former Xavier standout Sean Marinan, Jr., now at UConn, is a Northeast nominee.

"We take great pride in the work of the NFF Chapter Network," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Each year our chapters honor thousands of student-athletes who have excelled in all aspects of their lives. It is an incredibly difficult task choosing 26 finalists from thousands of honorees, and even nearly impossible to select just one winner from each of our five regions."

With 120 chapters and more than 12,000 members, the NFF Chapter Network impacts more than 400,000 student-athletes at 4,800 high schools in 47 states each year. The centerpiece of their efforts are the annual chapter awards banquets, which recognize more than 3,300 of the nation's top scholar-athletes and distribute $1 million in scholarships. From this pool of 3,300 scholar-athletes, the chapters have nominated 26 individuals in 2012 as finalists for the highly sought-after NFF High School National Scholar-Athlete Awards. During the week of October 8, a national committee will select and announce the five winners, one from each region, of the 2012 NFF High School National Scholar-Athlete Awards.

The five winners will travel to New York City to be honored during the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, on Tuesday, December 4, 2012, at the Waldorf-Astoria. First bestowed in 1991, the NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Award has become one of the most prestigious high school honors in the country. Criteria for the award include but are not limited to academic achievement, athletic accolades and community involvement. 

EAST REGION NOMINEES

·  Benjamin Fowler from Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, Pa. Nominated by the NFF Central Pennsylvania Chapter and currently attending Juniata College (Pa.).

·  Ryan James from Piscataway High School in Piscataway, N.J. Nominated by the NFF Bill Denny/Central Jersey Chapter and currently attending Lehigh University.

·  Charles Kassis from Pope Paul IV High School in Fairfax, Va. Nominated by the NFF National Capital (Va.) Chapter and currently attending Johns Hopkins University (Md.).

MIDWEST REGION NOMINEES

·  Luke Duffy from St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin, Ill. Nominated by the NFF Chicago Metro Chapter and currently attending Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.).

·  Jesse Hiss from Basehor-Linwood High School in Basehor, Kan. Nominated by the NFF Sunflower (Kan.) Chapter and currently attending the University of Colorado.

·  Shawn Shillcox from Two Rivers High School inTwo Rivers, Wis. Nominated by the NFF Wisconsin Chapter and currently attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

·  Dayton Snyder from West Lafayette High School in West Lafayette, Ind. Nominated by the NFF Joe Tiller/Northwest Indiana Chapter and currently attending Case Western Reserve University (Ohio).

·  Patrick Towles from Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Ky. Nominated by the NFF Greater Cincinnati Chapter and currently attending the University of Kentucky.

NORTHEAST REGION NOMINEES

·  John Bieren, Jr. from Nashua High School South in Nashua, N.H. Nominated by the NFF Joe Yukica/New Hampshire Chapter and currently attending the University of Massachusetts.

·  Sean Marinan, Jr. from Xavier High School in Middletown, Conn. Nominated by the NFF Gene Casey/New Haven (Conn.) Chapter and currently attending the University of Connecticut.

·  Will Twyman from Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School in Sudbury, Mass. Nominated by the NFF Jack Grinold/Eastern Massachusetts Chapter and currently attending Brown University.

·  Samuel Jay Yules from Moses Brown School in Providence, R.I. Nominated by the NFF Emo DiNitto/Rhode Island Chapter and currently attending Stanford University.

SOUTH REGION NOMINEES

·  John Thomas Blasingame IV from Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta, Ga. Nominated by the NFF Greater Atlanta Chapter and currently attending Rice University.

·  Richard Tyler Campbell from Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro, N.C. Nominated by the NFF Corrigan/Faircloth (N.C.) Chapter and currently attending Guilford College (N.C.).

·  Britt Colcolough from Memphis University High School in Memphis, Tenn. Nominated by the NFF Memphis (Tenn.) Chapter and currently attending Princeton University.

·  Alex Lyons from DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Texas. Nominated by the NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas Chapter and currently attending Rice University.

·  Tanner Moore from Seminole High School in Seminole, Texas. Nominated by the NFF Texas Tech Chapter and currently attending West Texas A&M University.

·  Darius Paulk from Richland Northeast High School in Columbia, S.C. Nominated by the NFF Midlands (S.C.) Chapter and currently attending North Greenville University (S.C.).

·  Alex Yacoubian from Jesuit High School in New Orleans, La. Nominated by the NFF Allstate Sugar Bowl (La.) Chapter and currently attending Washington and Lee University (Va.).

WEST REGION NOMINEES

·  Jeremiah Allison from Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, Calif. Nominated by the NFF Los Angeles Chapter and currently attending Washington State University.

·  Charles Bertoli from St. Helena High School in St. Helena, Calif. Nominated by the NFF Northern California Chapter and currently attending Boise State University.

·  Jeff Lindquist from Mercer Island High School in Mercer Island, Wash. Nominated by the NFF Seattle/King County Chapter and currently attending the University of Washington.

·  Gerard Martinez from Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas, Nev. Nominated by the NFF Bill Ireland/Las Vegas Chapter and currently attending the University of Notre Dame.

·  David Trompke from Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho. Nominated by the NFF Southern Idaho Chapter and currently attending Harvard University.

·  Joshua Weeks from Show Low High School in Show Low, Ariz. Nominated by the NFF Valley of the Sun (Ariz.) Chapter and currently attending Brigham Young University.

·  Cooper Wise from Powell High School in Powell, Wyo. Nominated by the NFF Wyoming Chapter and currently attending the University of Wyoming.

For tickets to the Dec. 4 luncheon in New York, please contact Ron Dilatush at rdilatush@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972-556-1000.