Palm Beach County High School Player, Place-Kicker, and Coach of the Year Finalists

The Palm Beach County Sports Institute and Sports Commission are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2006 Palm Beach County High School Football Awards, which honor the top player, place-kicker, and coach in Palm Beach County. Finalists for these awards are honored December 4, 2006 at the Breakers in Palm Beach and the winners are announced as part of the 2006 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Banquet. The Lou Groza Awards are presented by the FedEx Orange Bowl and will be held on December 5, 2006 at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott.

Finalists for these awards were nominated by Palm Beach County high school head football coaches and Palm Beach County media representatives. A check for $1,000 is presented to the athletic department of each of the winning schools.

The finalists for the Palm Beach County High School Football Awards are:

2006 Player of the Year

Damien Berry- Glades Central

J.B. Clark- Jupiter

Brandan Pendergrass- Royal Palm Beach

2006 Place-Kicker of the Year

Emmanuel Charlot- Palm Beach Lakes

Salvatore DiMauro- Boca Raton

Kaleb Volstad- Jupiter Christian

2006 Coach of the Year

Matt Dickmann- Seminole Ridge

Leroy Foster- Pahokee

Eric Patterson- Royal Palm Beach

The award, now in its 15th year, is named for NFL Hall-of-Fame kicker Lou Groza, who played 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Groza won four NFL championships with Cleveland and was named NFL Player of the Year in 1954. Nicknamed “The Toe,” Groza was one of the first people to truly make kicking an art form, and he helped usher in to football the idea that a player could be used exclusively for kicking.

The Lou Groza Award is also sponsored by The Breakers, Coastal Limousine, Continental Airlines, Discretion Entertainment, Duffy’s Sports Grill, Enterprise rent-a-car, ESPN Radio 760, ESPN Regional Television, FedEx Orange Bowl, Florida Atlantic University Athletics, Florida Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Hartless Foundation, InBloom, JBS Destination Solutions, John F. Romano, P.A., Palm Beach Gardens Marriott, Palm Beach Kennel Club, The Palm Beach Post, Parallax Productions, PGA National Golf Club, Rooney’s Public House, Southern Audio Visual, The Tux Shop, and WPEC News-12.

For more information regarding the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, including banquet, hotel, and ticket information please contact Dusty Ann Williams at the Palm Beach County Sports Institute at (561) 233-3122 or dwilliams@palmbeachsports.com.