Brewer’s Whalen, Richter gain state football honors Belfast’s Lear, Rockland’s Curtis also receive awards

Brewer High School’s Jeremiah Richter and Matt Whalen were among 16 recipients at the 16th annual Scholar-Athlete Awards held at Bowdoin College in Brunswick recently.

The State of Maine Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Inc. sponsors the event and its selection committee picked 14 high school standouts and two collegians.

The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame stresses the positive aspects of amateur football for the benefit of society as a whole.

Richter, a defensive back, was involved in 58 tackles and was one of the captains of the Witch hockey team. In the classroom, he is third among 180 students with a 95 average. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the English Honor Society and earned the AP National Merit Commendation scholarship.

Whalen was co-captain of the football team and was an All-LTC selection. The lineman ranks seventh in the class with a 95 average and was an AP Merit Scholar Award winner. He was the class treasurer and was a member of the National Honor Society, the English Honor Society, peer tutoring, key club and student council.

Among the other selections were Belfast’s John Lear and Rockland’s Mike Curtis.

Lear, a quarterback-defensive back, was All-LTC and All-Academic. He is ninth in a class of 167 with a 93 average and is a member of the outing club, peer leadership, the track team and he is a Latin mentor.

Curtis was an all-conference running back and defensive back who was a semifinalist for the Fitzpatrick Award given to the state’s best football player. Curtis set the school records for rushing yards (1,490) and points (132) and ranked 12th in a class of 107 with a 95.1 average. He was a member of the honor roll, the band and the chorus and earned an ROTC scholarship.

The other recipients were Edward Little High School of Auburn’s Matthew Capone, Scarborough’s Nial DeMena, Oxford Hills of South Paris’ Jacob Folz, Waterville’s Nathan Hart, Portland High’s William Hews, Messalonskee High of Oakland’s Ryan Haoss, Lewiston’s Robert Laverdiere, Biddeford’s Bryan Leverriere, Bonny Eagle of Buxton’s Benjamin Ledus, Windham’s Keith Morrison, Bowdoin’s Justin Hardison and Bates’ Adam Shepard.