Andrew Weiss of Rockland and Kyle Stilphen of Gardiner were among five recipients of the John R. Schmidlin Trophy presented during halftime of the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic on Friday night.

The Schmidlin Trophy is meant to recognize the most outstanding senior football players in each class, and along with outstanding play on the field takes into consideration citizenship, team play, loyalty and reliability.

The award is not meant to duplicate the Fitzpatrick Trophy, as the criteria and selection process are different. Head football coaches from each class nominate players, and then each head coach votes by secret ballot for the recipient within their class.

This year’s balloting was the closest in the three-year history of the award, according to Mike Haley of Auburn, one of the organizers behind the award.

Weiss shared Class C honors with Nick Bourassa of Jay, while Stilphen was the Class B choice. Class A voting produced a tie between Jon Hussey of Marshwood of South Berwick and Dan Edgerly of Thornton Academy of Saco.

Weiss and Bourassa were the only Class C nominees. Other nominees were Evan Barker of Leavitt of Turner Center and Dean McCrillis and Derek Sicotte, both of Mountain Valley of Rumford in Class B; and Wes Gail of Mount Ararat of Topsham, Travis Guerrette of Windham and Nic Lee of Lawrence of Fairfield in Class A.

The award is named for John R. Schmidlin, who played football at the University of Maine and went on to coach football at Gardiner High School from 1950 to 1967 and also served as that school’s athletic director.

Schmidlin also was executive secretary of the Maine High School Coaches Association from 1956 to 1982, and during that time was instrumental in expanding the association and its membership to an all-time high.

Schmidlin finished his career as athletic director at the University of Maine at Machias from 1967 to 1976, and still lives in Machias.

MBR reaches medal round

The MBR 17-and-under boys basketball team has qualified to return to the medal round of the 2008 AAU Junior Boys Basketball Division I National Championships under way at Orlando, Fla.

The team, coached by Carl Parker of Bangor, had things relatively easy in emerging from pool play, winning two of its three games by forfeit and defeating the southern Louisiana representative New Orleans Stallions 71-54. Guard Keegan Hyland of South Portland led MBR with 29 points in the win, while center Thomas Knight of Dirigo High School in Dixfield scored 18 and former Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln standout Derek Libbey added 14.

The MBR team, which also has recent Bangor graduate Lee Suvlu and current Hampden Academy forward Jacob Moore, was scheduled to play its first game of medal-round competition Tuesday night against a regional rival, the Boston Area Basketball Club.

Also on the squad are Ben Russell of Mt. Blue of Farmington, Stefano Mancini of Falmouth, Evan Kenney of Gray-New Gloucester and Doug Nash from Leavitt of Turner Center.

The MBR team advanced through the medal rounds last year to finish 11th nationally among 153 teams.

This year’s tournament continues through Aug. 1.

Two other Maine teams also are competing in the junior nationals, the Maine Liberty and MBNation, both based in the southern part of the state.

Saco-based MBNation, which includes on its roster Calais standouts Cal Shorey and Jordan Leeman, finished 1-2 in pool play while the Maine Liberty went 0-3.

Both teams now are participating in the Classic tournament, a consolation event for clubs that don’t qualify for medal-round play.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045