SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Seamus McKaig of Orono and Jacob Doyon of Messalonskee of Oakland are among the six finalists for the 2014 Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Offensive and Defensive Lineman awards announced Friday.
McKaig is one of three finalists for the defensive lineman award, along with Zordan Holman of Cheverus of Portland and Hunter Bowen of Windham.
Doyon, Zach Davis of Windham and Benjamin Zuke of Thornton Academy in Saco are finalists for offensive lineman honors.
From those finalists, one offensive lineman and one defensive lineman each will receive a $5,000 scholarship — the largest award of its kind in the nation — and a first-place trophy. The four runners-up each will receive $1,000.
The Frank J. Gaziano award winners will be announced during a luncheon ceremony Saturday, Jan. 24, at the Augusta Civic Center.
The scholarship and awards program for Maine high school football linemen was created in 2010 in memory of Frank J. Gaziano, founder of National Distributors in South Portland and a former college All-American and professional football player with a lifelong passion for local sports.
Former Canadian Football League quarterback Quinton Porter of Portland will be the guest speaker at this year’s Gaziano banquet. Porter was named the Maine Gatorade and USA Today Player of the Year in 2000 while playing for Portland High School.
He went on to star at Boston College before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Texans in 2006 and later played for the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Montreal Alouettes in the CFL.
In 2010, Porter founded First Down Training, a youth football initiative in Portland to provide quality football instruction to young players throughout the state while giving them the tools they need to be successful in life.
The annual Gaziano award recipients are determined by a selection committee based on strong leadership on the field, in the classroom and in the community.
For more information or to contribute to the Frank J. Gaziano scholarship fund, visit gazianolinemanawards.org.
Houlton, Calais doubleheader on tap
A noteworthy Class C basketball doubleheader is set for Saturday night in Houlton.
The defending state champion Houlton boys squad was scheduled to host perennial power Calais on Friday night, but bad weather Down East earlier in the day forced that game to be pushed back to a 6 p.m. start on Saturday.
Both teams are among the favorites in Eastern Maine Class C again this winter, with Houlton (7-2 and ranked seventh in the division) led by first-team All-Maine senior forward Kyle Bouchard and fellow veterans Jake Drew and Christian Crane.
Calais (7-1) and ranked third in the division, counters with the senior nucleus of Tyler Niles, Kyle Johnson, Andre Paul and Nathan Newell.
That game will be followed at 7:30 p.m. by an originally scheduled girls game between the two schools. Calais, the defending Class C state champion, is led by University of Maine-bound senior guard Maddy McVicar, while Houlton counters with a young and talented roster that has featured junior forward Katie Condon and freshman guard Kolleen Bouchard.
Calais enters the contest with an 8-1 record good for second place in the Eastern C standings, while Houlton is 6-1 and ranked eighth.
The two girls’ teams last met in last winter’s regional semifinals, with Calais advancing with a 53-29 victory.
