The 2020 USA Football Heart of a Giant Award presented by Hospital for Special Surgery and NY Giants announced another set of outstanding Tri-State area high school football player nominees open for voting. These students have been nominated by their coaches for their commitment, teamwork, will, character and dedication.
The voting period for these nominees is now open until October 18, at 11:59pm ET with the final vote tally determining who will be named the group’s finalist.
Overall, there will be 11 total finalists and each finalist will receive $1,000 for their high school’s football program, with the grand prize winner’s school getting an additional $4,000. The grand prize winner will be selected based on video submissions stating why they have the Heart of a Giant.
For more information on the program, click here.
WEEK 4 NOMINEES
Stiven Ayala; William Floyd High School (Mastic Beach, NY)
Stiven Ayala is a true example of the American dream. The Ayala family immigrated from El Salvador when he was 14 years old. He entered Paca Middle School not speaking a word of English and not having any idea what American Football was all about. Ayala has come a long way since then. “The football locker room is a place where those of all races and creeds enter as individuals and leave as one to accomplish a team goal – Stiven has entered that locker room and has become a vital member of accomplishing team goals,” said William Floyd High School’s Head Football Coach, Paul Longo. Ayala is projected to go on and attend college and play the game of football, which he began playing in 7th grade.
Alex Buchwald; High Point Regional High School (Wantage, NJ)
For Alex Buchwald, football was a way to help him overcome the death of his two grandfathers. Unfortunately, Buchwald lost one of his grandfathers when he was in fifth grade, and his other grandfather to ALS during the summer going into his junior year. “Being at football practice helped me clear my head from the tragedy that had occurred, and it was one of the main reasons I was able to make it through it,” said Buchwald. Buchwald feels he will never be able to thank football and his teammates enough for helping him overcome the adversity. Although Buchwald feels football helps him, he constantly gives back to the sport. Buchwald was elected Captain both his junior and senior years, and coaches the local youth football team.
Billy Clark; Roy C. Ketcham High School (Wappingers Falls, NY)
Dedication is one word to describe Billy Clark. Throughout Clark’s high school career, he has never missed a practice. As July and August approached, Roy C. Ketcham’s football season was still supposed to start on time. Due to COVID-19, there was no way Clark’s school or coaches to hold workouts. Clark took it upon himself to hold safe, and beneficial workouts with his team. Twice a week, Clark and his teammates would meet at his middle school to condition and run to stay in shape. “I knew I needed to have myself, but more importantly my teammates in game day shape and ready to step out on the field and win. I am dedicated to my program and coaches, there is nothing that I want more than to win my school a section title,” said Clark.
Jordan Diggs; Montclair High School (Montclair, NJ)
In the Diggs family, football is engrained in their DNA. Playing football was something Diggs saw all of the men in his family do. He desperately wanted to be apart of that. To start his football journey, Diggs went to the director of the football program that he wanted to play for in his town. He told Diggs he was too small to play for his program. Diggs completely broke down. “After recovering mentally from that experience, I said to myself that “they’re going to remember me in this town and that I’m going to use this sport to make it known that size does not matter,” said Diggs. Fast forward several years, and now Diggs, Captain as a junior, is a 5’6 165 lb tailback, who rushed for 1200 yards.
John Prince; Archbishop Stepinac High School (White Plains, NY)
John Prince may not have been able to contribute to the football field over the past couple of months, but this didn’t stop him from contributing to his community. Through the pandemic, Prince became aware that although the hospitals were receiving countless daytime donations of food, the night staff were often overlooked. He wanted to make a difference. From the beginning, his motivation for this project was to simply answer a need that he knew existed. “On April 11, 2020, my 2 of elementary school friends and I set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $2,000. Quickly, we exceeded our goal and raised over $10,000 to support the frontline healthcare workers. Thanks to the generous donations of over 160 people we provided meals for the wary, tired nurses, doctors, technicians, and staff,” said Prince. Prince’s group, Friends4Frontlines, delivered meals nightly throughout the months of April and May at the height of the COVID crisis in New York. “I am so grateful to all the individuals that have supported me my efforts to salute the awesome, selfless frontline healthcare workers who helped care for others in time of national crisis. It was especially rewarding to help buy food from local delis and restaurants that were experiencing a drop of sales and provide meals for our frontline workers in hospital emergency rooms,” said Prince. Archbishop Stepinac High School’s Head Football Coach, Michael ODonnell, said Prince is committed to being the best he can be on and off the field.
Noah Rattmer; Longwood High School (Middle Island, NY)
“The first on the field and the last off, he spends countless hours breaking down film and coverages, and even extra time on learning the other positions on the field,” Longwood High School’s Head Football Coach, Sean Kluber, said about three year starter at quarterback, Noah Rattmer. Rattmer exemplifies dedication, even when he suffered a high ankle sprain during the first game of his junior season. “On a third down play, my center accidentally rolled up on my ankle. I knew immediately something was terribly wrong as there was a shooting pain up through my ankle. I hobbled off the field and assured my coaches that I was fine to continue playing,” said Rattmer. Longwood won the game, but unfortunately, Rattmer would be unable to play for 6-8 weeks. Despite this unfortunate diagnosis, Rattmer refused to let his injury define Longwood’s season. Rattmer spent countless hours rehabbing with the team trainer and attending physical therapy to get my ankle back to full strength. After four long weeks of being on the sideline, Rattmer finally got the opportunity to get back on the field and helped his team make it to the playoffs.
Jasier Rollins; Weequahic High School (Newark, NJ)
Jasier Rollins turned to Weequahic High School’s football team during his health issues and his depression. At the age of nine years old, Rollins was diagnosed with an enlarged heart. At the age of ten, his biological mom passed away. This caused Rollins to go into deep depression, as well as suffering three strokes. High blood pressure and severe weight gain followed. At 16 years old, Rollins found his way onto Weequahic High’s football family. “Going through everything was hard, but then I came across Weequahic’s football team – I felt loved. All of my teammates and coaches pushed me hard to be great and overcome a lot of things,” said Rollins. Rollins believes playing football for Weequahic not only helped him with his health issues and his depression, but helped him find a football family as well.
Vincent Schaub; Yonkers Brave – Enrolled at Saunders Trade and Technical School (Yonkers, NY)
Vincent Schaub started his sophomore year on the field as an offensive and defensive lineman with Yonkers Brave when he suddenly began to feel out of sorts. Many months of tests later, and it was confirmed that Schaub had brain cancer. Since then, Schaub has received six weeks of radiation five days a week, and will continue to receive chemotherapy for the next year or two. “When I get out on the field I feel that no one could stop me, I feel like I am able to be myself when playing football and love to defy the odds,” said Schaub. Schaub is truly an inspiration to his peers, his coaches, and his teachers. “It has been through his strength and perseverance that he is currently winning this battle with cancer – Vincent has always keeps an interest and aspiration to get back on the field by his senior year,” said Yonkers Brave’s Head Football Coach Vincent Schaub, Victor Chiappa.
Drew Trust; Jackson Memorial High School (Jackson, NJ)
“Drew is not the loudest, flashiest, or most athletic, but he has the heart of a team. With the passion and love of the game of football, Drew is always 100% present for practice and games,” said Jackson Memorial High School’s Head Football Coach, Vinny Mistretta, about Drew Trust. When Trust was younger, he was encouraged to play football because of his size. “I’ve never been the fastest, the quickest, the strongest, or the most coordinated or athletic kid, and I definitely was not when I first started playing; one may say it was kind of like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, it shouldn’t have worked out for me as well as it has,” said Trust. There were multiple instances where Trust wanted to quit, but thanks to his coaches and teammates who encouraged him to keep trying, taught him the basic fundamentals of the game, and several important life lessons, Trust has since won JV Defense Player of the Year during his sophomore season, as well as winning a varsity letter three years in a row.
