Maxwell Football Club Announces State Players of the Year
Maxwell Football Club President, Mark Dianno, announced the 2020 Maxwell Football State Players of the Year. The winners were Curt Henry from Paul M. Hodgson Vocational Technical High School in Delaware, Mikai Gbayor from Irvington High School in New Jersey, and Kyle McCord from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Pennsylvania. The three players selected are from schools located throughout each respective state. Players were nominated by their coaches throughout the 2020 season and were evaluated based on criteria that includes: football performance, academics, and community service.
Henry was a first-team All-Conference and second-team All-State quarterback during the 2020 season. He has signed a national letter of intent to play football at Delaware State.
During the 2020 season, Gbayor garnered All-Conference, All-Group, All-County, and All-State honors. The linebacker is committed to the University of Nebraska, where he will continue his football career.
Kyle McCord was named All-State and the Philadelphia Catholic League Player of the Year in 2020. He was selected to play in the All-American Bowl and will continue his football career at Ohio State University. Kyle completed 99 of 153 for 1,582 yards and 21 touchdowns. Joining Kyle at the Ohio State is teammate Marvin Harrison Jr. Last year he threw for 2,399 yards and 31 touchdowns.
The winner of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Player of the Year awards will be the candidates for the Club’s 35th Jim Henry Award as the Outstanding Player in the region. The winner of the Jim Henry Award will be announced on February 1, 2021.
Recent winners of the Jim Henry Award include Will Howard (Downingtown West H.S. – Kansas State), Keith Maguire (Malvern Prep – Clemson), Shayne Simon (St. Peters Prep – Notre Dame), Jonathan Taylor (Salem H.S. – Wisconsin), Brandon McIlwain (Council Rock North H.S – South Carolina/Cal), Kyle Shurmur (LaSalle College H.S. – Vanderbilt), Mark Pyles (Lebanon H.S – Bucknell Univ.) Fran Walsh (Archbishop Wood H.S – Villanova Univ.), Brendan Nosovitch (Allentown Central Catholic – University of South Carolina), Bill Kim (Upper Dublin H.S – Johns Hopkins), Brad Herzlich (Conestoga H.S – Brown University), Daniel Persa (Bethlehem Liberty H.S – Northwestern.), Brent Caprio (Mainland Regional H.S. – William & Mary), Steven Rizzo (Audubon H.S. – Colgate), Pat Devlin (Downingtown East H.S. – Delaware), Ryan Greiser (Pennridge H.S. – Liberty Univ.), Dan Connor (Strath Haven H.S. – Penn State) and Austin Scott (Parkland H.S – Penn State).
On this year’s honorees, Maxwell Football Club President, Mark Dianno, said “This year’s group of Mini-Max winners were challenged by more than just their on-field opponents. They had to contend with circumstances of the pandemic impacting their families, communities, schools, teachers, academics, practices, coaches, and games; yet they consistently rose to meet those challenges and performed extraordinary feats on the fields, in their classrooms and in their respective communities. Our three State Players of the Year distinguished themselves both on and off the gridiron during these challenging times. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors and all the members of the Maxwell Football Club, we congratulate and salute the MFC State Players of the Year on their tremendous accomplishments and wish them much success in their future endeavors.”
