SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine - January 24, 2025 - Today, National Distributors and KeyBank jointly announce the scholarship winners of the Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Defensive and Offensive Linemen Awards. Joseph Dube of Lewiston has been named the top senior football defensive lineman and Henry Mahoney of Saco has been named the top offensive lineman in the state based on their hard work on the field, in the classroom and in their communities. National Distributors will present the winners with $5,000 scholarships and trophies, while KeyBank will present $1,000 scholarships and trophies to the remaining finalists: defensive linemen Kyle Doody of Gardiner Area High School in Gardiner and Porter Gahagan of Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro, and offensive linemen Charles Majkowski of Kennebunk High School in Kennebunk and Cole Tomuschat of Scarborough High School in Scarborough.

The Gaziano Awards are the largest high school scholarships of their kind in the country and honor the memory of the late Frank J. Gaziano who was a college football All-American and professional player before founding National Distributors Inc. in South Portland. In the past 13 years, the Gaziano Awards program has awarded $178,000 in scholarships to Maine students. For the fourth year in a row, KeyBank has co-sponsored the awards, with National Distributors providing scholarships to the winners and KeyBank providing scholarships to the other finalists.

For more information on the scholarship program, visit Frank J. Gaziano Memorial Offensive and Defensive Lineman Awards - Maine Football Scholarships (gazianolinemanawards.org).

About National Distributors:
Established in 1960, National Distributors Inc. is a family-owned company that has been providing quality beverages to retailers for the benefit of consumers for more than 50 years. Though predominantly servicing retailers in southern Maine, the company continues to provide a variety of products and expand their distribution to central and coastal Maine. National Distributors maintains a strong vision for a greener future with an active environmental program. The company and its more than 170 employees also continue to be proud community leaders and promote the responsible consumption of their products. For more information, visit www.nat-dist.com.

About KeyBank/KeyCorp
KeyCorp's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $187 billion at December 31, 2024. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,200 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

Noble's Jamier Rose was named the 53rd recipient of the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, awarded to the top high school senior football player in the state of Maine. Jamier is the first student from Noble to be selected.

53rd Fitzpatrick Trophy goes to Jamier Rose of Noble High

CHICAGO (December 6, 2024) — In its 40th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Cordell Jones of Portland High School is the 2024-25 Gatorade Maine Football Player of the Year. Jones is the fourth Gatorade Maine Football Player of the Year to be chosen from Portland High School.

Gatorade Player of the Year is the top honor in high school sports, celebrating the nation’s best high school athletes for their success on the field, in the classroom and in the community. The award distinguishes Jones as Maine's best high school football player, and he joins an impressive group of alumni that spans CEOs, coaches and star athletes such as Emmitt Smith (1986-87, Escambia High School, Fl.), Peyton Manning (1993-94, Isidore Newman School, La.) and DJ Lagway (2023-24, Willis High School, Texas).

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound junior wide receiver, running back and defensive back accounted for 1,562 yards and 25 touchdowns on offense this past season, leading the Bulldogs (10-2) to a Class A state championship. Jones rushed for 971 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also caught 28 passes for 591 yards and nine scores. A two-way AllConference selection, he recorded 46 tackles, including three for loss, and two interceptions on defense.

A three-sport athlete, Jones has volunteered locally as a youth football and basketball coach.

“Cordell has a huge football skill set,” said Kevin Cooper, head coach at Bonny Eagle High School. “He affects the game running, receiving, throwing and on defense. He really makes Portland High School go because they can use them in all these capacities. Rarely does a player come along that can do all of those things.”

Jones has maintained a B average in the classroom. He will begin his senior year next fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states across 12 different high school sports – football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field – and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Jones joins recent Gatorade Maine Football Players of the Year Noah Carpenter (2023-24 & 2022-23, Leavitt Area High School), Eli Soehren (2021-22, Oxford Hills High School) and Wyatt Hathaway (2020-21, Leavitt Area High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $5.6 million in grants to winners across more than 2,000 organizations.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student - athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade, Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.

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