High School Football Players Nominated for Prestigious Award

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Marcus Canton has been sidelined for the Bulldogs in his senior year with an ACL injury.

September 25, 2023

By Rick Pezzullo—

Two local high school football standouts are in the running for a prestigious award championed by the Hospital for Special Surgery and the New York Giants.

Marcus Canton of Irvington High School and Jahniya Witters, an All-League Honorable Mention recipient for the Hudson River Trainblazers in Flag Football in the Greenburgh-North Castle School District in Dobbs Ferry, were among 10 players recently nominated for USA Football’s Heart of a Giant Award.

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Now in its 10^th year, the USA Football Heart of a Giant Award was established to recognize outstanding tri-state area high school football players, mascots, team managers and others who have been nominated by their coaches for their commitment, teamwork, will, character and dedication.

Canton, a senior, tore his ACL in June, but has been invaluable to coaches and teammates on the sideline.

“Marcus is an outstanding athlete which may be his least impressive trait. As the best player on our team, he has been a leader on and off the field,” his coaches stated when nominating Canton. “Despite his injury and status as our best player he has somehow made himself more valuable to his teammates and coaches. Marcus is a young man who has been forced to deal with the disappointment of his senior season yet has taken this as an opportunity to better everyone around him while never complaining about his circumstances. For an athlete as gifted as he is it would have been easy to cry woe is me. Marcus has done the opposite while continuing to be a 4.0 student, captain, and school leader. This is young man has shown attributes beyond his years while being forced to watch his brothers play their senior season without him.”

Witters was nominated by coaches for her character and showing “great confidence, respect, determination and commitment towards the games and teammates.”

The voting period for nominees runs until Sunday, Oct. 8, at 11:59 p.m., with the final vote tally determining who will be named a finalist from each of six weekly group’s finalists.

At the end of the six-week voting process, six finalists and five wild card finalists will be named, for a total of 11 finalist honorees. Each finalist will receive a $1,000 grant for their high school’s football program, with the grand prize winner’s school getting an additional $9,000 equipment grant.

The grand prize winner and his/her coach will be honored on the field at a future New York Giants game this season. The grand prize winner will be selected based on video submissions stating why they have the Heart of a Giant.

For information on how to vote, visit usafootball.com.

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