Hamilton West’s Joshua Knowles will be honored March 9, 2014 by the Delaware Valley chapter of the National Football Foundation for his accomplishments on and off the field.
Nottingham High School football player Nick DeMarie is one of three scholar-athletes from Hamilton that will be honored March 9, 2014.
The biggest and most prestigious high school football party of the year for Mercer County and the surrounding areas will be held on March 9 at the Princeton Hyatt, and once again Hamilton Township will have plenty of honorees on the guest list.
When the Delaware Valley chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame holds its 52nd Annual George Wah Awards Dinner, scholar-athletes from the three township high schools will be cited, as well as two other awards going to township residents.
Earning the scholar-athlete awards for their respective schools are Nottingham’s Nick DeMarie, Steinert’s Pat Harchik and Hamilton West’s Joshua Knowles. Also being honored with the Little Scholar Award is Hamilton PAL player Nick Kloutis, while winning the Jack Millard Memorial Football Official Award is long-time Whitehorse resident Tom Carr.
Knowles is a unique case, as his senior year was his lone season on the varsity football team. But the wide receiver/defensive back made enough of an impact to earn head coach Tom Hoglen’s nomination.
“With only one year of varsity experience, Josh was able to make the varsity line-up and demonstrate through hard work that he could make a difference,” Hoglen said. “Pride, tradition and excellence are what every football player at Hamilton West strives for. The goal of every scholar-athlete at West is to excel on the field and in the classroom and Josh has demonstrated he can do both exceptionally well.”
Knowles, who will captain the Hornets lacrosse team this spring, is ranked No. 1 in a class of 315 students with a 4.583 GPA. He has taken Advanced Placement courses in calculus, computer science, chemistry, biology, physics, English, U.S. history and government and politics.
Knowles has been a member of the National Honor Society for three years, was an American Legion Jersey Boys state delegate last year and was the New Jersey Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Ambassador in 2012.
Along with being student government class vice-president all four years in school, he finds time to tutor peers in algebra and calculus. He also volunteers for Relay For Life to support cancer research; was a tennis ball retriever at the Special Olympics summer games; helped organize and run fundraisers as a Project Graduation volunteer; and dressed as a holiday character at Kuser Park’s Winter Wonderland.
Hamilton West math teacher Matt Aurand had Knowles in his class for two years, and noted that “a colleague recently remarked that ‘every teacher should be blessed to have Josh in their class.’ I could not agree more with this sentiment.
“I have had the pleasure of watching him grow and find his voice within the school community. In addition to being a great student, Josh is an outstanding and remarkable young man.”
DeMarie has been so remarkable that he has been tagged with the nickname “Mr. President” by Nottingham coach Jon Adams. In 30 years or so it may be more than a nickname as DeMarie has a goal of being a U.S. Senator some day.
The Mercerville resident’s resume’ is five pages long and about nine lines of that has to do with his football career. With accomplishments too numerous to list here over his high school career, just looking at his senior year is impressive.
Last summer, he took part in the American Legion New Jersey Boys State Delegate and was an alternate for Boys Nation Senator. Nick was finalist for the Boys State Gordon A. Vreeland Memorial Award Scholarship, given annually to the best delegate.
This school year he is president of Nottingham’s Senior Class, Italian Club, Key Club and Outreach for the Stars Service Organization. He’s the Debate Team captain and a defense attorney for the Mock Trial Team and, of course, a member of the National Honor Society. His 4.5 GPA ranks third in a class of 343.
That doesn’t even include all the volunteer work DeMarie does for the community, but it paints a pretty clear picture of what he is all about.
Joe Demyon, a former biology teacher at Nottingham, knew the school had something special in DeMarie’s freshman year.
“He was a young, energetic dynamo when he crossed paths with me as a teacher in the school and I found him to be the most engaging and one of the brightest young people I have ever met,” said Demyon, who now lives in Florida but is still part of the Nottingham scene by taking photos at athletic events when he comes home. “As I observed Nick interact with others, from his own peers and other students in the school to the members of the teaching staff, custodial and secretarial staff, as well as the building administration, I realized that this young man could communicate on any level with any generation and convince those he needed to bridge any gap and even accept and embrace whatever viewpoint he espouses.
“During the past few years I have had the opportunity to get to know Nick on a more personal level as he and I became better acquainted. My initial impressions of him were validated.”
DeMarie was also a heck of an underrated football player during the greatest back-to-back seasons in Northstar history. He served as a blocking fullback as a junior when Nottingham won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III championship, and switched to tight end this past year and played well in helping the Stars to the CJ Group IV semifinals.
“Nicholas DeMarie is a tremendous leader,” Adams said. “His leadership as one of our captains was paramount to the success of our football team in 2013. He leads in the community and in our hallways. He is one of the finest captains and finest people I have ever had at Nottingham.”
And while DeMarie has an eye on politics, Harchik has already gotten a taste of what it’s like to be in the arena. The Steinert senior had an internship with State Assemblyman Dan Benson last year; researching laws and issues and writing letters on behalf of assemblymen.
Harchik has a 4.15 GPA and has made the honor roll every marking period since middle school. He takes advance placement courses in U.S. Government, Statistics, Marine Biology and English. As part of Delegate to N.J. Boys State, he served as police commissioner, warden and budget planner.
His volunteer work includes helping Relay for Life, St. Gregory the Great Church, Special Olympics, Boy Scouts, Wounded Warriors and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
Steinert history teacher Bill James has interacted with Harchik on three different levels: as a teacher and coach, and watching Harchik umpire at Nottingham Little League games while he was managing.
“Pat typifies all of the attributes that this award embodies,” James said. “He is the type of young man who leads by example in the classroom, school community and on the football field. He truly knows what it takes to balance school work and athletics and has a work ethic that is second to none.
“In my 25 years of high school coaching experience, I have found Pat to be one of the most well-rounded and respected players I have had the pleasure of coaching and being associated with in the player-coach relationship.”
As an athlete, Harchik has been a captain of the Spartans football and lacrosse teams. He was the starting center, linebacker and long snapper for Dan Caruso’s grid team.
“Pat is one of the finest scholar-athletes I have ever had the honor of coaching,” Caruso said. “His work ethic and desire is second to none. On the football field Pat is blessed with a lot of talent but, more importantly, he is blessed with a great motor. No one out-works Pat.
“For all Pat’s hard work on the field and in the weight room he worked even harder in the classroom. Pat is very well thought of by his teachers and peers. You would be hard pressed to find anyone that has something bad to say about Pat after meeting him.”
Folks say the same thing about Carr, and that’s rare when it comes to a referee.
Carr has been a member of the New Jersey Football Association since 2008, a member of the IAABO Board 193 basketball officials since 1998 and a Collegiate Basketball Officials Association member since 2004.
Athletics are a huge part of the Carr family’s life. Wife Debbie is a former University of Maryland soccer player; daughter Amanda is on the University of Pittsburgh rugby team and younger daughters Ryan and Riley are Hamilton rec soccer players.
A McCorristin High School grad, Carr is “the kid” on a veteran football crew that includes By Crammer, Jack Watro, Larry Gunnell and Ernie Coluccio. He quickly made a positive impact.
“You can’t say a bad thing about Tommy,” Crammer said. “He’s a great guy and he’s and outstanding official.”
Kloutis is involved in so many things he is rumored to be 14 years old going on 21. The Crockett Middle School 8th-grader played two years of Pop Warner football before competing in the Hamilton PAL as a center and defensive end the past five years. Nick also plays for the Nottingham Babe Ruth All Stars and plays basketball in the winter.
Academically, he has made the honor roll every year since kindergarten and, since sixth grade, he has been in the geometry track that will allow him to take college electives in high school. He has already taken the Johns Hopkins Test and scored highly among his peers in 12th grade in math.
As if that wasn’t enough, Kloutis has participated in the Kiwanis Club and Hamilton PAL pancake breakfasts, volunteered for the Langtree Elementary School Fall Fest and helped in the Trenton Soup Kitchen.
Just another day in the life of Hamilton Township football players, who put as much into life off the field as they do on it.
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