Journal-News.com

Badin High School's Zach Toerner and Talawanda's Braden Park have been named finalists for the National Football Foundation's annual "That's My Boy" award, which will be presented Feb. 17, at the Omni Netherland Hotel in Cincinnati.

"I talked to Zach about this last year and told him it was well within his reach if he kept up his academics and had another good season on the field, and I'm glad to see it come to fruition," Badin coach Dave Wirth said. "He's very deserving of being a finalist and certainly a very strong contender for winning the award."

Joining Turner and Park as finalists are Drake Browne (CHCA), Austen Bujnoch (Elder), Bo Cordell (Indian Hill), Ross Gibson (Batavia), Andy Jostworth (McNicholas), Zac Murphy (Kings), Nick Priessman (Colerain) and Daniel Rod (Anderson).

"Braden is one of those guys who, when you look at him as a player, he's every coach's dream," Talawanda coach Mike Wright said. "On the field, you couldn't ask for any more from him. And academically, he hasn't had anything lower than an A in every single class since he's been in high school."

Toerner is the fifth consecutive player from Badin to be a finalist for the award, joining Jon Hufford (2004), Andy Spaeth ('05), Matt Frankey ('06 award winner) and Nate Jackson ('07).

Park is the first Talawanda finalist since Rusty Bennett in 2000.

The guest speaker this year will be University of Cincinnati football coach Brian Kelly, and the emcee is WCPO-TV sports anchor Dennis Janson.

"It's a first-class affair," Wirth said. "It's something to see because they really do it right and make these kids look like heroes."

The award takes into consideration high achievements in the areas of football, academics and extracurricular involvement, and points are awarded based upon certain achievements in all three areas.

The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the NFF and also be eligible for other scholarship money.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.