On Sunday night, 95.9 WATD celebrated the conclusion of the 2023 high school football season with its presentation of the inaugural Bill Wilhelm Award.
Named for the station’s first and longtime Sports Director, Wilhelm was on hand for the award ceremony, which was broadcast live as an episode of The Sports Exchange.
Quinn Kelly, along with his Sports Exchange co-hosts Johnny Rorke and Brendan Connelly, sat down with each of the three award finalists, as well as a series of other guests.
Ben Scalzi, the 2023 Bill Wilhelm Award winner (center) with fellow finalists Alex Barlow (left) and Tyler Lennox (right).
Ben Scalzi, senior quarterback of Hanover High School, took home the award, edging fellow finalists Tyler Lennox (Carver) and Alex Barlow (Duxbury).
Scalzi was the leader atop a crop of 22 different South Shore student-athletes who received votes for the Bill Wilhelm Award.
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The Hanover senior captain led the Hawks to an 11-2 season and an appearance in the Division 5 Super Bowl. He finished the season with 41 total touchdowns and 2,621 yards passing. His 39 passing touchdowns were good enough to claim the top mark in the state this season.
A two-year starter at Hanover, Scalzi closes with 80 career touchdowns and nearly 6,000 all-purpose yards. After setting the program record for single season passing yards in his junior season, Scalzi claimed the record for single season touchdown passes this year.
The Bill Wilhelm Award trophy.
WATD extends a big thank you to Mamma Mia’s of Marshfield, who hosted the event.
Sports Director Quinn Kelly and his team also extend their appreciation to all of the local coaches and athletic directors who made the season possible, to the three finalists and their families and coaches for a wonderful ceremony, and foremost to Bill Wilhelm for the incredible job he did over four decades at the head of the department, laying the groundwork for such an event to take place.
LISTEN: The 2023 Bill Wilhelm Award Semifinalists
You can listen to the full Bill Wilhelm Award Ceremony here:
A gallery of photos from the ceremony can also be seen below:
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- Alex Barlow (top left) joins the Sports Exchange during the 2023 Bill Wilhelm Award ceremony.
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- Quinn Kelly (center, top) and co-hosts Johnny Rorke (left, top) and Brendan Connolly (right, top) interview Bill Wilhelm Award finalist Tyler Lennox (right, bottom) and his head coach Ben Shuffain (center, bottom).
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- Ben Scalzi, the 2023 Bill Wilhelm Award winner (center) with fellow finalists Alex Barlow (left) and Tyler Lennox (right).
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- Ben Scalzi (center with trophy) is the 2023 Bill Wilhelm Award winner, pictured with Quinn Kelly (left), Brendan Connolly (center right) and Johnny Rorke (right).
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- 2023 Bill Wilhelm Award winner Ben Scalzi (left) pictured with former WATD Sports Director Bill Wilhelm (right).
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- The Bill Wilhelm Award trophy, generously donated by Crown Trophy of Pembroke.
