Coach to give speech honoring local players

Penn State's Hall of Fame coach, Joe Paterno, will be the featured speaker in April at the 10th Anniversary banquet honoring the athletic and academic achievements of high school football players in Central Pennsylvania.

The annual banquet is sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. This year's event is set for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 1 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park campus.

Thirty-six scholastic student-athletes and three collegiate athletes will be honored at the banquet, with ten student-athletes receiving a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education.

Since initiating the awards banquet in 1997-98, the Central Pennsylvania Chapter has given a total of $85,000 to deserving student-athletes from many of the high schools located in the following area counties: Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Jefferson, Juniata, Lycoming, and Mifflin.

Paterno, who is starting his 42nd year as head of the Nittany Lions, was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame last year. His formal induction into the Hall was postponed until this December after he suffered a serious leg injury during a game against Wisconsin in November.

Despite his injures, Paterno was able to coach the Nittany Lions to a 20-10 victory over Tennessee in the 2007 Outback Bowl on January 1. The win further enhanced the record he already held as the coach with the most bowl victories in history, a mark that now stands at 22-10-1 including a 16-6 mark in New Year's bowl games.