FILE PHOTO.
Calvin Johnson has scored 11 touchdowns in four games this season for St. Mary’s.
By Steve Krause
The Agganis Foundation and the Daily Item have resumed honoring North Shore high school football players.
The foundation, named for the late Harry Agganis, who was Lynn’s renowned athlete, in conjunction with The Item, has named Calvin Johnson of St. Mary’s and Jaason Lopez of Marblehead its Players of the Month for September.
Johnson and Lopez both led their respective teams to undefeated records for the month, and the Spartans and Magicians are still undefeated midway through October.
In St. Mary’s four wins — over Tech/Boston, Lynn English, Taconic and Arlington Catholic — Johnson scored a total of 11 touchdowns, seven via the rush and four through the air. A strong presence on defense as well as offense, Johnson is one half of a potent St. Mary’s backfield, along with Abraham Toe.
Lopez led Marblehead to wins over Walpole, Wakefield, Danvers and Peabody during the month. He scored seven touchdowns in the four games, saving his most productive game for the Sept. 30 victory over Peabody, in which he scored two touchdowns, ran for 124 yards and had 45 yards receiving.
The Agganis Fourndation has been honoring high school football players on the North Shore for more than a decade with players of the week awards. It also presents the offensive and defensive players of the year award at The Item’s annual football dinner.
The foundation began in 1955 upon the death of Harry Agganis, a Lynn Classical star who excelled in football and baseball at Boston University and later played for the Boston Red Sox. He died on June 27, 1955, at the age of 26, as the result of a pulmonary embolism. At the time of his death, Agganis was batting over .300 for the Red Sox.
Since the establishment of the foundation, 927 scholar athletes have received a total of $1,749,000 in scholarship grants. Each year at the end of June, as a way to commemorate Agganis’ legacy, the foundation sponsors a week of games featuring the area’s best senior athletes in boys and girls basketball, soccer and lacrosse, baseball, softball and football.
In addition, the foundation awards scholarships each year to 15 new recipients.
The Agganis Foundation will announce weekly awards beginning next week.