JOHNSTOWN — Nine athletes are vying for the 2010 Point Stadium Award that will be presented during the annual banquet today at the Holiday Inn downtown.

Two-time Canadian Football League champion Andrew Hawkins will be the featured speaker at the 11:45 a.m. event geared toward the downtown lunchtime crowd.

Hawkins recently completed his second season with the Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes. The Bishop McCort graduate also was featured in Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin’s reality TV show “4th and Long” and advanced to the finals on a show that awarded a spot in the Dallas Cowboys training camp to the winner.

Hawkins played collegiately at the University of Toledo.

He’ll continue a tradition.

His brother, former NFL defensive back Artrell Hawkins Jr., previously was the featured speaker at the Point Stadium Award banquet in 2001.

Monthly nominees will be eligible for the annual Point Stadium Award and scholarship.

The nine monthly winners this year are:

• March: Seton Hill University catcher Pat Trettel was a force at the plate during a March 20 doubleheader against host Pitt-Johnstown at the stadium.

Trettel earned his nomination by going 4-for-4 with a pair of grand slams in the same inning of a one-sided 20-3 victory over the Mountain Cats.

The 6-foot-1, 240-pound North Allegheny High School graduate drove in nine runs and scored three times in the second half of the doubleheader. A fifth-year senior from Wexford, Trettel also had two hits, three RBIs and one run in the Griffins’ 9-6 win over UPJ in Game 1.

• April: Thirteen was a lucky number for Richland High School pitcher Austin Urban, who while wearing his No. 13 uniform tossed a two-hit shutout in a 13-0 victory over host Bishop McCort on April 13. Urban struck out eight Crushers and walked one. The senior also went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a run batted in.

A Penn State freshman, Urban was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 27th round of the June draft.

The right-hander played for Delweld in the AAABA Tournament this summer.

• May: Bishop McCort pitcher Braxton Ferre had two strong outings in May, but earned his nomination based on a one-hitter in a 4-2 win over Portage on May 3. Ferre struck out seven and walked three. He also had two hits and scored a run.

During another solid showing, Ferre had a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 9-3 win over Westmont on May 10.

• June: Delweld outfielder Drew Westover hit for the cycle on June 4. Westover became only the second player in Delweld’s 12-season franchise history to hit for the cycle during an 11-1 win over Roxberry Creamery.

The veteran slugger doubled to left field in the first inning, ripped a solo homer over the screen in the fourth, singled in the fifth and tripled in the sixth.

A Pitt-Johnstown product, Westover also scored three runs and drove in a pair.

• July: Delweld co-Pete Vuckovich Award-winning pitcher Carter Lehman tossed a seven-hit shutout in Game 1 of the AAABA League championship series on July 28.

Lehman put Delweld on the track to the playoff championship with his gem in Game 1 against regular-season champion Martella’s Pharmacy.

The right-hander from Mount Aloysius College scattered seven hits against one of the league’s most formidable lineups. He struck out three and walked one while finishing with a perfect 9-0 record, including the regular-season.

• August: George Roberts, Delweld shortstop, had two hits, drove in a pair of runs and scored three times in Delweld’s

13-4 victory over Philadelphia on Aug. 13.

The win put Johnstown into the championship round of the 66th All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament.

Roberts had 10 hits, seven runs, seven RBIs and a .476 batting average for the national runner-up Johnstown team.

• September: Blake Bussard, Central Cambria quarterback, helped ignite one of the year’s most dramatic upsets as Central Cambria defeated Bishop McCort 39-38 in double overtime on Sept. 10. In the second overtime, McCort took a 38-31 lead.

Central Cambria got its opportunity, and on third-and-8 Bussard ran a lead option to his right, found a seam and sprinted to the end zone to bring the Red Devils within one.

Central Cambria coach Ken Bussard, the quarterback’s father, opted to go for the two-point conversion. The younger Bussard ran right, appeared to be stopped at the

3-yard line, but reached out the ball, breaking the plane for the win. Blake Bussard also had another two-point conversion run in the Devils first win over McCort since 2003.

• October: Gervon Simon, Johnstown quarterback, was involved in all four touchdowns as Johnstown defeated Bishop McCort 27-14 on Oct. 15. The junior rushed for 100 yards and scored twice. He completed a 26-yard fade pass to Dwight Andrews and hit Marc Watson with a 6-yard strike for a score.

Simon passed for 113 yards.

His 80-yard touchdown run swayed the momentum and halted a McCort comeback bid. Johnstown ended McCort’s six-game winning streak against the Trojans.

• November: Anthony LaRue, Bishop McCort running back, rushed for a game-high 135 yards and one touchdown on only eight first-half carries during the Crushers’ one-sided 42-16 District 6 Class A playoff opener on Nov. 5.

LaRue’s 26-yard run helped set up McCort’s first touchdown. The senior’s

69-yard touchdown run made it 14-0. At defensive back, LaRue intercepted a pass at the Crushers 48-yard line, setting up another scoring drive.

Additionally, seven Point Stadium Play of the Month nominees will compete for Play of the Year honors. Those are:

• March: Trettel also earned Point Stadium Play of the Month for his second grand slam of the fourth inning on March 20.

• May: Bishop McCort’s Matt Kastelic hit an inside-the-park home run against Westmont on May 10.

• July: Delweld catcher Matt Cornetti hustled down the first base line to back up an errant throw and throw out a runner attempting to move up a base in the playoffs.

• August: Martella’s Pharmacy left fielder Scott Dixon made a running catch against the wall in the seventh inning against New Orleans on Aug. 11. It was the third out and kept the score tied at 2-2. New Orleans’ No. 3 hitter Chad Gough-Fortenberry was at the plate. New Orleans won

3-2 with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth.

• September: Bishop McCort 5-foot-7, 125-pound receiver Jerqual Wilson outjumped and outfought a taller Bedford defender to make a catch near the 5-yard line and run to the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown reception in the Crushers’ 28-6 win over the Bisons on Sept. 24.     

• October: Johnstown quarterback Simon’s 80-yard touchdown run changed the momentum after McCort had closed within a touchdown on Oct. 15. Simon broke through the line and eluded tacklers to clinch the Trojans’ win.

• November: Moshannon Valley free safety Joel Martin returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown. Martin read an out pattern, stepped in front of the pass and ran down the sideline in a 42-16 loss to Bishop McCort in the 6-A playoffs on

Nov. 5.