Gridiron Club awards

The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston will honor New England's best Thursday evening at its annual college football awards night at the Burlington Marriott.

The 68th George H. "Bulger" Lowe Award -- the national's second-oldest college football award behind the Heisman Trophy -- will be presented to David Ball (offense), the University of New Hampshire's record-setting senior receiver; and Boston College's standout junior cornerback DeJuan Tribble (defense).

The other award winners:
* 11th Joseph P. "Joe" Zabilski Award (top players in Division 2-3): QB Chris Sharpe, Springfield College; and LB Sean Crowley, Curry College
* 61st Nils "Swede" Nelson Award (excellence in academics, athletics and sportsmanship): Ed McCarthy, Yale; and Brendan Fulmer, Williams.
* Coach of the Year: Don Brown, UMass; and Jim Murphy, Merrimack.
Assistant coaches: Wally Dembowski, Northeastern; and Phil Soule, Bowdoin (posthumously)
* John Baronian Award (lifetime contributions to football): Barry Gallup, Boston College and Northeastern.
* Joseph V. McKenney Award (top college official): David Carter, head linesman, ECAC.

The Bob Whelan College Football Awards Night kicks off with a social hour at 6, followed by dinner at 7.
"This is our way of celebrating college football in New England," said dinner chairman Tim Whelan, whose grandfather, Tom, a two-sport professional (Canton Bulldogs, Chicago Cubs), was one of the founders of the gridiron club in the 1930s. Tom's son, Bob, a Boston University Hall of Famer who played in the same Terrier backfield with Harry Agganis, is a past president. Tim Whelan is a former "Bulger" Lowe recipient while playing at Tufts.

Individual tickets ($50) will be available at the door. For further information, go to gridironclub.com.