Scotts Valley High lineman Bobby Arcangeli and Soquel defensive back Ben Palma were chosen to represent Santa Cruz County at the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame awards banquet for their contributions in the classroom, community, and on the football field.

Both will receive $1,000 scholarships from the Northern California Chapter of the NFF at an awards ceremony at the Grand Bay Hotel in Redwood City on March 15.

Both players advanced from a local group of student-athletes who received $200 scholarships from Santa Cruz Host Lions Club.

Football coaches from each school in the county were allowed to nominate two players for the annual awards, a back and a lineman. Seventeen local players will be honored at a banquet at the Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building on Feb. 18 at 6 p.m.

Arcangeli (5-foot-7, 190 pounds), a two-year varsity player, was the Falcons’ starting center and was also used on the defensive line.

“This means a lot to me,” said Arcangeli, of the two scholarships. “I worked hard at football and school. It’s hard to focus on both. I’m proud to have this (these scholarships) to show I did both.”

He served as a ball boy for the Falcons when his two older brothers played.

“I’ve always been near coach (Louie) Walters,” Arcangeli said. “I though he was funny. I’m glad I got to play for him.”

Arcangeli, who serves as the treasurer in student government, is part of the school’s heralded International Baccalaureate diploma program. He holds a 4.02 weight grade-point average and will attend either Chico State University or Texas State University, where he’ll major in concrete industry management. Arcangeli said it’s a relatively new major and only offered at five universities nationwide.

Tossed a few examples of what he can help create after his college graduation, Arcangeli countered with: “A Scotts Valley stadium.”

Arcangeli is excited to attend the awards ceremony in Redwood City.

“It’ll be cool to meet other people with the same mindset as me,” he said. “People who are pushing themselves to accelerate in both football and academics.”

Palma (6-2, 205), who lived in Mesa, Arizona, until he was 7, began playing the sport in high school. He began his prep career at receiver, moved to strong safety, and played outside linebacker his final two seasons.

He holds a 3.60 GPA, hopes to attend either Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo or University of Colorado in Boulder, and plans to major in business administration.

“I want to own my own business, be my own boss,” he said.

He was a boss on the field. He made 57 tackles with a team-high eight tackles for a loss of yards, including two sacks to help the Knights (8-3, 6-0) become the first team from Santa Cruz County to win the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Gabilan Division title outright.

In 2023, he helped the Knights win their first Central Coast Section title, as well as the NorCal and CIF Division 4-AA state titles.

Palma won’t miss the “rolling,” a team punishment for one person’s mistake, he and teammates did as a freshmen, but he will miss playing the sport.

“You gotta love football to play it because of all the hard work it takes. But a lot of good things came from it,” Palma said. “It gave me a friends circle, especially in the beginning of high school. … Hard word, time management, teamwork; there are a lot of skills I learned from football that I can apply to different stuff in my life.”

Palma said he’s excited to connect with like-minded student-athletes at the awards banquet.

Other local award winners included: Aptos’ Logan Brantley (line) and Damian Suchil (back), Monte Vista Christian’s Dmytro Beliaiev (line) and Nico Downie (back), Pajaro Valley’s Izaak Ocampo (back), St. Francis’ John Croghan (line) and Mason Borrego (back), Santa Cruz’s Luke Brower (line) and Marco Rodriguez (back), San Lorenzo Valley’s Gio Ricigliano (line) and Jack Dagan (back), Scotts Valley’s John Ellison (back), Soquel’s Kevin Baskerville (line), and Watsonville’s Iker Ponce (line) and Gabriel Lara (back).

The selection committee for the NFF & CHF of Santa Cruz County didn’t receive nominations this year from Harbor.