November 5, 2026

CHARLOTTE TOUCHDOWN CLUB ANNOUNCES 2026 AREA COLLEGE SCHOLAR RECIPIENTS AND POP WARNER LITTLE PANTHERS DEFENSIVE / SCHOLASTIC TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARD 

Awards Presented at 2026 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Awards Banquet presented by Coca-Cola Consolidated

CHARLOTTE, NC (November 5, 2026) – The Charlotte Touchdown Club announced today its annual list of local area college scholarship winners and its Pop Warner Little Panthers Defensive / Scholastic Team of the Year Award.

 Local Area College Scholarship Recipients Include:

 Catawba College – Jaylen Hinton

Davidson College – Jacary Lightsey

Gardner-Webb University – Will Fitzpatrick

Johnson C. Smith University – Vincent Hill

UNC Charlotte – Gavin Willis

Wingate University – Christopher Harris 

The winner of the 2026 Pop Warner Little Panthers Defensive / Scholastic Team of the Year presented by Publix Super Markets is the PAL Panthers 12U.  

 All of the above winners will formally accept their award during the annual Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet presented by Coca-Cola Consolidated scheduled for Monday, December 7th at the Charlotte Convention Center. The keynote address will be given by legendary college coach, Mack Brown and Oklahoma Sooners all-time great from the Class of 1984, Tony Casillas, will receive this year’s Bronko Nagurski Legends Award presented by the Hertwig Family Foundation. The Citadel’s Maurice Bonneau Jr., winner of this year’s Defender of the Nation Award presented by the Capital Group of Companies will also be honored at the banquet.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is presented annually by the Charlotte Touchdown Club in conjunction with the Football Writers Association of America to the nation’s most outstanding NCAA Division I defensive football player at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet in Charlotte, NC. All proceeds benefit the Charlotte Touchdown Club Scholarship Fund.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence, and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association’s official website, www.NCFAA.org.

The Charlotte Touchdown Club is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1990 for the purpose to promote high school, collegiate, and professional football in the Charlotte, North Carolina region. Since its inception, the club has grown as well as diversified boasting a sponsor team of more than (70) companies.  The Club’s activities and services focus community attention on the outstanding Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship, and Leadership of area athletes and coaches. Through individual and corporate support, more than $3,000,000 has been raised to benefit the Touchdown Club’s scholarship efforts.

CHARLOTTE TOUCHDOWN CLUB
Where Citizenship, Scholarship, Sportsmanship and Leadership are Honored