ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) - Every year, three high school football players from the Elmira area are nominated by their coaches to be given the opportunity to earn the prestigious Ernie Davis Award.The nominees exemplify the characteristics of Ernie Davis on the football field, but also off the field.

Elmira's Nolan Edwards, Edison's Jaden Bennett, and Horseheads' Lucas Mosher have been selected as nominees for this year's award.

Edwards helped lead the Express to their second straight Section IV Class AA title, Bennett played a major role in the Spartans playoff berth, and Mosher was a key piece of Horseheads section title run for the first time since 1998.

Ernie Davis, who was an Elmira native, was played for Syracuse and was the first African-American football player to win the Heisman trophy back in 1961. Davis passed away at the age of 23 shortly after being diagnosed with Lukemia.

All three players spoke about how much it means to be nominated for this award, knowing what it stands for.

"It's a great honor to be up for this award along with these fellow student-athletes, great athletes," Mosher said. "It shows the great characteristics that Ernie Davis had and being resembled and similar traits like that it just means a lot to me."

"It's an honor being able to be compared to him and be up for this award because I just try to be nice and do my best but I honetly never thought I'd be nominated," Bennett added.

"Back in 8th grade, we had a saying be like Ernie, be a champ," Edwards said. "So it's just great that people see me like that and I'm just trying to act as respectful as I can be during the games, practice, whatever and just be a leader."

The winner will be announced on Thursday, December 12th at the Kiwanis luncheon at noon at the Clarion Inn in Elmira.