DeLucia Award: Catholic gridiron best honored

It has been nearly 39 years since Brandywine Hundred residents Tom and Pat lost their son Michael, who died of meningitis at the age of 18 months.

Pat DeLucia was angry with God. She thought she would leave the church, but she kept going back to their parish, St. Mary Magdalen. In the end, it was her faith that got her through.

“I still ask why,” Pat DeLucia said. “I hope one day I can meet the good Lord and ask him.”

To help them cope, the DeLucias created the Michael DeLucia Award in 1972, to be given annually to the outstanding, senior Catholic school football player in greater Wilmington.

The sport of football was chosen because Michael's birthday was during football season in November.

In 38 years, 57 players have won the award.

For the 2009 season, there are two selections – AJ Dillione of Salesianum and Chaz Malewski of St. Mark’s. The DeLucias’ youngest son, Kevin, presented Malewski’s award at the St. Mark’s football banquet Monday, Jan. 11. Tom and Kevin DeLucia, both Salesianum grads, will present Dillione’s award at their alma mater’s football banquet Sunday, Jan. 31.

Meet this year’s winners of the prestigious DeLucia award.

Vital stats
Salesianum School’s AJ Dillione
Age: 17
Hometown: West Chester, Pa.

Alma Mater: Salesianum
Academics: Senior, with a 3.61 grade point average. He plans to play football at the next level and has narrowed his list down to Dayton, Davidson, Dickinson, Lycoming, Albright and Wesley
Family: He is the son of Al and Michelle Dillione
Tale of the tape: The 6-foot-2, 275-pound Dillione made First Team All-State and First Team All-Catholic as a guard this past fall for the 10-2, Division I state championship Sallies team. He was part of the line that paved the way for running backs Ryan Kilpatrick (1,919 yards) and Giovanni Ferrante (924 yards), according to PrepSportsDelaware.com.

St. Mark’s High School’s Chaz Malewski
Age: 18
Hometown: Bear

Alma Mater: St. Mark's
Academics: Senior, with a 3.41 GPA. He too is undecided on which college to attend, but he’s narrowed it down to McDaniel, Salisbury and Gettysburg in hopes of playing football.
Family: He is the eldest son of Julie and Charlie Malewski, sister Abby is a freshman at St. Mark's
Tale of the tape: The 5-foot-9, 201-pound Malewski made 44 tackles and assisted on 104 more this season, had one interception and two fumble recoveries for the 10-3 Spartans, according to MaxPreps.com. He was First Team All-State and First Team All-Catholic as a linebacker and Second Team All-Catholic as a guard for the 10-3 Spartans, who finished as the Division I runner ups.

Why they are cool
Malewski and Dillione received the award because they exemplified outstanding performance, attitude and character on and off the field.

Dillione helped lead the Sals to their sixth state championship. He is also president of Salesianum’s Blue & Gold Club and will play in the annual Blue-Gold football game in June, which benefits people with intellectual disabilities. Every summer he volunteers with the American Cancer Society bike ride in Philadelphia.

“I saw Andrew Szczerba win the award at our football banquet and I set a goal for my freshman year to win it,” Dillione said.

Malewski helped lead the Spartans to the state championship game against Sallies, where they lost 27-20, a vast improvement over their regular season, 28-9 loss to Sallies. He is a member of the St. Mark’s Blue Gold committee and will also play in the Blue-Gold game. During the season, the St. Mark’s football team went into Wilmington on Saturday mornings to serve breakfast to the homeless at a local church.

“Last year, was the first I’d heard of it because [former teammate] Corey Olsen had won,” Malewski said. “I loved the trophy when I saw it. It’s something I greatly appreciate.”

What friends say …
Finish this sentence. People who know me would say that I …
“Work extremely hard,” Dillione said. “They would say that I’m a caring, understanding person that would the extra mile to help others and help others do their best.”

“I’m always smiling,” Malewski said. “I don’t really like being angry. A lot of things that upset other people I find funny. I like being happy. Other people should too.”

What they say about each other
“Chaz is a great player. I was looking forward to playing against him [in the rematch],” Dillione said. “It was a great game.”

“I’m very happy that AJ won alongside me,” Malewski said. “I love the way he plays, and when we lost the first game against them badly this year, he complimented me and said some nice things.”

Notable
“The best advice I’ve received is a motivational saying I heard during the summer. ‘Give all you have today because what you save is lost forever,’” Dillione said. “That’s something I would read before every game.”

“I’m not one of the bigger players and I’ve always opposed bigger players on defense,” Malewski said. “No matter what you’re put against, give it everything you’ve got because in those cases you’ll end up on top. That’s how I go through life.”