NAME: Nyeem Wartman
SCHOOL: Valley View
LAST SEASON: 2011
POSITIONS: LB/TE

The linebacker position is so important on the defensive side of the ball that if you don’t have a great one, you usually don’t have a great defense. Nyeem Wartman made a good defense great at Valley View. Wartman was a team-captain, a three-year starter and helped the Cougars win their first-ever district championship his senior season, a game in which he played with 102 degree fever and vomiting all afternoon. He recorded 120 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and an interception. For his career, he had a school-record 387 tackles. Wartman was also a great blocking tight end and had 34 receptions for 667 yards, averaging 19.6 yards per catch.

Wartman was the 2011 NPF Lackawanna Football Conference Division I Defensive Player of the Year, a first-team linebacker and a first-team tight end. He was also the NPF District 2 Defensive Player of the Year. Wartman also was a Lackawanna Football Conference first-team linebacker and second-team tight end in 2010. He was a named an all-state linebacker by the Pennsylvania Football Writers and a first-team linebacker and tight end by the Pennsylvania Football News in 2011. He also received first-team linebacker honors by EasternPAFootball.com his senior season. Wartman was selected for the Big 33 Classic, the Offense/Defense All-American Game and the WNEP Dream Team in 2011. He would continue his football career at Division I-FBS Penn State University where he would become a starter his freshman season at linebacker.

Valley View coach George Howanitz on Wartman: “Every defensive minded coach dreams of having a linebacker who can go sideline to sideline, cover wide receivers, and manage the whole defensive squad. Every offensive play caller dreams of having a tight end who can block like an offensive lineman and run and catch like a wide receiver. Nyeem Wartman was every Valley View coach’s dream student-athlete. He was an elite talent on both sides of the ball and his play making abilities especially on defense made him the best to ever play in the Lackawanna Football Conference. ”