Luke Carignan is a senior at Guilford High School and played football all four years, acting as a captain this past season while starting at defensive end and tackle. He’s always been passionate about the gridiron but also proves to be a well-rounded student-athlete as a star in the classroom, as well.

Luke was recently among 29 athletes recognized by the Casey-O’Brien New Haven County Chapter of the National Football Foundation at their 63rd annual Scholar Athlete dinner on April 12. The foundation awards scholar athletes for their “academic excellence, leadership and citizenship.”

Luke was honored to be recognized and understood the company he now found himself in, both among his fellow 2023 awardees on the stage this April, and with past athletes who have won the award.

“It was a huge honor, we went to the ceremony a couple weeks ago,” says Luke. “I recognized there were pro athletes that have won that award before so I knew that it was a very high honor. I was up there with some of the best players in the state to play football last year and I was up there with championship winners, it was a really high honor.”

Despite high expectations after a strong 2021 campaign, Guilford opened the football season 0-1 following a disappointing loss at home to Fitch. Luke saw this loss as a potential fork in the road for this year’s team, and viewed the immediate aftermath as a crucial moment for his teammates and the young season.

“I knew that if we didn’t do something about it in that moment the whole season could be over,” says Luke. “I knew in that moment the team needed me and I needed to step up and take control of the team…we ended up going on a winning streak and took down one of the top teams in the state when we played Law. That was a moment where we had to turn it around and I had to step up as a leader.”

Former Grizzlies Head Coach Anthony Salvati coached Luke all four years at Guilford, calling him “Mr. Consistent” and utilizing Luke as a foundational piece on both the offensive and defensive lines.

“Luke is that typical, hardest worker in the room type of player,” says Salvati. “I met him as an 8th grader coming into freshman year…four years later am I sure glad I had him – we used to always call him Mr. Consistent as a junior and senior. He did everything textbook…he went to the highest extent in every form and every aspect that we asked him to do on the field.”

Luke’s consistency at his positions provided a sense of calm in an otherwise hectic game, allowing the coaching staff to focus their attention elsewhere knowing Luke had his role covered, even when he was giving up size to some of the bigger linemen in the state.

“Even as a left tackle, as undersized as he is for an offensive lineman, we knew that there was no one we were going to face that would beat him one on one,” Salvati says. “Never once did it come to our mind that we were going to get pressure from the backside on our quarterback…we knew we had that one side locked down, let’s worry about the other side and game planning from there. His technique was unparalleled.”

Also a defenseman on the lacrosse team, Luke has played much of his athletic career side by side with many of these same teammates since elementary school. He credits these strong relationships, along with the bond built with Salvati, as a catalyst for his success and growth as a player.

“We were the first team (Salvati) was with for all four years and I think the product that was on the field when we first got there as opposed to the final year shows the relationships that we made and how he was able to progress the program and who we were as players,” says Luke.

Luke brought that focus on growth and attention to detail with him to the classroom, where he held a 3.83 GPA. This fall he will attend Penn State to study Civil Engineering.

“I’ve always had an interest for building things,” says Luke. “It’s a really exciting school, sports are some of the top in the nation and the engineering program is highly ranked in the nation.”

Luke looks back on his years at Guilford with pride, especially when reminiscing on where they started and what his teammates were able to build during their careers. He’s proud of the program they leave to the next group of Grizzlies.

“The past two football seasons we definitely went through a lot, I think my senior class especially we were able to flip the program into something new and something to be proud of. I don’t think that is something people could say in years past. We were very proud of what we accomplished.”