Friends, teammates support Sachem alum who died tragically in 1989
Fred Kemp passed away in a car accident 31 years ago, but his memory and legacy have never been stronger in the Sachem community.
His friends and teammates debuted a scholarship fundraiser last year and awarded the inaugural Fred Kemp Memorial Scholarship Award to football players at Sachem North and Sachem East this year.
Kemp’s teammates Dave Shanahan and Bob Kohn, who remain passionate and dedicated Sachem community members today, visited with this year’s winners over the summer. Brothers Josh and Sam Walker from Sachem North and Craig Ash from Sachem East were most exemplary of their fighting spirit and always leaving their heart and soul on the football field.
“It is a great honor to win this scholarship,” said Josh. “Freddie Kemp was a role model in the Sachem community and it is humbling to be given an award under his name.”
Added Sam, “He represented everything it means to be a student-athlete here at Sachem and I could not be more proud to be awarded this scholarship in his name.”
Ash is honored to be spoken about in the same tone as Kemp.
“The Fred Kemp Award shows how others recognize my ability to show Sachem football spirit and sportsmanship throughout the community,” he said, “and it means a lot to be recognized not only as an athlete, but as a good person as well.”
“Craig embraced all aspects of being a Sachem student-athlete and football player,” said Sachem East football coach and alum Phil Torregrossa. “In the classroom, Craig challenged himself with AP and honors classes and on the football field he excelled in all three phases of the game and played a major role in our teams success the past two years. It’s great to see a kid like Craig honored for all that he has overcome in order to succeed both on and off the field.”
Kemp grew up in a football family. His father Fred helped build the football program at Stony Brook University, his brother John, who also played at Sachem, was a college coach, and their sister Mary was a Sachem cheerleader. Their mom Charlotte was their biggest fan.
“Freddie grew up around the game so he had a real football sense,” said Sachem football coaching legend Fred Fusaro, who described him as fearless on the field.
Kemp was a starting defensive back on Sachem’s 1986 Rutgers Trophy and Suffolk County championship team.
Along with teammate and safety Paul Engelhardt, the two were a dynamic duo. They had a competition on who could hit the hardest and have the most tackles each game.
“Freddie and Paul were always in the thick of the action,” said Fusaro.
They both went on to play at C.W. Post as well.
Kohn recalls multiple big interceptions by Kemp that helped seal victories, as well as a monster hit he put on a West Islip running back on the first play of the 1986 championship game.
“That really set the tone for the beating we put on them avenging a defeat the year prior when we were juniors,” he said.
His personality was also dominant. He was outgoing, caring and a super motivator when it counted most.
“Fred’s ability to motivate his teammates played a major role in the development of our team chemistry and was certainly one of the reasons Sachem football was awarded the 1986 Rutgers Trophy as the best team in Suffolk County,” said Shanahan.
A core group of teammates from that 1986 team like Shanahan, Kohn, Engelhardt, Gary Comstock, Ray Kohn, Billy Hoare and other key alumni like Mike Johnson, Mike Golini, Bob Golini, John Thornton play in an annual turkey bowl game every year the day after Thanksgiving. It has turned into a tradition that Kemp was a part of when it first started in 1986. Over time the game was renamed the Fred Kemp Memorial Turkey Bowl and last year they decided to take it a step further with a scholarship fundraiser.
The fundraiser took place at Grille in the Ville immediately following the game in order to raise money for the inaugural scholarship winners. More than 100 people attended the inaugural event.
His legacy lives on.
Heroes Get Remembered, but Legends Never Die
Sachem has long honored the lives and legacies from many fallen players and team supporters. Kemp is the latest to have his name tied to an award and scholarship. Earlier this year another scholarship was also developed in honor of former player Stephen Sparacia.
The hustle award is named after Patrick Harkins and the Black Helmet is awarded in honor of Anthony Fusaro, the late brother of Fred Fusaro.
“The Freddie Kemp scholarship is a great addition to the Sachem North memorial scholarship lineup,” said Sachem North coach and alum David Caputo. “I have a personal relationship with many of the guys from the ‘86 team and they are special people of great character. For these guys to want to memorialize one of their own speaks volumes about the person that Fred must have been. I have always heard that he embodied the term that we still love to throw around; a true Sachem kid.”
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro