And now, the A.D. Achievement Awards
about 13 hours ago
By AARON DORKSEN
Daily Record Sports Editor
A few thoughts from the week in sports ...
High school football players have probably been told by countless older people that their senior season will go by faster than they can imagine.
Today, all but the playoff-bound seniors from Orrville, Norwayne and Smithville know that to be true.
After all the offseason workouts, preseason two-a-days and a couple scrimmages, the 10 weeks of the regular season blew by in the blink of an eye and was history after the games of Friday and Saturday night.
However, the experiences and bonds that were built through the ups and downs, wins and losses, goals realized and left unfulfilled, will be remembered by many forever.
In the coming days, one way people will put recaps on the 2011 season is to pick a variety of All-Star teams, including us with our all-Daily Record Football team and in taking part in voting for the Associated Press All-Northeast Inland team.
All-Star teams can't take into account all of the unique or special highlights that go into each year.
In order to help put a wrap on the regular season, and to recognize some of those teams and individuals who might not be recognized on the upcoming All-Star teams, here are my 2011 A.D. Achievement Awards.
Sorry, no fancy trophy or even certificate is given for winning one of these awards, but a sincere congrats on a job well done will have to do.
SUPER SENIOR AWARD -- This award I'm splitting at this point between Orrville RB-LB Mason Monheim and Norwayne QB-LB-P Adam Wallace, although something tells me down the road they'll be up for a vote for some much bigger awards.
Although both seniors have outstanding supporting casts, I didn't see two better players do more for their teams on both sides of the ball than these standouts. They also happen to be first-class individuals off the field as well.
JAMMIN' JUNIOR AWARD -- My top junior award goes to Wooster's powerful two-way lineman Grant Stokes, who had a whopping 96 tackles (9 sacks) as a D-lineman entering last night's Orrville game.
SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORE AWARD -- West Holmes LB-RB Layne Perrone proved to be a difference-maker on both sides of the ball.
FABULOUS FRESHMAN AWARD -- Triway's Parker Carmichael passed for just under 1,400 yards -- as a freshman! Older brother Derek (2010 DR POTY) may be feeling a little bit more nervous about some of his many passing records.
COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD -- There were several coaches who did outstanding jobs in the area, but there is only one "Godfather."
And that guru, 35th-year Smithville coach Keith Schrock, proved he's still got what it takes. Schrock and his veteran staff turned around a 2-8 team to go 8-2, win a WCAL tri-championship and earn the school's first playoff trip since 2006.
ANY GIVEN FRIDAY AWARD -- Ohio Cardinal Conference. I've usually been in the top two or three in The DR football picks race over the years, but never had more trouble prognosticating a league than the OCC in 2011. I wasn't alone in struggling with those predictions either.
It was as even a league teams one through eight as I've seen and that made for great fun to watch all year.
UPSET OF THE YEAR AWARD -- The Millersburg Miracle. Considering how the teams wound up, I'd easily call the West Holmes (5-5, 3-4) 35-31 win over OCC champ Ashland (6-4, 6-1) the biggest upset. Adding to the achievement was the way the Knights' rallied and the fact they'd never beaten the Arrows before.
West Holmes started 4-1 and ended 1-4, but the future is bright for the young Knights.
Smithville's 19-14 win over Norwayne was certainly an upset, but in hindsight those were two pretty evenly matched playoff teams duking it out.
BEAT YOU ONE-HANDED AWARD -- Monheim broke his dominant left hand and played with a cast in Week 6 at West Holmes, but carried the ball right-handed 27 times for 192 yards and two touchdowns without a single fumble.
The Riders needed every one of those yards as they rebounded from a loss at Mansfield Senior with a critical 28-21 victory over the Knights.
(K)NEED TO COMPETE AWARD --Do you ever wonder just how much it means to some athletes to play a high school sport?
Orrville senior Matthew Davis has played with pain all year after blowing out his knee in the preseason, lining up wherever the coaches think he can help out despite being at just about 70 percent. He put off a season-ending surgery to grind it out with his teammates.
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS AWARD -- Norwayne senior Austin Wilson and Rittman sophomore Michael "Big Mike" Halliwell.
Wilson has returned from a complicated surgery to remove a benign tumor growing behind his inner ear and brain last season to help the Bobcats along with his brother John. "Big Mike" is an inspiration to an entire community as he participates on the Rittman team despite having autism.
GAME OF THE YEAR AWARD -- The best game I saw in person was Norwayne's 33-22 come-from-behind win in the final minute over Hillsdale Friday. The Millersburg Miracle may have been even better to watch as the Knights rallied from down 31-7, but unfortunately I wasn't at that one.
CYBERSPACE AWARD -- To the many high school football enthusiasts who have taken their enjoyment of the game to the Internet to talk football on Websites such as ohiochatter.com, Twitter and Facebook.
SAMMY BAUGH AWARD -- Norwayne's Wallace and Wooster senior Devin Daugherty. They played all three phases of the game extremely well, like they used to do in the old days, from being multi-dimensional QBs, to good defenders and even punting the ball. Daugherty even handles the place-kicking, too. "Slingin' Sammy" would have approved.
RUNNING MEN AWARD -- This goes to 1,000-yard rushers Mark Hilty and Ian Steiner (Smithville), Devonta Anderson (Wooster) and Tyler Smith (Northwestern). Also throw in Monheim, who had 912 yards on the ground entering the Wooster game last night.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD -- Keith Schrock. Thirty-five years as Smithvillle's coach, 12 playoff teams, 15 league titles and the only WCAL team to play for a state championship (2002 Div. V runners-up).
Let us know when the official naming of Keith Schrock Stadium takes place, we'll be sure to be there.
This concludes the A.D. Achievement Awards and sorry to anyone who may have been overlooked.
Only so much time and space is permitted for any awards show, but know that it once again has been a pleasure to report on all the area grid teams -- and good luck to the teams still playing.
Aaron Dorksen's weekly look at area, state and national sports appears on Sundays in The Daily Record. Dorksen can be reached at 330-287-1621 or
[email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @adorksenTDR
about 13 hours ago
And now, the A.D. Achievement Awards
Nice!
It's all because of you, Ringz! Makin' that 9 rep pay off! :thumbup:
Aaron Dorksen has really made an effort to connect with fans and others on the internet this year with Twitter, his weekly high school football game preview videos, etc. It's cool he's recognizing the chatter that goes on out here!
Major league.
To be mentioned in the same sentence as Facebook and Twitter means this site is worth $40 billion.
dwccrew;951134 wrote:To be mentioned in the same sentence as Facebook and Twitter means this site is worth $40 billion.
That was nice...but I'm still not sure if Justin should be proud or the other 2 sites be embarrassed.
I missed where JJ got mentioned. Could someone point it out?
O-Trap;951326 wrote:I missed where JJ got mentioned. Could someone point it out?
