WSN Senior FB Awards - Toon and Hirsch Finalists
posted by Nicholas Kartos at 11/5/2009
Finalists will be revealed today and tomorrow for our first annual WSN Senior Football Awards.
Al Toon Award – Outstanding Senior Wide Receiver Ryan Danczak, Marshfield – The fourth ranked senior receiver in the class according to WSN recruiting expert Marlin Lee, Danczak surprisingly didn’t even make the semi-finalists list. But since that list was released the 6-2, 175 receiver has scored six receiving touchdowns and two return touchdowns and currently sits at 34 catches for 524 yards and 10 touchdowns receiving for the season.
Marquis Mason, Madison East – One of the tougher parts of narrowing this list down was choosing between Mason and his teammate Tyler Kubicek, who led the state in receiving yards. While we would have loved to have both on the final five it’s hard to put up two guys from a 2-7 team. We went with Mason because we felt like the attention teams gave him helped open up the rest of the offense for East. Despite the extra coverage the UW recruit still managed to catch 56 balls for 866 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Ian McKechnie, New Berlin Eisenhower – Finished the season with 42 catches for 727 yards and 13 touchdowns for a 9-2 Lion team. McKechnie was a triple threat all season also scoring two touchdowns on the ground and three touchdowns in the return game.
Lechein Neblett, Madison Memorial – One of the most exciting players in the state this season Neblett caught 58 balls for 1166 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also had three return touchdowns as well and all told had nine touchdowns of 40 yards or greater for the Quad Big 8 Champs. A danger to score any time he touched the ball, most Big 8 coaches ultimately would pooch kickoffs or kick away from Neblett any way they could.
Tevin Pittman, Osceola – Pittman was a steady force for the 8-3 Chieftans this season. In 11 games he totaled 36 catches for 937 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging over 26 yards per catch. Standing an opposing 6-4, 193 he used his size and skill to get after balls from QB Tyler Pauley.
Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch Award – Outstanding senior Running Back Adam Esselman, Colby – Esselman carried the load for the defending state champs through an undefeated regular season. All told he had 223 carries, 1670 yards and 23 touchdowns. While the Hornets did have a lot of blowout wins on the season Esselman showed his mettle when he put up 180 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 carries in 24-22 win against Eau Claire Regis, the second place team in the Cloverbelt this season.
Steve Lichtfus, Appleton North – The word workhorse appropriately describes Appleton North’s premier tailback. Lichtfus has carried the ball 306 times so far this season through 11 games and has 2,143 yards and 23 touchdowns to show for it. Going to him for close to 75% of their offensive plays has helped the Lightning along to a undefeated record and an FVA championship this season.
Eric Oertel, Racine Lutheran – Oertel leads the state in rushing yards with 2431, is second in yards per game with 221 and second in rushing touchdowns with 26. The Washington State recruit has led the Crusaders to a 9-2 record on the regular season and a deep run into the playoffs thus far, coming off a 21-20 win over previously unbeaten Shiocton. In that game he ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
Michael Pirtle, Milwaukee Bradley Tech - Pirtle has run for 2147 yards and 23 touchdowns with a staggering 9.6 yards per carry. He has four touchdown runs greater than 60 yards this season and put up 221 yards rushing and one touchdown in the Trojan's playoff loss to South Milwaukee.
Leighton Settle, Madison West – There may not have been another guy in the state as important to his team as Settle was to West this season. The 6-1, 183 pound tailback could get you with speed, run you over or use his wiggle to get by you. All told he finishes his prep career with 20 touchdowns over 50 yards. On the season his four best rushing performances were during road games, two coming against Middleton and Sun Prairie, two of the four Big 8 champs. During his senior campaign he rushed for 1714 yards on 214 carries and had 23 touchdowns. He scored 2 touchdowns and ran for 161 yards in his final game as the Regents almost pulled off the upset of the tournament losing to top seeded and undefeated Waukesha West 21-19.
Comments 1
On
11/6/2009 10:28:00 AM
TLOF47 wrote:
2 bad esselmen couldnt get the yards or tds when it counted in the playoffs..
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