Pictured are the top football players for 2011 from Ashville, Moody, Ragland, St. Clair County and Springville.
The top two players and top coach of St. Clair County were named recently. From left are Springville quarterback Brandon Gilliland, Offensive MVP; Ragland coach Brian Mintz, Coach of the Year; and Ragland defensive lineman, Defensive MVP.
Ragland had the defensive most valuable player in senior Cole Bearden and the Coach of the Year in Brian Mintz, who guided the Purple Devils to a 13-1 record and one win away from playing for the Class 1A state title.
Offensive MVP was Springville quarterback Brandon Gilliland.
“This means a lot,” Gilliland said. “I put in a lot of hard work (and) dedication and this means it has paid off at the end of the year.”
Bearden said this was a special award.
“It’s not every day that you get defensive player of the year,” Bearden said. “We had a good season and this tops it off.”
Mintz said being named Coach of the Year is nice and for him, a good way to go out.
“It’s like being at the top of the game,” Mintz said. “This is the best season I’ve ever had record-wise. We’ve made it to the semi-finals a couple of other times in my career, and this is just a nice way to end things.”
Mintz said Bearden is very deserving of being named the defensive MVP.
“He was a leader on our football team on and off the field,” Mintz said. “He made a lot of tackles and many times, those tackles were for losses. He led us emotionally.”
Springville head coach Keith Maple said he was excited for his quarterback being named offensive MVP.
“Brandon has grown immensely the past two years,” Maple said. “He threw for close to 4,000 yards and 26 touchdowns in the past two years. I was really proud of how he controlled and managed the offense. I’m glad we have a Springville boy being named MVP.”
Listed are the other players who were named to the St. Clair All-County Team.
Ashville
Tyler Noblin, Richie Boley, Thomas Crews, Tommy Bothwell and E.J. Moss.
Moody
Chase Birchfield, Curtis Nichols, Justin Ulmer, Heath McGuff and Michael Barron.
Ragland
John Mark Mintz, Nick Daniels, Scotty Smith, Austin Thornton, Sawyer Merritt, Devane Brewter and KiJana Brewster.
SCCHS
Patrick Green, Levi Green, Josh Hardin, Gene Carter and Thomas Johnson.
Springville
Shawn Gipson, Jake Gibson, DQ Coleman, Wes Logan and Frankie Bender.
Honorable mention
Players making honorable mention included Collin Cornutt, Alex Hale, Austin Whisenhunt, Damien Bothwell, Jordan Looney and Dustin Allen from Ashville; David Motherway, Josh Morgan, Connor Butz, Devanta Vandergrift and Tyson Floys from Moody; Matt Hicks, Nick Smith and Shelton Carter from Ragland; Mack Dragich, Josh Hardrick, Billy Kirby, Juan Montgomery, Matt Hicks and Jonah Lee from SCCHS; and Zack Mayo, Josh Miller, Jake Keiser and Will Davis from Springville.
Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.
