Clyde's Hershey among first-team all-district football players in area
Oak Harbor junior Jake Ridener and senior Jaqui Hayward were recognized as player of the year by the Northwest District Board on defense and offense, respectively, in Division V.
Ridener surpassed his own single-season program record for sacks by one with 16. He was first-team all-state and lineman of the year in the Northwest District last season.
He was lineman of the year in the Northern Buckeye Conference. He had 84 tackles, 27 quarterback pressures and 11 tackles for loss in the first 10 games.
Hayward had 982 yards and 11 touchdowns on 78 receptions and 662 yards and 11 touchdowns on 66 carries in 13 games. He added two punt returns for scores for 24 touchdowns, including 14 covering 30 yards or more.
He was back of the year in the NBC and third-team all-state last season.
Genoa senior quarterback Aiden Brunkhorst and senior running back Aidan Antry were first-team. Brunkhorst established a single-season program record for passing yards at 1,806, with 21 touchdowns.
He completed 108 of 160 passes (68 percent) and added five rushing scores.
Antry had 1,379 yards and 13 touchdowns on 217 carries and 307 yards and five scores on 15 receptions. He had 447 yards on 17 kickoff returns and 2,133 yards of total offense.
Oak Harbor senior center Scott Smith and Genoa senior lineman Caleb Gittus were first-team on offense. Comets senior linebacker Denver Stewart was first-team on defense with 97 tackles and 13 tackles for loss.
Rockets junior defensive back Mike LaLonde was first-team with 55 tackles and four interceptions.
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Oak Harbor senior offensive lineman Garrett Lindsay, senior running back Dalton Witter and sophomore linebacker Travis Bouyer were second-team. Genoa senior defensive lineman Carson Graalman, junior defensive back Alex Spencer and senior offensive lineman John Shinaver were second-team.
Port Clinton senior linebacker Dagan Meyers was second-team.
Rockets senior Evan Hall, junior Garry Brooks, senior Kaleb Wood and sophomore Isaac Schulte were honorable mention. Genoa junior Dom Lindenberger was honorable mention.
Ridener shared defensive player of the year with Coldwater junior linebacker Cody Depweg. Hayward shared offensive player with Liberty-Benton senior Mason Modd.
Division II
Ross senior JD Moncrief was two yards shy of posting the first 1,000-yard season for a running back for coach Chad Long. He had 13 touchdowns on 156 carries.
Little Giants senior Elijah Simms had 60 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks and recovered two fumbles to earn first-team status at linebacker. Junior offensive lineman Kaden Mayle was first-team.
Junior offensive lineman Zavier Lopez, senior defensive lineman Dominic Brown, junior linebacker Zalen Harris, junior defensive back Jayce Frymire and senior defensive back Owen Shanahan were second-team.
Grant Mies, Blake Schoch and Rhien Hottinger were honorable mention for Ross.
Division III
Clyde senior defensive lineman Blake Hershey had 46 tackles and six sacks to earn first-team status.
Colbyn Daniel, Clark Norman and Kam Shortridge were honorable mention for the Fliers.
Division IV
Bellevue senior receiver Dylan Barger, senior offensive lineman Carson McKenzie and junior offensive lineman Trent Kubach were second-team. Senior lineman Haydn Sartor was second-team on defense and senior quarterback Ashton Martin was honorable mention.
Division VI
Margaretta sophomore receiver Julian Washington was first-team with 632 yards and eight touchdowns on 39 receptions. Polar Bears senior kicker Gage Bodey made four field goals and caught three touchdowns for first-team honor.
Margaretta senior linebacker Kaine Smetzer had 107 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and forced three fumbles to earn first-team.
Lakota junior Brandon Leal booted a 56-yard field goal for first-team status. He made seven field goals overall.
Woodmore senior linebacker Jack Caldwell was second-team.
Lakota senior offensive lineman Drew Matz was second-team. Senior defensive lineman Gabe Garlick and senior defensive back CJ Biddle were second-team.
Chase Dussel, Micah Williams, Isaac King and Max Nordhaus were honorable mention for the Raiders.
Dalton Rohrbaugh, Dylan Gibson, Logan Windau, Kellen Moore, Jordan Luzader and Judah Keller were honorable mention.
Division VII
Gibsonburg senior offensive lineman Sam Hansen was second-team.
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Rockets' Jaqui Hayward, Ross' JD Moncrief among OHSAA football elite
