Prep football: Ottumwa players earn postseason honors
Dec. 7—OTTUMWA — Several members of the Ottumwa High School football team earned Iowa Alliance all-conference honors while three Bulldog players were named to the Iowa Football Coaches Association's academic all-state team.
Tanner Schark, Mikey Cain and Luke Graeve were honored by the IFCA making the academic all-state honor roll in Class 5A. To qualify, a player must be a senior starter with a cumulative GPA of 3.7 or better at the end of their junior season while being involved in other extra-curricular activities. Players must be recommended for the team by their head coach.
Six Bulldog players were named to the Iowa Alliance first team, including running back Abaya Selema who finished second in Class 5A averaging 10.1 yards per carry this past season. Selema led Ottumwa rushing for 819 total yards on 81 carries and six touchdown runs.
Joining Selema as first-team all-conference selections from OHS included offensive linemen John Hardin and Brayden Larkin, who helped open the door for the Bulldogs to finish third overall in Class 5A averaging 7.3 yards a carry throughout the course of a 4-5 season. Senior linebacker Cooper Derby earned first-team all-conference honors after leading Ottumwa with 91.5 total tackles, fifth overall in Class 5A, while Graeve earned first-team all-conference honors at defensive back. Cameron Manary also earned first-team all-conference honors for his play at linebacker for Ottumwa after leading the Bulldogs with 4.5 tackles for loss among his 63 total tackles this season.
Schark, Ottumwa's senior quarterback, joined senior offensive lineman Conrad Brinegar and senior kicker Juan Valdes-Garcia as three of the six Ottumwa players to earn second-team all-conference selections. Junior linebacker Braylon Griffiths joined sophomore teammates Koby Chanthalavanh (defensive back) and Dylan Forney (defensive lineman) rounded out the second-team all-conference honors for the Bulldogs.
Four Ottumwa seniors were honorable mention all-conference selections including Cain (linebacker), Brenton Jensen (defensive lineman), Kevin Moreno-Loano (offensive lineman) and Gael Batres (offensive lineman). Bulldog junior teammates Matt Sena (defensive lineman) and Javen Rominger (wide receiver) also earned honorable mention selections.
