Find out who was the Register Star's offensive MVP in football, and rest of All Area Team
The IHSA football season is over, which means it's time to announce the Rockford Register Star's offensive and defensive MVPs, as well as the rest of the All Area Teams.
Today we will start on the offensive side of the ball, with the defense coming soon.
More: Rockford-area football Big Northern all-conference football team hints Byron even better on defense than offense
While there were plenty of stars in the Rockford area on offense this season, there were a few who stood out among the rest. None bigger than Durand/Pecatonica quarterback Cooper Hoffman, who has earned this year's Rockford Register Star's offensive MVP.
"That Cooper Hoffman is a great quarterback, and we knew we had to work hard just to get ready for him," Byron's standout linebacker Caden Considine said of Hoffman. "That kid was good."
Considine and the Tigers shut Hoffman and the Rivermen down — but they were basically the only ones to do it all season long. Hoffman and Du/Pec (9-3) made it to the program's first state quarterfinal, and that's where they ran into the eventual state champs from Byron. That's also where their season ended to the tune of a 63-15 beatdown on Nov. 11.
More: BNC, NUIC football Find out how many yards all of the Rockford-area football stars finished with in 2023
But Du/Pec only lost to state-champ Byron, state-runners-up Lena-Winslow and state quarterfinalists Belleville Althoff Catholic, and Hoffman led the NUIC in four passing categories (167 of 267 for 2,016 yards with 23 touchdowns), was tied for second with 15 rushing touchdowns and was fourth with 123 carries for 811 yards on the ground.
He was also very humble, giving his line the credit whenever he could.
"I couldn't do what I do if it wasn't for them," he said about the offensive line after two of his games this season —those exact words.
Here are the other 10 first-team All Area football players, and then the 11 honorable mention offensive guys:
Nico Bertolino, Belvidere North RB
Bertolino played both cornerback and running back for Belvidere North and also returned kicks. He was the premier big-play threat in the NIC-10 each of the past two years. He ran for 787 yards and 12 TDs on only 84 carries, averaging 9.4 yards per carry to help Belvidere North win 10 games for the first time in school history.
Drake Broege, Hononegah OL
Broege, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound tackle, is a two-time first-team all-NIC-10 offensive lineman. He was the only returning first-team offensive lineman in the conference. He started on the defensive line before moving to O-line as a junior. “He is one of the strongest guys on the team,” Hononegah coach Brian Zimmerman said.
Javius Catlin, East RB
Catlin led the NIC-10 in both rushing yards (1,330) and rushing touchdowns (17). Even more impressively, he finished as the NIC-10’s all-time leading rusher, finishing with 3,619 yards. He averaged 7.1 yards per carry for his career.
Jared Claunch, Byron OL
Claunch was one of the key cogs to a Byron offense that set the state record for scoring with 823 points, and the record for rushing touchdowns with 108. The 5-11, 240-pound junior left guard was up against bigger players than him much of the season, but he rarely lost a one-on-one battle and had four pancakes in the Tigers' 69-7 win for the Class 3A state championship last Friday.
Chris Doetch, North Boone WR
Doetch was tied for first in the Big Northern Conference with eight touchdown catches and was second in the league with 41 grabs for 500 yards, helping spark one of the area's most exciting spread offenses once again. Doetch led the league with 48 grabs for 607 yards with eight TDs last year.
Michael Haas, Stockton OL
Haas was an all-stater after starring on both sides of the line for Stockton. But their bread and butter was the ground game on offense, and Haas, a 5-11, 220-pound senior, was the key to making it all work. Stockton had four different running backs lead the team in rushing.
Isaiah Houi, Hononegah WR
Houi was one of the most versatile players in the NIC-10, excelling at receiver, cornerback and kick returner for Hononegah’s league champions. He won the conference triple crown as a receiver, leading the league in catches (42), yards (737) and receiving TDs (12). His yards and TDs were Hononegah’s best in 36 years.
Tanner Kempel, Lena-Winslow OL
Kempel, the senior right guard who has two younger brothers on the team as well, helped Le-Win road-grade itself right into the Class 1A state championship game. The Panthers averaged 387.5 yards rushing per game, and had just 134 yards passing on the season. It didn't go so well in the 1A championship game, when they rushed for a season-low 164 yards averaging 3.3 yards per carry. But it was still a very impressive season, and career, for Kempel.
Owen Mulder, Forreston RB
Mulder, who was also one of the team's defensive stars at linebacker, was second in the NUIC with 169 carries, and was third in the league in both rushing yards (830) and touchdowns (15). Mulder was one of the catalysts to Forreston's 8-3 run that didn't end until it lost to Lena-Winslow in the second round of the playoffs.
Danny Wenger, Belvidere North OL
Wenger, at 6-2, 200 pounds, was the smallest lineman on our preseason list of top blockers to watch, but was a key to Belvidere North winning a school-record 10 games with a run-dominated option offense. He is mobile and strong, dead lifting 500 pounds and squatting 450. “He’s a super consistent kid,” North coach Jeff Beck said.
All-area honorable mention
Malachi Bagg, Stillman Valley OL; Nolan Brass, Byron OL; Connor Dennis, Boylan QB; Santana English, Boylan WR; Grant Gensler, Rochelle RB; Brayden Knoll, Byron RB; Dedric Macon, Freeport WR; Easton Morehouse, Rockford Christian WR; Jahmani Muhammad, Harlem RB; Cole Warren, Hononegah QB; Logan Weems, Oregon RB
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Find out who earned offensive MVP honors, and All Area Team honors
