This season’s 35-member all-county football team includes a record-setting quarterback, the area’s offensive and defensive players of the year and an athlete who scored 14 touchdowns in a variety of ways.
OFFENSE
QB — Blake Greene, Jr., Red Springs: The Three Rivers Conference’s and The Robesonian’s Player of the Year followed up his terrific sophomore campaign with an even more spectacular junior season, accumulating 4,848 yards from scrimmage. Greene’s 63 total touchdowns (51 pass, 12 rush) is the most in Robeson County history. He’s a front-runner for the state’s 1A Player of the Year award.
QB — Kane Banner, Sr., St. Pauls: In any other season, Banner’s 33-touchdown senior season would’ve been good enough for player of the year but Greene dwarfed his Three Rivers rival’s number by comparison. Banner was one of the area’s most accurate passers and led all QBs with 965 yards rushing.
RB — Shawn Williams, Sr., St. Pauls: First-team all-conference and second consecutive all-county honoree, Williams finishes his three-year varsity career with 3,566 yards rushing and 38 touchdowns, tops in the area during that span. His goal of 2,000 yards as a senior was reached in St. Pauls’ playoff finale.
RB — Daniel Robinson, Sr., Lumberton: Mike Brill’s workhorse in a talent-driven Southeastern Conference, Robinson is the area’s toughest back who finished off an impressive career with nearly 1,400 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns.
RB — Jedarian Lesane, Jr., Red Springs: A first-year starter in the Red Devil backfield, overcame early-season fumbling problems to rush for 1,316 yards and 14 touchdowns to help alleviate some of the pressure off his quarterback in a wide-open attack.
WR — Zach Leach, Sr., Red Springs: An all-state candidate and runner-up to Williams for The Robesonian’s Offensive Player of the Year, Leach caught 81 passes for 1,388 yards and a mesmerizing 21 touchdowns as Blake Greene’s chief weapon.
WR — JuJu Brown, Sr., Red Springs: Despite playing in just six games after tearing his ACL, Brown finished with the area’s third-most catches (34), second in yardage (665) and fourth in receiving touchdowns (8).
WR — Malik Livingston, Jr., St. Pauls: A top playmaker on a talented offense, found the end zone six times and was a threat every timed he touched the football. Livingston will move to quarterback next season following Banner’s departure.
WR — Deion Gilchrist, Sr., St. Pauls: Gilchrist took a year off from football and still put up crazy numbers as one of three St. Pauls receivers with at least 20 catches. He finished with a team-leading nine touchdown receptions.
TE/WR — Zach Jones, Sr., Red Springs: A security blanket across the middle or in the red zone, Jones finished second in the county with 45 receptions. Eight went for touchdowns.
ATH — C.J. McGeachey, Jr., Red Springs: A two-way starter on the outside and in the secondary, McGeachey scored 14 times this season — 11 receiving, a kickoff return and two off blocked punts.
OL — Joe Locklear, Sr., Purnell Swett: A three-year all-county and all-conference performer, Locklear was the glue of Purnell Swett’s line during a tough season for the offense.
OL — Harrison Branch, Sr., South Robeson: Branch welcomes his second straight all-county nomination as South Robeson’s most-polished blocker.
OL — Ramell Davis, Sr., Lumberton: As the unit’s best blocker in the Wing-T set, Davis dwarfed most defensive linemen and peaked as one of Lumberton’s best players in his final season.
OL — Simeon Jones, Sr., Red Springs: A first-team all-conference selection, Jones protected his quarterback and rarely moved early in the Red Devils’ uptempo attack. He graded out as Red Springs’ best blocker.
OL — Joseph Harris, Sr., Fairmont: First-Team Three Rivers and Mr. Consistent along the Golden Tornadoes’ line, Harris was the lead blocker in Fairmont’s running game and graded out well among other county offensive linemen.
OL — Shayron Jones, Jr., St. Pauls: Jones paved the way for an all-county quarterback and running back on one of the southeastern portion of the state’s most exciting offenses. Good news for the Bulldogs? Jones still has a season left to play.
K — Jace Ward, Soph., Lumberton: Replacing two-year all-county kicker Connor Haskins is a tough task, but Ward proved he was up to the challenge with a strong, accurate leg.
DEFENSE
DL — Luke Hunt, Sr., Fairmont: A two-year all-county defensive end, Hunt peaked in his final season and led the Golden Tornadoes in sacks and tackles-for-loss. An opposing coach in the Three Rivers called Hunt the league’s best pass rusher.
DL — Mike Graham, Sr., Red Springs: The team leader in sacks and tackles-for-loss, Graham’s a tank in the middle of Red Springs’ defensive line that caused a number of backwards plays in the backfield.
DL — Jermaine Williams, Soph., Lumberton: It’s difficult to miss this beast of a sophomore at defensive end, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound freak who will certainly be one of the county’s top college prospects in two seasons.
DL — Drequan Boddie, Sr., Lumberton: Coaches rave about Boddie’s constant motor and applaud his efforts in the interior despite being less-than-ideal size for a defensive lineman. He was one of Lumberton’s leading run-stoppers.
DL — Datorrius Robinson, Sr., St. Pauls: After stumbling out the gate against Gray’s Creek, Robinson transformed into the consistent tackle noticeable on film by opposing coaching staffs. Robinson was all over the field for the Bulldogs and was one of the team leaders in tackles.
MLB — Mac McGill, Sr., Lumberton: A two-time all-county player and this season’s Robesonian defensive player of the year, McGill played with a broken finger the latter half of the season and still managed to lead his team in tackles, sacks and pass break-ups.
SLB — Isaac Jacobs, Sr., Purnell Swett: Jacobs did a little bit of everything for the Rams this season as the squad’s ‘breakout’ player according to coach Mark Heil, scoring two touchdowns on defense and another on special teams.
WLB — Ahmad Smith, Sr., Lumberton: One of the county’s toughest athletes, Smith was a textbook tackler and performed well in coverage alongside McGill. He forced several fumbles and saved his best performances for big games.
OLB — Sean Lindsay, Sr., South Robeson: Lindsay’s memorable pick-six at West Bladen helped snap a lengthy losing streak for the Mustangs as he finished as the team’s most productive linebacker.
OLB — Byron Locklear, Sr., Red Springs: When the Red Devils’ opportunistic defense needed a turnover, Locklear was the likely culprit producing an array of bone-jarring hits, fumble recoveries and tackles behind the line.
OLB — Markeiss Blue, Jr., Red Springs: Blue anchored a unit that was stiff against the pass and made his presence felt in coverage as well as blitzing situations.
DB — Jhamel Leonard, Sr., St. Pauls: Leonard was a big play waiting to happen despite playing out of position at safety this season. At cornerback previously, Leonard intercepted seven passes and returned two for touchdowns at the back end of the secondary. He’s made the all-county squad each of the last three seasons.
DB — Chris Dorch, Sr., Purnell Swett: Swett’s season statistics on defense may not have been favorable, but Dorch was solid in an often-tested secondary during his final campaign. He picked off six passes and broke up several others.
DB — Jeremy Cousar, Sr., South Robeson: He’s not very big at 5-foot-7, but Cousar packs quite a punch as South Robeson’s best hitter. A two-way starter, teams seldom threw to Cousar’s side of the field and he was one of the Mustangs’ top tacklers.
DB — Zach Caudle, Jr., Fairmont: The Lumberton transfer made the most of his opportunity in Fairmont’s secondary with six interceptions. He also returned a punt for a touchdown and was the team’s emergency punter.
DB — Chais Tolbert, Jr., Fairmont: Tolbert replaced Andrew Hill in the athlete position on both sides of the ball and flourished in Fairmont’s spread attack. Defensively, he was one of the conference’s best players in coverage.
P — Mitchell Hill, Sr., Purnell Swett: Hill may have been Swett’s best all-around player this season, splitting time on defense and special teams. He led the county in total punts and averaged nearly 35 yards per boot.
Post a Comment
