By Joshua Huff
As the year winds down the time has come to reflect on this past year’s high school football season and bestow honors upon the players who have made an impact upon their teams regardless of records or outcomes.
As always, the schools that we considered were: Center Point, Clay-Chalkville, Hewitt-Trussville, Pinson Valley and Springville; however, despite The Trussville Tribune picking up coverage of Leeds and Moody at the end of the season, it seemed appropriate to include players who excelled despite them not being within this publication’s coverage area.
There was no scientific methodology behind these selections. They are based on the input of coaches, contributions to team, stats, of course, and how their presence made an impact on the game. Selecting high school end-of-year awards is an imperfect art, so for those that get upset that their player or son/daughter did not get included, just remember, the CFP selection committee let in Oklahoma. Mistakes happen.
With that, here are the players and coach of the year awards along with the 2019 All-Tribune Team selections. Enjoy.
Offensive Player of the Year: WR Keyonteze Johnson, Pinson Valley
The senior receiver hauled in a team-leading 80 receptions for 1,439 yards with 15 touchdowns during a 2019 season in which Pinson Valley was minutes away from advancing into its third consecutive championship game. Johnson was a three-year starter for the Indians and was named as a first team All-State Alabama honoree in 2019. He is set to join Troy next season.
Defensive Player of the Year: LB Antoine Williams, Pinson Valley
With so many obvious choices this season in regards to this honor, it seemed appropriate to hand this award to a player that helmed one of the best defenses in the state. Williams, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior, recorded 80 total tackles (54 solo, 26 assisted) with 13.5 tackles for a loss to go along with four sacks during a season in which the Pinson Valley defense pitched three shutouts, limited four opponents to seven points or less and held 10 opponents to less than 14 points per game. He was named as a first team All-State Alabama honoree this season.
Coach of the Year: George Bates, Center Point
The second-year Center Point head coach has the Eagles back into the conversation as a team to watch in Class 5A. Center Point fell just short of advancing into its first semifinal appearance in program history. In just two years, Bates has guided the Eagles to a 10-5 record in Class 5A, Region 5 play, which comes after a four-year span in which Center Point won just three total games. This season, the Eagles went 9-4 and were in contention for the region crown up until their final regular season game.
Offensive All-Tribune Teams
Quarterback
SECOND TEAM: Damione Ward, Clay-Chalkville
HONORABLE MENTION: Pearson Baldwin, Springville
Running Back
SECOND TEAM: Sean Jackson, Hewitt-Trussville
HONORABLE MENTION: Kenji Christian, Pinson Valley
HONORABLE MENTION: Kobye Payton, Springville
Wide Receiver
FIRST TEAM: Tristan Jones, Clay-Chalkville
SECOND TEAM: Dazalin Worsham, Hewitt-Trussville
SECOND TEAM: R.J. Orr, Center Point
HONORABLE MENTION: Drew Platts, Springville
HONORABLE MENTION: Omari Kelly, Hewitt-Trussville
Offensive Line
FIRST TEAM: DeCarius Hawthorne, Center Point
FIRST TEAM: Izziah Williams, Clay-Chalkville
SECOND TEAM: Zack Wilson, Springville
SECOND TEAM: Miller Malone, Hewitt-Trussville
SECOND TEAM: Quinterrius Tanksley, Center Point
Athlete
SECOND TEAM: Jayson Jones, Center Point
HONORABLE MENTION: Omar Conley, Leeds
Kicker
SECOND TEAM: Jordan Lynn, Hewitt-Trussville
Defensive All-Tribune Teams
Defensive Line
FIRST TEAM: Devin Owens, Clay-Chalkville
FIRST TEAM: DeCarius Hawthorne, Center Point
FIRST TEAM: Julian Peterson, Pinson Valley
SECOND TEAM: Quinterrius Tanksley, Center Point
SECOND TEAM: Judah Walton, Clay-Chalkville
SECOND TEAM: Eric Taylor, Hewitt-Trussville
SECOND TEAM: Braden Kyser, Springville
HONORABLE MENTION: Phillip Bentley, Hewitt-Trussville
HONORABLE MENTION: Austin Shoop, Springville
Linebacker
FIRST TEAM: Noah Steen, Center Point
FIRST TEAM: Leroy King, Clay-Chalkville
FIRST TEAM: Gerry Marshall, Center Point
SECOND TEAM: Dorian Henderson, Pinson Valley
HONORABLE MENTION: Jamarion White, Hewitt-Trussville
Defensive Back
FIRST TEAM: Deshazio Williams, Pinson Valley
FIRST TEAM: Jamari Dailey, Pinson Valley
SECOND TEAM: Cameron Grady, Clay-Chalkville
SECOND TEAM: Markel Dailey, Pinson Valley
SECOND TEAM: Trey Washington, Hewitt-Trussville
HONORABLE MENTION: Jackson Holland, Hewitt-Trussville
HONORABLE MENTION: Johnnie Wolf, Springville