Today the Star honors 233 high school football players from 32 schools around Southern Arizona, starting out with the player and coach of the year.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Dionte Flores, Flowing Wells
The senior running back led Southern Arizona with 2,062 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns as Flowing Wells posted a 9-2 record and qualified for the state playoffs for the first time since 2001. Flores also caught nine passes for 119 yards and finished second on the team with 10.6 tackles per game as a defensive back.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Troy Cropp, Pusch Ridge Christian
In his fourth season with the team, Cropp helped lead Pusch Ridge to its first state championship. The Lions – who had never been past the quarterfinals before thus year – won 13 straight and rallied in their last three postseason games to capture the Division IV state crown. Pusch Ridge posted a 37-9 record under Cropp.
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FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Rhett Rodriguez, Jr., Catalina Foothills
RB: Dionte Flores, Sr., Flowing Wells
RB: Freddy McCarty, Sr., Nogales
RB: DeAndre Williams, Sr., Tucson
WR: Isaiah Lovett, Jr., Mountain View
WR: Spencer Schuller, Sr., Bisbee
TE: Ben Walker, Sr., Pusch Ridge Christian
OL: Hunter Alderson, Sr, Ironwood Ridge
OL: Dylan Eickmeyer, Sr., Salpointe Catholic
OL: Rafael Encinas, Sr., Sunnyside
OL: Andrew Palomares, Sr., Salpointe Catholic
OL: David Watson, So., Amphitheater
ATH: Harrison Beemiller, Sr., Ironwood Ridge
K: Jacob Meeker-Hackett, Sr., Cienega
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Bryce Fontana, Jr., Cienega
DL: Justin Holt, Sr., Salpointe Catholic
DL: Jackson Jesionowski, Sr., Sabino
DL: Chase Laurita, Sr., Ironwood Ridge
LB: Coy Colgate, Sr., Nogales
LB: Ruben Figueroa, Sr., Sunnyside
LB: Jake Ksiazek, Sr., Salpointe Catholic
LB: James Raica, Sr., Pusch Ridge Christian
DB: Bryan Beckon, Jr., Catalina Foothills
DB: Tyson Coleman, Jr., Benson
DB: Tommy Lawrence, Sr., Mountain View
DB: Jared McKemy, Sr., Ironwood Ridge
Utility: Justin Pledger, Sr., Pueblo
P: Gabriel Hernandez, Sr., Sahuarita
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Nick O’Hagin, Sr., Sunnyside
RB: Bryce Coleman, Sr., Mountain View
RB: Louis Joseph, Sr., Walden Grove
RB: Christian Wilridge, Sr., Tombstone
WR: Caleb Reeves, Sr., Marana
WR: Garrett Woodlock, Jr., Canyon del Oro
TE: Daniel Peabody, Jr., Ironwood Ridge
OL: Kristian Becerra, Sr., Ironwood Ridge
OL: Nathan Cosmas, Jr., Sabino
OL: Perrin Maakestaad, Sr., Benson
OL: Mike Valencia, Sr., Nogales
OL: Collin Stine, Sr., Catalina Foothills
ATH: Bobby Vega-Rodriguez, Sr., Cholla
K: Bennett Nottingham, So., Sabino
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Jerome Doss, Sr., Cholla
DL: Storm Downing, Sr., Marana
DL: Taylor Finch, Sr., Benson
DL: Lane Fultz, Sr., Bisbee
LB: Andrew Filiberti, Sr., Sahuaro
LB: Jacob Ontiveros, Sr., Sahuarita
LB: Tristan Peterson, Sr., Canyon del Oro
LB: Will Walker, Sr., Cienega
DB: Tony Chavez, Sr., Bisbee
DB: Jake Gormally, Sr., Sabino
DB: Cole McLafferty, Sr., Ironwood Ridge
DB: Jimmy Stewart, Jr., Catalina Foothills
Utility: Alan Ortega, Sr., Nogales
P: Ryan Grimm, Sr., Sierra Vista Buena
THIRD TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Justice Summerset, Sr., Mountain View
RB: Alex Courtemanche, Sr., Desert View
RB: Elijah Fant, Sr., Marana
RB: Will Kubota-Martin, Jr., Empire
WR: Jiovonni Ortega, Sr., Sierra Vista Buena
WR: Tyler Stiltner, Sr., Flowing Wells
TE: Max Michalczik, Jr., Catalina Foothills
OL: Jasiah Booth, Sr., Pueblo
OL: Henry Borboa, Sr., Flowing Wells
OL: Jason Cline, Sr, Pusch Ridge Christian
OL: Matt Michael, Sr., Marana
OL: Antonio Moreno, Sr., Cienega
ATH: Drew Dixon, Jr., Sabino
K: Cameron Scharf, Jr., Salpointe Catholic
THIRD TEAM DEFENSE
DL: Steven Brezovski, Jr., Catalina Foothills
DL: Jared Sheeley, Jr., Canyon del Oro
DL: Kevin Sotelo, Jr., Flowing Wells
DL: Garrett Turnbull, Sr., Marana
LB: Jake Darrow, Sr., Mountain View
LB: Dakota Haynes, So., Pusch Ridge Christian
LB: Deacon Laurita, Jr., Ironwood Ridge
LB: Bryan Lopez, Jr., Tucson
DB: Victor Cazares, Sr., Rio Rico
DB: Frankie Gomez, Sr., Pueblo
DB: Brad Rudder, Sr., Palo Verde
DB: Jordan Wyatt, Sr., Sahuaro
Utility: Tamerat McLeod, So., Pusch Ridge Christian
P: Luis Aguilar, Sr., Nogales
HONORABLE MENTION
Amphitheater: Hector Silva, Ezra Thomas, Carlos Valarezo.
Benson: Keegan Graf, Clayton Gill, Nick Hernandez, Brandon Laird, Brayden Palmer.
Bisbee: Danny Barrow, Michael Montiel, Craig Trappe.
Canyon del Oro: Carter Kahn, Jonas Leader, Dan Lewis, Noah Soto, Morgan White.
Catalina: Jose Lugo, Andy Trinh.
Catalina Foothills: Preston Kime, Heath Kleindienst, Hunter Myrdal, Brandon Smith, Trevor Wells.
Cholla: Mike Brown, Shawn David Fontenette, Marcos Raymond, Antonio Roman, Devin Stubblefield, Armando Vasquez.
Cienega: Brandon Cross, Mason Craig, Tristan Jury.
Desert View: Damian Martinez-Cota, Vicente Martinez, Mauricio Olivares, Ian Strickland, Anthony Thomas, Mario Vallejo, Carlitos Ybarra.
Douglas: Chris Galaz, Bryan Goodman, Victor Peraza, Tony Villa.
Empire: Ethan Eagerton, DaVaughn Hall, Corey Higley, Cade Powell, Lorenzo Sanchez, Chris Schoolcraft, DeErick Smith, Brian Warren.
Flowing Wells: Julio Sandoval, Justin Shorbe, Dylan Valenzuela.
Ironwood Ridge: Mike Ayers, Tommy Baden, Cash Peterman, Brayden Smith.
Marana: Trenton Bourguet, Dominic Gehr, Connor Leavens, Joe Kidd, Jon Leon, B.J. McDaniel, Sammy Preder.
Mountain View: Kage Anderson, Stan Berryhill Jr., Donald Davis, DeShaun Flannigan-Fowles, Kai Golden, Tavian Robey.
Nogales: Jose Armentilla, Ricky Paredes, Jorge Watson.
Palo Verde: Stephen Downs, Jacob McIntosh, Gabe Montoya.
Pueblo: Michael Beltran, David Greenwood, Elliot Perez-Guillen, Jorge Romero.
Pusch Ridge Christian: Max Atkinson, Oliver Harris, Edwin Lovett.
Rincon/University: Dahrian Harris-Mesh, Eumajii Holmes, Anthony Lopez, Eric Petronella.
Rio Rico: Santino Ceballos, Chris Lipscomb, Eduardo Maldonado, Daniel Rodriguez.
Sabino: Brandon Benson, Elias Bingham, Charlie Harden, Daniel Miranda, James Offerman, J.J. Petty, Daniel Rodriguez.
Sahuarita: Nasir Blake, Da’Shae Henderson, Damion Hill, Tanner Liddicoat, Dago Segundo, Allyn Williams.
Sahuaro: Casey Carnaghi, Jacob Miller, Stephen Miller, Greg Snyder, Alec Valenzuela, Tyler Wood.
Salpointe Catholic: D.J. Hinton, Rodrigo Nieto, Joe Noonan, Oscar Quiroz, Dominic Salaz, Trevor Volpe.
Santa Rita: Samuel Fonseca, Matthew McAdams, Aaron Wilkerson.
Sierra Vista Buena: Tristan Aldous, Braxton Bennett, Shawn Boutte, Jacob Valdez, Cody Woodard.
Sunnyside: Jorge Dabdoub, Daniel Hernandez, Michael Jewitt, Angel Martinez, DeShay Ramos, Daniel Rojas, Aaron Sanders, Gabriel Soto.
Tanque Verde: Joey Gould, Cisco McDonald, Austin Torres, Jon Zaguara.
Tombstone: Daniel Gonzalez, Jeffrey Johnson.
Tucson: Daquavin Bennett, Jorge Flores, Jeff Lockwood, Jesus Ortega, Tyree Pierson, Efrain Segoviano.
Walden Grove: Phillip Grajeda III, Carlos Guerrero, Lance Killgore, Chris Suarez.
ABOUT THE PICKS: All-Southern Arizona selections were based on staff observations and collected statistics, in consultation with area coaches.
Compiled by: Daniel Gaona
Contact high school sports coordinator Daniel Gaona at 807-7761 or dgaona@tucson.com. On Twitter: @DanielGaona13
