St. Clair, Newcomb, Clay, McGill, Wilcoxon on first teams
The final honors for the 2024 football season are rolling out.
Bellefontaine senior quarterback Tavien St. Clair, who has committed to playing at the next level for Ohio State, was named the co-Offensive Player of the Year for the all-Ohio football team in Division III on Wednesday.
He shared the honor with fellow signal-caller D.C. Ferrell of Ursuline.
Also honored for the Chieftains was wide receiver Braylon Newcomb on the first team offense. Brody Boy (offensive line) and Jayden Temple (linebacker) got honorable mentions.
In his final campaign for Bellefontaine, St. Clair had 2,536 passing yards (166 of 244) with 29 touchdowns. He also had 254 rushing yards on 34 carries and nine scores.
Newcomb was the team’s leading receiver with 1,195 yards on 77 receptions with 17 touchdowns.
Boy served as the team’s center. Temple led the defense with 122 tackles and four sacks.
Bellefontaine finished 8-3 on the season.
This group has been fantastic leaders in our football program,” said BHS coach Jason Brown. “in the classroom, (and) on the field. They’ve been a part of raising the standard here and have been excellent examples for all the players in our program.”
He added that “Brody’s unselfishness helped to settle our offense and bring the consistency the last two seasons. Braylon was an electric player on offense and defense. He had a knack for making big plays and was impactful in all three phases of the game. Jayden has been leading tackler in our conference for the last couple seasons. He has a true nose for the football on defense.”
As for St. Clair, “I’m glad for Tavien,” said Brown. “He’s just a kid that consistently worked when nobody else was watching and put in extra time to improve his craft. He’s been an amazing teammate the entire time.”
The Division III defensive players of the year were defensive backs Victor Singleton of Toledo Central Catholic and Brody Saccoccia from Steubenville. The coach of the year award went to Casey Mock of Linden-McKinley.
On Friday night, St. Clair will also be honored as a Navy All-American. He will receive a jersey during halftime of the boys basketball game against Urbana on Friday.
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In Division V, historic seasons by Indian Lake and West Liberty-Salem earned multiple selections for players.
The Tigers were 13-2, getting to the state semifinal before bowing to eventual champion Ironton. “I am very proud of these guys and happy for their recognition,” said WL-S coach Dan McGill. “All of them would be the first to tell you that their recognition is a reflection of the hard work that they and their teammates put in. We know that there is no individual success apart from the team’s success.”
Wide receiver Quest Clay of Indian Lake and offensive lineman Luke McGill of West Liberty-Salem were named to the first team on offense.
Clay led the Lakers with 76 catches for 963 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“Luke was a 3-year starter on the offensive line and had an outstanding senior season.,” said Coach McGill. “He is responsible for making our line calls and did a great job of making sure we were blocking things correctly. He played with a very high motor and was a leader up front for us.”
The Tigers’ Josh Wilcoxon was a first-team defense selection at linebacker. Wilcoxon led WL-S with 104 tackles (12 for losses) and 4 1/2 sacks. “He was the leader of our defensive front,” said McGill, “and did a great job of getting us into the right calls. Josh runs to the ball really well and is an excellent tackler. He is one of the best linebackers to have gone through WL-S.”
Making the second team defense were Cam Bair of West Liberty-Salem (lineman) and Noah Shirk of Indian Lake (linebacker) as well as Brodey Reisinger of the Lakers and Jacob Evans of WL-S, both at defensive back.
Shirk had 177 tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles and two interceptions. Reisinger made 70 tackles.
For the Tigers, Bair had 53 tackles, and one interception. Evans had 59 tackles and four interceptions. Each had one forced fumble. McGill said that Bair “is a big and physical defensive tackle. He was very disruptive and one of the big reasons why our defense performed at such a high level this season.” As for Evans, “(he) really bought into being a leader in the back end of the defense. He made a ton of the calls and checked us into the right coverage,” McGill said.
Earning honorable mention were quarterbacks Madden Lillard of Indian Lake and Nick Shifflet for the Tigers.
Lillard threw for 1,950 yards (150 of 272). He had 22 touchdowns on the year. On the ground, he rushed 118 times for 274 yards, scoring once.
For WL-S, Shifflet completed 160 of 259 throws for 2,121 yards with 21 touchdowns. He also had 1,025 yards rushing on 174 carries, and scored 11 times. “I am not sure that I could have imagined a better senior year for Nick,” said McGill. “He was a first-year starter who grew up quick and played like a seasoned veteran as the season wore on. He took care of the football and made big plays when we needed it in crucial games.”
Regarding the Lakers’ honors, “the first thing that comes to mind is I love that when the team has more success, it seems to mean more guys have individual success,” said Indian Lake coach Jonn Rapp. “With this group of four it’s neat to see them achieve this in a variety of ways ranging from pure raw talent to effort and work ethic to the mental side of the game. I’m super proud of these four and this team.”
Indian Lake went 11-3 on the year, losing in the regional final to West Liberty-Salem.
The Division V players of the year were wide receiver Shaun Terry from Ironton on offense and lineman Alex Reese of Martins Ferry and linebacker Luke Starkey of South Range for the defense. Ironton’s Trevon Pendleton and Greeneview’s Ryan Haines shared coach of the year.
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For Division VII, Travis Brooks of Riverside was named to the second team offense at offensive line. Jorden Dunham made the third team defense at lineman. Braylon Dunn got honorable mention at linebacker. The Pirates had a record of 4-7.
Brogan Stephey, quarterback of Minster, was the offensive player of the year, and Marion Local linebacker Drew Lause got the defensive award. The coaches of the year were Trevor Cline of Hillsdale, Andy Schaefer of Columbus Grove and Derek O’Hara of Conotton Valley.