The Grand River Conference has announced first-team, second-team, and honorable mention selections for the first season of the newly-expanded 16 team league in 2016. The GRC 11 co-champion Trenton Bulldogs placed six players on the first-team, including four on the defensive side of the ball.
For Trenton High School, named first-team GRC East (11) were senior running back Austin Burkeybile, junior offensive lineman Mason Owen, sophomore defensive end Jadan Whitney, junior defensive lineman Mason Owen, senior linebacker Connor Cotton, and junior defensive back Colton Colston. Cotton and Owen were unanimous selections to the first-team, sharing that status with Princeton junior quarterback Andrew Smith, running backs Gunnar Martin of Polo and Troy Powers of Maysville, Polo offensive lineman Zack Phillips, Maysville defensive lineman Clayton Gibson, and Putnam County linebacker Tanner Bondy.
The rest of the first-team all-GRC East is made up of wide receivers Cash Hartley of Princeton and Austin Podbevsek of Maysville, Princeton tight end Blaine Millburn, offensive linemen Clayton Gibson of Maysville, Derrick Sylvester of Milan, and Ryan Valentine of Putnam County. The 1st team “athlete” honor goes to Gallatin’s Cole McBee.
Joining Trenton’s Whitney and Owen, and Maysville’s Gibson, as a first-team all-conference defensive linemen are Michael McLey of Gallatin and Ryan Valentine of Putnam County, with Valentine named first-team on both sides of the line.
Wyatt Bird of Gallatin and Nick Evans of Maysville fill out the linebacker selections, with Chad Walker of Gallatin, Austin Podbevsek of Maysville, and Kaleb Popplewell of Maysville joining Trenton’s Colston as first-team all-secondary picks.
The first-team punter is Maysville’s Kaleb Popplewell. Gallatin’s Adrian Hernandez is the first team all-GRC punter, while Hayden Catlett of Maysville is the first-team kick returner.
Lathan Croy’s fine season, on both sides of the football, has earned the Trenton High School junior second-team all-conference status at both quarterback and linebacker. Second-team running backs are Milan’s Jaidyn Watts, Gallatin’s Wyatt Bird, and Putnam County’s Carson Quint. Second-team offensive linemen are Trenton’s Jadan Whitney, Princeton’s Drew Dailey, Gallatin’s Graydee Rains, Maysville’s Brody Plowman, and Putnam County’s Gus Valentine. Trenton’s Colton Colston is a second-team All-GRC wide receiver, joined by Putnam County’s Grant Sands. Connor Cotton of Trenton is the second-team tight end, while Polo’s Patrick Covey and Maysville’s Wes Neil earned the second-team “athlete” designation.
Two Trenton Bulldogs, in Austin Burkeybile and Isaiah Coon, are second-team defensive lineman, along with Gallatin’s Rains, Maysville’s Brody Plowman, and Milan’s Sylvester. Joining Croy with the linebacking group are Princeton’s Calvin Berwanger, Gallatin’s Cole McBee, Milan’s Jaidyn Watts, and Maysville’s Wes Neil. The second-team secondary has Trenton’s Jeffrey White, Princeton’s Logan Duncan, Polo’s Gunnar Martin, and Putnam County’s Grant Sands.
Colin Beck of Gallatin is the all-GRC second-team punter, Milan’s Eric Moreno the kicker, and Chad Walker of Gallatin the return specialist.
Named honorable mention offense are linemen Cole Schilling of Trenton, Jerrico Morris of Milan, Jacob Post of Maysville, Garrett Jones of Polo, and Gus Valentine of Putnam County. At tight end is Treyton Campbell of South Harrison. Honorable mention running backs are Drake Burton of Polo, Nick Evans of Maysville, and Tanner Bondy of Putnam County, with Putnam County’s Calvin Heidenwith at quarterback and Gallatin’s Caleb Boyd at wide receiver.
Honorable mention defenders are linemen Drew Dailey of Princeton, Michael Saucedo of Maysville, and Gus Valentine of Putnam County. Linebackers are Wyatt Segar and Drake Burton of Polo, with Ryan Dabney of Milan, Caleb Boyd of Gallatin, James Fleener of Polo, and Calvin Heidenwith of Putnam County as the defensive backs. The honorable mention pick at placekicker is Polo High School junior Patrick Covey.
The Trenton Bulldogs, in their first year in the Grand River Conference, shared the regular season title, at 6-1, with the Maysville Wolverines. Trenton beat Maysville head-to-head in Week #8, but lost the following week at Gallatin, 35-21, as a Wolverine victory over Milan on that Friday drawing Maysville High School back even with THS for the conference crown. Gallatin finished the regular season strong, and earned third place at 5-2, only to lose to Putnam County by two points in the first-round of district play.
Polo and Putnam County tied for fourth place, both at 4-3, while Princeton was 2-5, Milan 1-6, and South Harrison 0-7. In one of the surprises of district play, Princeton is the only GRC 11 squad still playing, having picked up two victories on the road in district play over the last two Friday nights (Polo and Maysville). The Tigers, on Friday night on KTTN FM 92.3 and KTTN-TV, will travel to Alumni Field in Hamilton to the unbeaten, KCI champion Penney Hornets. Kickoff for the Class 1, District 8 title game is slated for 7 o’clock, with pregame at 6:30. Tom Johnson and Dennis Stephenson will have the call of the action.
