All County Football Honors

With the season wrapped up for all but one team in the county it is time for us to announce our all county honors for football.  As most of our readers know our local schools are split between playing the traditional eleven man game and the eight man version of the sport. In an effort to include as many athletes as possible our list will include eleven players on both sides of the ball.  Space does not allow us to show stats or comment on every player on our list.  However there are some positions that were very competitive making our choices very difficult that we will talk about.  In addition to stats and coaches nominations we also took into consideration strength of schedule and our own personal perspective.

The first position we will discuss is probably the most talked about position on any football team: the quarterback.  Two players are in contention for this year's top quarterback in the county.  Craig Yost from North Gem and Gavin Draper from Grace both led their teams to successful seasons as they filled up the stat sheets.  Each player was crucial to their teams success and showed great leadership on and off the field.  For all of their similarities the two quarterbacks were complete opposites in their style of play.  Yost led the Cowboys power run offense taking his snaps under center and distributing the ball to his backs or keeping the ball himself.  Along the way he broke the school's rushing record.  Draper on the other hand had most of his success in the Grizzlies air attack.  Draper was able to spread the ball around to his very deep receiving core and finished the season with one of the highest passer ratings in the state.  With two very worthy candidates the decision ultimately came down to which player best represents the traditional position of quarterback.  While Yost's rushing stats were more than impressive when comparing his passing game to Draper's running game Draper comes out on top.  When called upon to use his legs Draper was able to gain crucial yards and score.

Another highly competitive area was the linebacking core of all three teams.  Several of this year's linebackers showed toughness and grit as all three schools proved to be tough against the run.  The Cowboys duo of Craig Yost and Haydn Frandsen led the team on the defensive side of the ball.  For the Grizzlies several players were key to their defensive success.  Chase Smith, Bryant Moss, Cooper Andersen and Parker Yost stifled their opponents run game while also being able to drop back into pass coverage.  The Cardinals featured probably the biggest linebacking core.  Cole Garbett, Elijah Dilworth and Zayden Garbett showed real toughness facing several of the state's top run offenses.  The trio used their size and strength to make several big plays this season.  Fortunately for us we are allowed to place multiple players for this position on our list.  That being said the choice was still difficult having so many quality players to choose from. 

It is regrettable that we do not have the space to discuss every position but we are thrilled to be able to honor so many great players and the success they had this season.  So without further adieu here are your 2025 all county football players.

 

 All County Player Of The Year: Bryant Moss (Grace).  Moss is a dual threat on offense both running the ball and receiving.  Moss led the Grizzlies in yards per game and touchdowns on the season with eleven.  On defense Moss tallied a team high sixty-four tackles.