Wildcats earn 17 spots on all-league team

Louisburg senior Anders Vance puts a big hit on an Ottawa player earlier this season. Vance earned first team all-Frontier League honors on both sides of the ball for his work on the offensive and defensive line.

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Before the All-Frontier League Football teams were released, it was expected that Louisburg was going to have its fair share of representation.

The Wildcats finished second in the league and rebounded from a three-win season a year ago to tally a 7-3 record this past season. As it turned out, Louisburg tallied the second most selections in the league to match its finish.

Louisburg was awarded 17 all-league spots, which included five spots on the first team. The Wildcats had four second team selections and eight honorable mentions.

“The great thing about our team is they really didn’t care about personal honors too much, they wanted the team to succeed,” Louisburg coach Kyle Littrell said. “They knew those honors would come if they did well as a team and they did.”

Senior Anders Vance was well thought of by the league coaches as he garnered first team honors on both the offensive and defensive line.

Senior quarterback Austin Terry was named first-team quarterback on offense, while junior Dustyn Rizzo was awarded with a first-team defensive line selection and senior Mitchell McLellan was first-team defensive back.

Vance, who played center, anchored the Wildcat offensive line that moved up and down the field. On defense, Vance recorded 35 tackles from the defensive tackle spot, with six for a loss, a sack, a fumble recovery, forced fumble and two batted balls.

“I love Anders to death for the simple fact is that he is 100 percent coachable and he has goals set for himself, and no matter what he is not going to let anyone or anything stand in the way of his goals,” Littrell said. “In order for Anders to be a top level talent in the state of Kansas he constantly evaluated his play all season.

“At times in practice I would run a play to try and trap Anders, and when it didn’t work he would just look and me and give me this look like ‘C’mon coach you got me with that stuff as a sophomore and junior, but you can’t get me anymore.’  I have college coaches come to my office all the time and I tell them that there would not be another kid that you enjoy coaching more than Anders.”

Terry guided the Wildcats to their seven wins and put together some big stats in the process. The Louisburg quarterback completed 80 of 155 passes for 1,358 yards to go along with 13 touchdowns.

“Austin knew early he wasn’t going to be as big or as strong as some of the quarterbacks we have had in the past, however he has that chip on his shoulder that he is going to prove you wrong,” Littrell said. “Austin wanted to go through the season and not throw an interception, and he didn’t until week five. He ended up the season throwing just five interceptions out of 115 attempts. Never once in his three years of playing quarterback for us did I ever wonder if he was ready to play.  His quiet demeanor and competitiveness were qualities that probably helped calm us down in certain situations throughout the year.”

On the defensive side, Rizzo made life difficult on a lot of opposing offensive lines. Rizzo led the Wildcat defensive line with 49 tackles, 18 of which were solo and added eight for a loss. He also added five sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

“Dustyn has a motor that doesn’t stop,” Littrell said. “One of the many qualities that I love about Dustyn is there is only one speed on the football field and that is full speed.  Dustyn has the opportunity to be an all-state football player next year.  His work ethic and commitment to the weight room is undeniable. When he speaks, which is far and few between, everybody listens.

“The coaches at the all-league meeting were impressed with him as multiple coaches made the comment, ‘We had to game plan for that kid,’ which means they were running away from his side.  That is probably about as big as a compliment as you can give a football player.  I remember watching him play little league football down in Drexel and thinking to myself this kid is going be a darn good football player. Luckily it’s here at Louisburg.”

As for McLellan, he led the defensive backfield in tackles from his cornerback spot as he finished with 54, including 35 solo stops. He also had two tackles for a loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one interception.

“I always knew Mitchell had the ability to play defense for us, little did I know that he was going to basically shut down most all of the receivers he faced,” Littrell said. “He led our defensive backs in tackles this year and was the fifth leading tackler on the team. His competitiveness and desire to win helped fuel our team at times.

“I am just so proud of the kid Mitchell is today. There were times when he could have given up or made excuses, but that is not the Mitchell I know.  At the end of the day I think Mitchell learned that he didn’t need to prove anything to anybody else, he just needed to prove it to himself and I think he did that with his play on both sides of the ball this year.”

On the second team, Rizzo was named offensive line, while junior Thomas San Agustin was awarded with a second-team running back honor. San Agustin led the team in rushing with 991 yards on 191 carries, which averaged to more than five yards per carry, and finished with 15 touchdowns.

On defense, Terry was named to the all-league defense second team as he finished with 39 tackles from the safety spot. He also finished with 39 tackles, 18 of which were solo stops, two interceptions, two batted balls, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Senior Alex Dunn also garnered second team honors at the linebacker position. Dunn finished with 39 tackles, 12 solo stops, two fumble recoveries and two batted balls.

Junior linemen T.J. Dover and Mason Koechner each earned honorable mention honors on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Dover ended his season with 42 tackles, 17 solo, five tackles for a loss, four sacks, four fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and one batted ball. As for Koechner, he finished with 41 tackles, 14 solo, four tackles for a loss and one forced fumble.

Senior Cole Kramer also had honorable mention honors on both sides of the ball. At receiver, Kramer had 22 catches for 471 yards and four touchdowns. At defensive back, he had 28 tackles, 17 solo, three tackles for loss, one interception and fumble recovery.

McLellan was also named as an honorable mention receiver as he caught 29 passes for 537 yards and five touchdowns. Dunn was also selected as an honorable mention kicker as he was 1 for 2 on field goal attempts and 34 for 42 on point after attempts.

Paola led the way with 21 all-league spots, followed by Louisburg’s 17 and De Soto with 15.

 

ALL-FRONTIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL

OFFENSE

FIRST TEAM

BACKS/RECEIVERS: Austin Terry, Louisburg, senior; Grant Elston, Eudora, senior; Nathan Staats, Paola, senior; Joel Katzer, Baldwin, senior; Nate Thompson, De Soto, senior; Ryan Gleghorn, Paola, senior

OFFENSIVE LINE: Anders Vance, Louisburg, senior; T.J. Boatwright, De Soto, senior; Zane Clark, Paola, senior; Drew Bones, Ottawa, junior; Dunkan Watrous, Paola, senior

KICKER: Grant Elston, Eudora, senior

 

SECOND TEAM

BACKS/ RECEIVERS: Thomas San Agustin, Louisburg, junior; Jake Katzer, Baldwin, senior; Cooper Lee, De Soto, senior; Brock Reed, Ottawa, junior; Ty Straw, Spring Hill, junior; Nathan Ewing, Spring Hill, sophomore

OFFENSIVE LINE: Dustyn Rizzo, Louisburg, junior; Jacob Pearson, Eudora, senior; Sam Arnold, Spring Hill, junior; Beau Lynch, Ottawa, senior; Tanner Beebe, Eudora, senior

KICKER: Cooper Lee, De Soto, senior

 

HONORABLE MENTION

BACKS/RECEIVERS: Cole Kramer, Louisburg, senior; Mitchell McLellan, Louisburg, senior; Austin Downing, Eudora, senior; Dalton Rankin, Paola, junior; Garrett Burkhart, Baldwin, senior; Mason Clark, De Soto, junior; Luke Snider, Ottawa, junior; Magnus Van Hoecke, Paola, junior

OFFENSIVE LINE: Mason Koechner, Louisburg, junior; T.J. Dover, Louisburg, junior; Michael Colwell, De Soto, senior; Alex Cigard, Baldwin, senior; Caleb McQuality, De Soto, junior; Cameron Christopher, De Soto, senior; Cam Seck, Paola, junior; Nick Sprague, Spring Hill, junior; Tanner Schneider, Baldwin, senior; Aaron Neal, De Soto, senior; Ryan Verbanic, Eudora, junior; Brock Huddlestun, Ottawa, junior; PJ Capettini, Paola, senior; Joel Auten, Paola, senior

KICKER: Alex Dunn, Louisburg, senior; Kyle Wokutch, Paola, senior; Carver Gerstberger, Spring Hill, senior

 

DEFENSE

FIRST TEAM

DEFENSIVE LINE: Dustyn Rizzo, Louisburg, junior; Anders Vance, Louisburg, senior; Zane Clark, Paola, senior; Jordan Vaughn, Eudora, senior

LINEBACKER: Jake Katzer, Baldwin, senior; Dunkan Watrous, Paola, senior; Ryan Gleghorn, Paola, senior; Tanner Beebe, Eudora, senior

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Mitchell McLellan, Louisburg, senior; Grant Elston, Eudora, senior; Blain Ohlmeier, Paola, senior

PUNTER: Cooper Lee, De Soto, senior

 

SECOND TEAM

DEFENSIVE LINE: Drew Bones, Ottawa, junior; Nick Nolte, Spring Hill, senior; Alex Wilson, Paola, senior; Beau Lynch, Ottawa, senior

LINEBACKER: Alex Dunn, Louisburg, senior; Joel Katzer, Baldwin, senior; Brock Reed, Ottawa, junior; Wyatt Stewart, De Soto, senior

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Austin Terry, Louisburg, senior; Cameron Mills, Spring Hill, senior; Andrew Phillips, Paola, junior

PUNTER: Grant Elston, Eudora, senior

 

HONORABLE MENTION

DEFENSIVE LINE: T.J. Dover, Louisburg, junior; Mason Koechner, Louisburg, senior; Justin Howard, Baldwin, junior; Blayne Rios, Paola, junior; Reid Kelly, De Soto, senior; Noah Kennedy, Eudora, senior; Garrett Borth, Baldwin, sophomore; Austin Ormsby, Eudora, sophomore; Tanner Moala, Paola, junior; Joel Auten, Paola, senior

LINEBACKER: Ryan Verbanic, Eudora, junior; Magnus Van Hoecke, Paola, junior; Cooper Diel, Ottawa, junior; Van Putnam, Spring Hill, senior; Kyle Carnes, De Soto, senior; Jack Barger, De Soto, sophomore; Dalton Rankin, Paola, junior

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Cole Kramer, Louisburg, senior; Max Barger, De Soto, junior; Nathan Staats, Paola, senior; Auggie Lange, Baldwin, junior; Spencer Howe, Eudora, senior; Austin Downing, Eudora, senior

PUNTER: Jacob Letellier, Spring Hill, junior