Koechner, Rizzo lead Louisburg on all-league list

Louisburg seniors Dustyn Rizzo (left) and Mason Koechner were recently named first team all-Frontier League selections on both sides of the ball. The Wildcats earned eight first-team spots on the all-league football team.

The Frontier League provided plenty of talent on the gridiron this past season and the Louisburg High School football team was responsible for a good portion of it.

The Wildcats finished the season with an 8-3 record, including a 4-2 mark in league play and also earned the school’s first regional championship in four years. Thanks to that, Louisburg was awarded several spots on the all-Frontier League team that was released last week.

Six players were given first-team honors, including two that earned a spot on both sides of the ball. The Wildcats also ended up with a second-team selection and six honorable mention spots.

“I am not a big fan of all league teams, because a lot of deserving kids don’t get the notice they deserve,” Louisburg co-head coach Gary Griffin said. “A lot of times the kids that do the dirty work don’t have the stats to get postseason honors. After saying that, I thought we were represented pretty well, considering that we finished third in the league. You always want more kids on the first team, but we had some pretty good teams in our league with Ottawa, Spring Hill and De Soto that had deserving kids as well.”

Senior lineman Mason Koechner and Dustyn Rizzo were given high marks by the rest of the league coaches as both players were selected to the first team offensive and defensive lines. On the offensive line, Koechner and Rizzo helped pave the way for 3,837 yards of total offense on the season.

Defensively, Koechner led the Wildcats with 67 tackles on the year, including two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Rizzo finished with 39 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.

Louisburg quarterback Grant Harding (left) and running back Thomas San Agustin were both named first team all-league selections

“I thought our entire offensive line had a good year,” Griffin said. “Mason and Dustyn had great years on both sides of the ball. They rarely, if ever, missed a snap in games and in practice. They were both warriors that are very deserving.”

Running back Thomas San Agustin and quarterback Grant Harding were also named to the offensive first team, while sophomore Austin Moore (linebacker) and senior Korbin Hankinson (defensive back) were selected to the defensive first team.

Harding threw for 842 yards and ran for 752 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Wildcat offense. San Agustin led Louisburg in rushing with 916 yards on the season and averaged seven yards per carry to go along with 18 touchdowns.

Louisburg senior defensive back Korbin Hankinson (left) and sophomore linebacker Austin Moore were both named to the all-Frontier League Defensive first team.

Hankinson was a spark in the defensive backfield with five interceptions on the season and also had five deflections. As a first-year varsity starter, Moore was a big part of the Wildcat defense from the middle linebacker spot as he finished with 64 tackles, four for a loss to go along with two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

“Both Grant and Thomas have been 3-year contributors and I was glad to see them get recognized,” Griffin said. “Because we had so many people that could carry the ball their stats were not as good as some others in the league. I thought Grant was solid in both the running game and passing game. He knew the offense and did a great job of leading the team.

“On defense Korbin was the guy who we put on the other team’s best receiver. We played against some pretty good people and he did a great job. Austin did a good job of making sure we were aligned. He got a lot of on the job training and got better and better each game. He has a bright future.”

Wildcat linemen Garrett Lowry (left) and T.J. Dover were both all-league honorable mention selections on the offensive line. Dover was also put on the honorable mention defensive line.

Harding also earned second team honors at the defensive back spot with 26 tackles, six batted balls and an interception.

Four Wildcats earned honorable mention honors as senior T.J. Dover (offensive and defensive line), San Agustin (linebacker), Hankinson (wide receiver), Jake Hill (running back) and junior Garrett Lowry (offensive line) were also recognized.

Dover and Lowry were key cogs in the Wildcat offensive line as they helped open holes for the Louisburg backs that rushed for almost 3,000 yards on the season.

Fullback Jake Hill earned all-league honorable mention honors on offense.

Hill also did his fair share of blocking from the fullback spot to lead the way for the team’s 35 rushing touchdowns on the season. As for Hankinson, he stretched the field on opposing defenses as he caught 20 passes for 489 yards and scored many of his 13 touchdowns through the air.

Defensively, Dover finished with 37 tackles, including three for a loss, while San Agustin had 34 tackles, four for a loss, two fumble recoveries and a sack.

ALL-FRONTIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL

OFFENSE

FIRST TEAM

LINE: Drew Bones, senior, Ottawa; Mason Koechner, senior, Louisburg; Marshall Kellner, junior, De Soto; Sam Arnold, senior, Spring Hill; Dustyn Rizzo, senior, Louisburg

BACKS/RECEIVERS: Isaac McCullough, senior, Ottawa; Thomas San Agustin, senior, Louisburg; Bryce Mohl, junior, De Soto; Devion Bethea, junior, Ottawa; Jacob Letellier, senior, Spring Hill; Grant Harding, senior, Louisburg

KICKER: Ethan Rodriguez, junior, De Soto

SECOND TEAM

LINE: Brock Reed, senior, Ottawa; Nick Sprague, senior, Spring Hill; Caleb McQuality, senior, De Soto; Cam Seck, senior, Paola; Jacob James, junior, Spring Hill

BACKS/RECEIVERS: Ty Straw, senior, Spring Hill; Mason Clark, senior, De Soto; Trevor Watts, junior, De Soto; Cooper Diel, senior, Ottawa; Justin Howard, senior, Baldwin; Nathan Ewing, junior, Spring Hill

HONORABLE MENTION

LINE: Jalen Christianson, senior, De Soto; T.J. Dover, senior, Louisburg; Brock Huddlestun, senior, Ottawa; Jackson McCally, senior, Ottawa; Ethan Leahew, senior, Eudora; Blaine Hanf, senior, Paola; Garrett Lowry, junior, Louisburg; Shelton Shivley, senior, Baldwin; Dustin Adler, junior Eudora; Cameron Bruns, senior, Baldwin

BACKS/RECEIVERS: Korbin Hankinson, senior, Louisburg; Lee Andrews, senior, Eudora; Bryce Huber, senior, Paola; Donavan Sutti, senior, Paola; Darren Winans, junior, De Soto; Drew Boeh, senior, Ottawa; Jake Hill, senior, Louisburg; Luke Laskowski, junior, Baldwin

DEFENSE

FIRST TEAM

LINE: Mason Koechner, senior, Louisburg; Zach Titus, junior, De Soto; Keegan Crotchett, junior, Spring Hill; Dustyn Rizzo, senior, Louisburg

LINEBACKERS: Jack Barger, junior, De Soto; Brock Reed, senior, Ottawa, Justyn Kyner, senior, Spring Hill; Austin Moore, sophomore, Louisburg

BACKS: Chance Montgomery, senior, De Soto; Korbin Hankinson, senior, Louisburg; Mason Bell, junior, Spring Hill

PUNTER: Jacob Letellier, senior, Spring Hill

SECOND TEAM

LINE: Drew Bones, senior, Ottawa; Lawson Marshall, senior, De Soto; Tanner Moala, senior, Paola; Austin Ormsby, junior, Eudora

LINEBACKERS: Trevor Gress, junior, De Soto; Cooper Diel, senior, Ottawa; Justin Howard, senior, Baldwin; Joseph Briggs, senior, Spring Hill

BACKS: Tyler Arndt, senior, Ottawa; Grant Harding, senior, Louisburg; Gavin Elston, sophomore, Eudora

PUNTER: Jackson Thaemert, senior, De Soto

HONORABLE MENTION

LINE: Caleb Flory, senior, Baldwin; T.J. Dover, senior, Louisburg; Aaron George, senior, Spring Hill; Nathan Rossmeisl, senior, Spring Hill; Daric Coffee, senior, De Soto

LINEBACKERS: Max Barger, senior, De Soto; Kahlil Thrasher, junior, Eudora; Ryan Verbanic, senior, Eudora; Magnus Van Hoecke, senior, Paola; Noah Schwartz, senior, Paola; Thomas San Agustin, senior, Louisburg; Thomas Ryckert, senior, Paola; Jacob James, junior, Spring Hill

BACKS: Trajan McCormick, junior, Spring Hill; Jake Griffiths, senior, De Soto; Andrew Phillips, senior, Paola; Colton Gleghorn, junior, Paola; Drew Smith, junior, Paola; Nathan Ewing, junior, Spring Hill; Lee Andrews, senior, Eudora

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