Area teams well represented in Class 2A District 2 All-District teams

Clear Lake lands nine and GHV has six players named to the First Team

Clear Lake’s Justin Sholly and Garner-Hayfield-Ventura’s Conner Shaw were named the Most Valuable Defensive and Offensive Players in Class 2A District 2 All-District Team announced last week.

Clear Lake and GHV, which tied for the District 2 title, along with Hampton-Dumont, were well represented in the All-District voting.  The Lions landed nine players, plus Sholly, on the First Team, while GHV had six, plus Shaw.

Clear Lake honors

Sholly led Clear Lake’s defensive unit, which finished second in scoring defense, averaging 18.1 over 10 games, as well as total defense.  The Lion defense allowed 1,467 yards rushing and 799 passing for a total of 2,266 yards, an average of 226.6 per game.     The Lions held their opponents to an average of 4.53 yards per play, ranking second in the district.  Sholly finished third in the district in total tackles with 57 solo and 50 assisted.

Joining Sholly on the First Team defensive unit is Carter Garrington, interior defensive line; sophomore Joey Monson and senior Parker Pitzen, outside linebackers/defensive ends; senior Tanner Berger and junior Thomas Storbeck, defensive backs.  Sholly was honored as an inside linebacker.

Garrington played both sides of the ball for the Lions, impacting the teams’ performance on multiple fronts.  Monson ranked seventh in the district in tackles for loss with 10.5; Pitzen was eighth with 10.  Pitzen was also among the leaders in sacks, raking eighth with four.  Storbeck tied for league honors in interceptions with five during the season.  He averaged a return of 10.8 yards for 54 total.

The First Team All-District Offense included senior running back Zach Tatum and junior offensive lineman Kyle Willms.

Tatum was among the district leaders in several categories.  He was sixth in rushing yards with 730-yards on 146 carries for an average of five-yards per carry.  He was also sixth in receiving yards with 23 receptions for 252-yards, an average of 11 per catch.  He had the fourth highest number of receptions. Tatum was fifth in scoring with 62 points.  His all-purpose yards totaled 1,084.

Also honored from Clear Lake on the First Team is senior kicker Jarod Anderson and utility player Ace Walton, also a senior.  Anderson led the district in points scored by kicking.  He made 23 of 25 extra point attempts and was three-for-five on field goal tries for a total of 32 points.  Anderson was second in the district in kickoffs, booting 43 for a total of 2,161, an average of 50.3-yards per kick. He also returned kicks for the Lions and was fifth in punt returns with 13 averaging 10.3 yards. He was 10th in kickoff returns with seven averaging 17.7 yards. Walton played offense left tackle and defense on the Lions’ line.

Clear Lake senior Ben Mason was an Honorable Mention selection for the 2A All-District team.  Mason ranked 20th in tackles among defensive players with 43 solo and 20 assisted.

GHV honors

GHV’s total offense led the district with 3,474 total yards, and they were second in the league in scoring average with 27.1 points per game.  Shaw, a junior, was GHV’s scoring machine that helped to rack up those high numbers.  He was the number one rusher in the league, tallying 1,395 total offensive yards and averaging 6.4 yards a carry.  He recorded 12 touchdowns and two interceptions for the year.

Joining Shaw on the First Team offensive unit was senior Gabe Umbarger, as an offensive lineman.  Umbarger recorded 4 and one-half sacks and had a total of 11 tackles for loss and 58 total tackles for the year.

Named to the First Team defensive unit was sophomore Jack VanDusseldorp on the interior defensive line, senior Connor Smith, inside linebacker, Chase Theobald, a junior, as defensive back, and sophomore punter, Dane Whipple.

VanDusseldorp record six and one-half tackles for loss and he also scored five touchdowns and rushed for a total of 160 yards.  Smith had a total of 62 tackles for the year and two sacks.  Theobald had five interceptions for the year and one touchdown.  He also had seven kick returns and averaged 19 yards a return.  As the punter, Whipple was 13/32 on PATs with 13 points, he led the district in punting, averaging 34.8 yards a punt.

Harley Forry, a senior, also earned First Team honors as a utility player.  Forry scored eight touchdowns for the year. He averaged 6.1 yards a carry rushing for a total of 366 yards.  He was the team’s leading receiver with 235 total yards in the air.  He also snagged five interceptions.

Earning Honorable Mention recognition for the 2A All-District team were seniors Cade Baker and Ty Marth, junior Grady Umbarger and sophomore Nick Joynt.

All-Academic Team

Clear Lake and GHV had several players honored as Class 2A, District 2 All-Academic players.

Twelve members of the Lions team were honored.  They are: seniors Tanner Berger, Carter Garrington, Ben Mason, Parker Pitzen, Devon Reckner, Jason Sholly, Thomas Storbeck, Zach Tatum and Ace Walton; juniors Nick Eggers, Cody Matz and Kyle Willms.

GHV had 11 players named to the All-Academic team.  They are: seniors Ben Baumgard, Brandon Bell, Sam Cataldo, Todd Finley, Matt Sonquist and Gabe Umbarger; juniors Josh Chizek, Brandon Feuring, Clay Johnson, Conner Shaw and Chase Theobald.