Staff report
A trio of teams raised championship banners for their tremendous 2009 seasons.
With Ravenna, Mogadore and Woodridge rising to the top of their respective Portage Trail Conference divisions, it is fitting that those same three teams are well-represented on the Northeast Inland All-District team that was released on Friday.
The Ravens completed an undefeated PTC Metro Division season to claim top honors over contenders Field, Kent Roosevelt and Springfield.
Just days after peppering the All-Metro Division team, the Ravens placed six on the All-District team led by First-Team selection Parnell Taylor.
Taylor was the team’s leading rusher, finishing with 1,393 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns.
Another pair of Ravens joined Taylor on the All-District First Team, with Greydon Pavlik earning a spot on the offensive line and Dan McCoy on the defensive line.
Pavlik helped create the holes for Ravenna’s backfield, which powered the team’s offense that averaged 31.3 points per game.
Meanwhile, McCoy was the anchor to the Ravens’ defense that allowed only 12.4 points per game and owned five shutouts during the regular season.
Two other Ravens were named to the Second Team All-District, with quarterback Zach Thomas and offensive lineman Matt Benson earning the spots.
Meanwhile, linebacker Deiondre Mack and receiver Colton Collage were the final Ravens to make the All-District team as an Honorable Mention selection.
As for the champions of the PTC County Division, both the Wildcats and Bulldogs were well-represented in their respective divisions.
A quartet of Mogadore standouts were named to the Division VI First Team All-District. The group includes offensive lineman Kevin Pollock, wide receiver Matt Traugh, running back Jake McAvinew and linebacker Kodey Chance.
McAvinew was a part of a two-headed monster for the Wildcats on the ground, along with Chance. McAvinew finished with 1,024 yards and scored 10 touchdowns, while averaging a staggering eight yards per rush.
Also gaining Honorable Mention All-District from Mogadore was linebacker Zach Glagola, along with defensive lineman Andrew Monea and kicker Alex Roebken.
For Woodridge, the 2009 season was a special one because it was the best the school has ever seen.
The team won its first-ever league title and qualified for the state playoffs for the first time ever.
They are currently the only PTC team still alive in the postseason and will take on No. 1-seeded Chagrin Falls tonight at Twinsburg High School at 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs had four players land on the Division IV All-District First Team, led by offensive standouts Anthony Kelly and Anthony Westren.
Kelly and Westren are now the proud owners of practically all of the school’s offensive records, with Kelly finishing the year with 1,648 yards rushing this season on 191 carries, while he also scored 19 touchdowns.
For Westren, the season finished with him completing 135-of-218 passes for 2,353 yards and passing for 29 touchdowns against only six interceptions.
Westren’s favorite target, wide receiver Brandyn Peters, was also named First Team All-District. Peters hauled in 41 passes this year for 798 yards and reached the end zone 11 times.
The fourth Bulldog player to earn First Team All-District was linebacker David Charles. Charles was named the PTC County Division Player of the Year after raking down 117 tackles this year, along with four sacks and 21 tackles for a loss.
Woodridge also placed Cameron Hilling, Brennan Owens and A.J. Graham on the Honorable Mention team in Division IV.
For the team’s best season ever, head coach Eric Ervin was named the Division IV Coach of the Year. The 2009 season was Ervin’s fifth at Woodridge and his career record now stands at 29-33.
In Division II, the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders placed four standouts on the All-District team, with offensive lineman Ryan Anderson, quarterback Evan Shimensky and linebacker Marcus Rogers all earning First Team.
On the Division II Second Team was linebacker Marcus Wright for the Riders.
The long list of other PTC players named to the All-District team includes (see the complete Northeast Inland All-District team to the right of this story):
Division VI
Windham — Running back Allen Blake (Honorable Mention)
Division V
Rootstown — Linebacker Jon Park (First Team), kicker Scott Kearley (First Team) and running back Tyler Williams (Honorable Mention)
Division IV
Garfield — Linebacker Brent Marshall (First Team), defensive linemen Mike Haehner (Honorable Mention) and running back Bobby Bright (Honorable Mention).
Division III
Field — Offensive lineman Jim Cercek (First Team), linebacker Mike Boosinger (First Team), kicker Aaron Polasky (Second Team) and defensive lineman Zach Moore (Honorable Mention)
Southeast — Punter Anthony Pennington (Second Team) and linebacker Sean Stone (Honorable Mention).
Streetsboro — Offensive lineman Jason Cook (Second Team), wide receiver Steve Magic (Second Team), linebacker Brandon Gency (Honorable Mention) and offensive lineman Nate Mountain (Honorable Mention).
Crestwood — Running back Dakota Long (Honorable Mention).