Many area football fans believe Avon Lake is the cream of the crop when it comes to Lorain County programs, and the county’s coaches agreed with them this season as the Shoremen dominated the all-county lists and swept the special awards.

Christian Pace, who will play for Michigan next year, was named the big schools’ offensive lineman of the year, Dan Schneider, who will play at Pitt, was named the top defensive lineman, Mike Mansnerus was named the top offensive back and T.J. Thompson was named the top defensive back.

“Our program is solid and our kids buy into what they have to do in order to succeed,” Avon Lake coach Dave Dlugosz said Wednesday. “All four of those guys would be the first to attribute their success to what their teammates have done to get them there.”

In the small schools’ division, Elyria Catholic swept the linemen awards – Jared Schuster was named the top offensive lineman and Josh Russ, who will play at Cincinnati, was named the top defensive lineman – and Clearview took the other two special awards as Anthony Hitchens was the top offensive back and Tony Williams the top defensive back.

“In my opinion, (Hitchens) is one of the best players to ever go through Clearview,” Clippers coach Mike Collier said. “He was blessed with some great athleticism, but he’s worked extremely hard to maximize his talent. A guy like that doesn’t come around too often.

“Tony was listed among the first-team wide receivers because we pick offense first, but he obviously would have been on the defensive first team, too. He’s one of the most explosive hitters I’ve seen during my coaching career.”

Collier and Elyria Catholic’s Ben Malbasa were named the small schools’ coaches of the year, while North Ridgeville’s Jeff Riesen earned the honor in the big schools division.

“I think that’s more of an award for our program as a whole,” Malbasa said. “The reality is we had a lot of great football players this year. But I’d gladly turn that (coaching) award back in for a trip to the playoffs. I feel if I was really deserving of that award, that’s where we would have been.”

The Shoremen were one of two county teams to earn postseason trips – North Ridgeville earned its first playoff berth this year – and the nine first-team selections were a big part of that success.

It was the second straight year Avon Lake swept the linemen awards, which comes as no surprise to Dlugosz.

“We take a great deal of pride in our offensive and defensive lines,” he said. “Our linemen learn from each other – the generation behind learns from the generation ahead. Christian Pace and Dan Schneider had some good guys to emulate when they were underclassmen, and we expect some of the younger guys to have good years in the future because they sat back and learned from those two.”

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

Big schools (Divisions I, II and III)

OFFENSIVE LINE – Christian Pace, Avon Lake; Cody Balko, Amherst; Josh Conrad, Avon; Andrew Wisler, Avon Lake; Isaiah Byler, Elyria; Alex Lovasz, North Ridgeville; Joseph Charlton, Southview. QUARTERBACK – Alex Basinski, Amherst; Bret Whitesel, Midview. RUNNING BACK – Luis Mendez, Admiral King; Charlie Davis, Amherst; Mike Mansnerus, Avon Lake; Trynell Davis, Elyria; Josiah Holt, Midview; Mo Jaber, North Ridgeville. TIGHT END – Scott Ferris, Amherst; Nathan Alpine, North Ridgeville. WIDE RECEIVER – Jason Stump, Amherst; Brandon Mahaffey, Avon; Ron Willoughby, Avon Lake; Kevin Morissette, Avon Lake; Andrew Agee, Midview; Dominique Qualls, North Ridgeville. KICKER – Ryan Galik, Avon.

LINEBACKER – Marty Thomas, Amherst; Patrick Furnas, Avon; Nick Marinkov, Avon Lake; Cameron Koepp, Elyria; Steven Lopez, North Ridgeville; Aaron Serrano, Southview; Brent Hurd, Vermilion. DEFENSIVE BACK – Mat Malloy, Amherst; Andrew Kahl, Avon; T.J. Thompson, Avon Lake; Jacob Neuschaefer, Elyria; Zach Albright, Midview; Dallas Burt, North Ridgeville. DEFENSIVE END – Dan Schneider, Avon Lake; Tyler Glowacki, Amherst; Chase Farris, Elyria; Avery Ware, Southview. DEFENSIVE TACKLE – Justin Linder, Admiral King; Ryan Malloy, Amherst; Jon Rodgers, Avon Lake; Brandon Bailey, Elyria; Ryan Kohl, Vermilion; Chris Fule, North Ridgeville. PUNTER – Justin Courtright, Avon.

HONORABLE MENTION – Alex Stanley, Vermilion; Andrew Bohan, Avon Lake; Jim Adkins, Amherst; Brandon Medina, Admiral King; Trent Toy, Avon Lake; Ricky Earl, Southview; Justin Hobart, North Ridgeville; Shawn Hazelwood, Admiral King; Emmanuel Cook, Southview; Anthoney Budka, Vermilion; Tony Petrosky, Midview; Josh Bonnett, Elyria.

• OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Christian Pace, Avon Lake.
• DEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Dan Schneider, Avon Lake.
• OFFENSIVE BACK OF THE YEAR: Mike Mansnerus, Avon Lake.
• DEFENSIVE BACK OF THE YEAR: T.J. Thompson, Avon Lake.
• COACH OF THE YEAR: Jeff Riesen, North Ridgeville.

Small schools (Divisions III, IV and V)

OFFENSIVE LINE – Tyler Mielcarek, Clearview; Jared Schuster, Elyria Catholic; Jake Sosinski, Firelands; Andrew Johnson, Keystone; Anthony Barnhill, Oberlin; Greg Knapp, Wellington. QUARTERBACK – Zach Anderson, Clearview; Danny Reaser, Elyria Catholic. RUNNING BACK – Anthony Hitchens, Clearview; Curtis Alston, Clearview; Alex Alicea, Elyria Catholic; Corry Sprouse, Keystone; Aaron James, Oberlin; Austin Gray, Wellington. TIGHT END – Eric Thompson, Clearview; Anthony Jaeger, Columbia. WIDE RECEIVER – Tony Williams, Clearview; Aaron Arnoczky, Clearview; Josh Russ, Elyria Catholic; Conor Voreis, Elyria Catholic; Jimmy Reid, Keystone; Tim Hill, Oberlin. KICKER – Collin Owens, Clearview; Scott Beverage, Keystone.

LINEBACKER – Buddy Davila, Elyria Catholic; Austin Tackett, Brookside; Angel Flecha, Clearview; Nick Glass, Columbia; Jake Niece, Firelands; Tim McMullen, Keystone; Severin Holsworth, Oberlin; Clay Wright, Wellington. DEFENSIVE BACK – Luke Ackerman, Brookside; Brandon Clark, Columbia; Nick Ksenich, Elyria Catholic; Jake Cooper, Keystone; Austin Fullen, Wellington; Jaron Antill, Wellington; Ed Geiger, Oberlin. DEFENSIVE END – Todd Osborn, Clearview; Matt Frye, Columbia; Ryan Waldmann, Firelands. DEFENSIVE TACKLE – Emanuel Sanchez, Clearview; Ethan Garafolo, Columbia; Matt Rector, Keystone; Anthony Barnhill, Oberlin; Jaron Hicks, Oberlin; Brandon Kania, Wellington. PUNTER – Gib Harris, Oberlin.

HONORABLE MENTION – Tom Starr, Clearview; Jake Danke, Firelands; John Bowman, Wellington; Nick Deichler, Firelands; Brandon Heidinger, Columbia; Severin Holsworth, Oberlin; Josh Ford, Keystone; Mike Betka, Elyria Catholic; Zach Rogers, Elyria Catholic; Kyle Smith, Firelands; Rocky Radeff, Brookside; Devan Martin, Oberlin.

• OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Jared Schuster, Elyria Catholic.
• DEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Josh Russ, Elyria Catholic.
• OFFENSIVE BACK OF THE YEAR: Anthony Hitchens, Clearview.
• DEFENSIVE BACK OF THE YEAR: Tony Williams, Clearview.
• CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR: Mike Collier, Clearview; Ben Malbasa, Elyria Catholic.

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