All-Decade All-Northwest Region
The decade was a bit of often the bride's maid, rarely the bride for the
Northwest Region as, from 2000 - 2009, teams from the area captured only two state championships (C.D. Hylton in 2002 and Osbourn in 2006)
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while finishing with as the state runners-up six times (Stafford in 2002, Massaponax
in 2003, North Stafford in
2004, Potomac in 2007, Woodbridge in 2007 and Osbourn in 2008) at the AAA level.
With many team and individual
standouts coming through the ever-changing region over the course of the past
ten years, making picks for an all-decade all-region squad, especially one
limited by such few numbers (twelve players on each side of the ball and four
special teams selections), makes for some tough decisions. More than
anything, we attempted to reward players for their high school
productivity more so than what they have accomplished at the college and pro
levels as many of the top stars have gone on to build outstanding athletic
careers.
Some choices were no-brainers (see quarterback), while others
were discussed at length (running back and linebacker, in particular) with differences in productivity being razor-thin so,
without further ado, VirginiaPreps.com is proud to present our All-Decade
All-Northwest Region team starting with our Player of the Decade selections.
Offensive Player of the Decade -
Brandon Hogan, Osbourn
Defensive Player of the Decade -
Ahmad Brooks, C.D. Hylton
All-Decade Northwest Offense
QB -
Brandon Hogan, Osbourn
In what may have been the easiest
choice for the team, Hogan earns the first team selection by virtue of a career
during which he accounted for 8,651 yards by passing for 4,493 and rushing for
3,658 with a total of 106 touchdowns (54 rushing, 52 passing). In 2006,
Hogan led the Eagles to the Division 6 state championship by totaling a
Northwest Region record 4,182 yards (2,397 through the air, 1,785 on the ground)
and accounting for 58 touchdowns (32 passing, 26 rushing) in the team's 14
games.
RB - David Wilson, GW-Danville
Out of the Western Valley District,
Wilson pieced together one of the greatest seasons in VHSL history in 2008 by rushing for 2,292 yards and 37 touchdowns
for the Eagles which helped push his career totals to 4,223 yards with 59
touchdowns as Wilson proved to be as explosive and fast as any running back this
decade in the Northwest Region. He rushed for over 300 yards in a game twice that season and, upon its conclusion, was selected to the United States Junior National Team which won the world championship in the summer of 2009.
RB - De'Antwan Williams, Woodbridge
Few running backs in the state can
match their production head-to-head against Williams as "Rocket" totaled 6,607
yards and 86 touchdowns in his career for the Vikings and was just 49 yards
short of posting back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons as the stud back rushed for
1,951 yards in 2008 after totaling 2,190 the previous season.
WR - Nate Ilaoa, North Stafford
During his junior season, Ilaoa set a
then state record for receiving yards in a season by totaling 1,299 yards with
ten touchdowns earning Commonwealth District Player of the Year honors.
The following season, the Wolverine star moved to tailback where he amassed
1,200 yards rushing and 890 yards receiving with 25 touchdowns.
WR - Zack Vhrovac, Albemarle
The Patriots wideout recorded 113
receptions for 1,984 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career as the coach's son
was a go-to guy for the Albemarle offense while on his three years on the
varsity squad, none more often than his junior season when he notched over 800
receiving yards and ten touchdowns.
TE - Jeff King, Pulaski County
Rated one of the top tight ends in
the nation his senior year, King earned all-state honors by helping lead his
team to the state semifinals in 2000 with 278 yards receiving and eight
touchdowns while recording 101 pancake blocks for the Cougars.
T - Zak Stair, Osbourn Park
The standout offensive lineman for
Coach Brian Beaty's Osbourn Park Yellow Jackets earned first-team all-state
honors as a senior, earning first team all-district on both sides of the ball.
In both his junior and senior seasons (2002 and 2003), he helped Osbourn Park
qualify for the regional finals where they were topped by C.D. Hylton each time.
T -
William Alvarez, C.D. Hylton
One of only two offensive linemen in
the state to earn first team all-state honors twice in his high school career,
Alvarez remarkably earned his merits at two different positions, once being
named as a guard, the other time as a tackle. He ranks as one of the most
recruited kids ever in the Bulldogs program as the 6-foot-5, 305-pounder secured
offers from Division I programs up and down the East Coast.
G - John Bradshaw, Stafford
As the Indians made their run to the
2002 Division Five state championship game where they were bested by the Phoebus
Phantoms, a large percentage of their runs came behind Bradshaw, a 6-foot-5,
295-pounder who earned first team all-state honors by captaining a line that
allowed running back Thomas McClelland to accumulate over 2,500 yards rushing.
G - Mike Ezzell, Massaponax
At the end of the 2005 season which
saw the Panthers advance to the state semifinals where they fell to eventual
state champion Hampton 21-16, Ezell was named a first team all-state performer
after leading an offensive line that Coach Eric Ludden described as the "best
he's ever coached" as the unit paved the way for two 1,000-yard rushers in Jay
Kennedy and E.J. Wilson.
C - Matt Nichols, Franklin County
In 2002, after helping to lead
Franklin County to the school's first district championship and first postseason
appearance by winning a school record nine games, the Eagles offensive line
anchor was named a first team all-state performer as his unit helped the Eagles
score a then school-record 310 points.
ATH -
Chase Barnett, Brooke Point
An all-state performer, the Black
Hawks standout totaled 5,845 yards in his high school career ranking only behind
Williams in the 00's decade and he added 66 varsity touchdowns to his resume.
His 2008 season will stand out as one of the best in region history as he rushed
for 2,183 yards in eleven games.
All-Decade Northwest Defense
DL - Keenan Carter, Potomac
An All-American during his senior
season at Potomac in 2001, Carter was ranked a 4-star defensive tackle by
Rivals.com and was named a first team all-state performer. During his high
school career, he recorded more than 300 tackles including 42 tackles for loss
and 38 sacks and was named a two-time first team all-region member.
DL - Clint Sintim, Gar-Field
A dynamic playmaker for the Indians,
Sintim was a first team all-district and all-region player on both sides of the
ball and an all-state selection at defensive end his senior year after
collecting 55 tackles, seven for loss, recovering two fumbles and recording two
sacks in helping Gar-Field make the postseason for the third straight year in
2003.
DL - Cordarrow Thompson, North
Stafford
Had over 100 tackles, including 43
for loss and nine sacks, during his final season at North Stafford in helping
the Wolverines qualify for the Division Five state championship game after a
strong junior season during which he finished with 64 tackles, including 16 for
loss, five sacks and two blocked field goals. He was named the Defensive
Player of the Year in both the Commonwealth District and the Northwestern Region
in 2004.
DL - Paul Thompson, Woodbridge
The 6-foot-2, 260-pounder earned
first team all-district honors in the Cardinal District as a sophomore in 2005,
jumped up a level the next season by being named a first team all-region
selection and completed his climb to the top in 2007, his senior season, by
being named to the all-state team.
LB -
Ahmad Brooks, C.D. Hylton
Brooks helped lead the Bulldogs to
two state championships during his three years on varsity and, in 2001, compiled
one of the great defensive seasons in the history of the state by notching 207
tackles (144 solos), including 34 for loss earning him the National Defensive
Player of the Year award from the USA Today. His Hylton teams suffered
only one loss in three years.
LB - Endor Cooper, C.D. Hylton
Following Brooks was no easy task but
Cooper lived up to the challenge by earning all-state honors in both 2002 and
2003 while notching 143 and 109 tackles in the respective seasons as the
Bulldogs captured the Division Six state championship in 2002 and the Northwest
Region title the following season.
LB - Marcus Hyde, Osbourn
The Eagles star was named the AAA
State Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 after leading Osbourn to a perfect
14-0 record and the Division Six state championship as he tallied 181 tackles,
10 sacks, eight forced fumbles and two blocked punts. In the title
contest, Hyde recorded three quarterback sacks and forced two fumbles that led
to touchdowns.
LB - Jeremy Bailey, Culpeper
The Blue Devils linebacker earned
back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors in the Commonwealth District in
2001 and 2002 and first team all-state honors his senior season as the backbone
of a unit that captured three straight district titles and one state
championship during his tenure.
DB - Abdul Kanneh, Potomac
A two-time all-district, all-region
and all-state selection, Kanneh recorded 126 tackles and seven interceptions his
senior season scooping up the defensive player of the year honors in the
Cardinal District after notching 131 stops and nine interceptions as a junior as
the Panthers were 25-3 during his final two seasons.
DB - Kent Hicks, Culpeper
As a senior, Hicks recorded 109
tackles and two interceptions for the Blue Devils and saw time at safety, wide
receiver, quarterback, tailback, punter and kick returner in his three years on
varsity, posting over 100 tackles in each season. Hicks earn all-region
selections three times and all-state honors as a senior.
DB - Deon Butler, C.D. Hylton
A four-year football letterman for
the Bulldogs, Butler was an all-state pick as a senior after helping lead Hylton
to the Division Six state championship by recording 73 tackles and nine
interceptions raising his career total to 16.
ATH - Jerell McFadden, Osbourn
The Eagles returned to their second
Division Six state championship game in three seasons in 2008 on the strength of
McFadden's two-way playmaking capabilities which earned him first team all-state
honors on the defensive side of the ball as Coach Steve Schultze commented that
"there is no better safety in the state."
All-Decade Northwest
Specialists
K - Mike Porter, Colonial Forge
Few kickers in the state have had a
better season than Porter did in 2002 as the Eagles senior earned first team
all-state honors by connecting on 14 field goals in eleven games including a
state-record five in a 35-17 defeat of Courtland.
P - Tom Hagan, Cave Spring
The 6-foot-185 pounder was a
three-sport standout for the Knights and earned back-to-back first team
all-state honors in both 2000 and 2001 and was listed as the top punter / place
kicker in the Atlantic region his senior season and the #12 kicker in the nation
by Rivals.com.
KR - Dominique Terrell, Osbourn Park
With his senior season still to be
played, Terrell ranks as one of the top prospects in the state from the Class of
2011 after earning all-state honors last season as a kick returner for the
Yellow Jackets. As a sophomore, he earned first team all-district kick
returner honors and stepped up two levels as a junior by scooping up both the
all-region and all-state selections.
PR - Deante Steele, Potomac
In 2006, Steele earned first team
all-district, all-region and all-state honors as a kick returner for the
Panthers as the then-senior returned seven kicks for touchdowns, none bigger
than one for a second half score against the Phoebus Phantoms to tie the state
semifinal contest at 21 helping to push that contest into overtime.
All-Decade Northwest Coaches
Division Five - Eric Ludden,
Massaponax
The Panthers head man has guided the
team throughout the course of the decade leading his squad to three regional
championships (2003, 2005 and 2009) and trips to the postseason in both 2004 and
2007 giving the five playoff berths in the 00's.
Division Six - Lou Sorrentino,
Culpeper and C.D. Hylton
In 2000 and 2001, as the head coach
of the Culpeper Blue Devils, Sorrentino compiled a 19-3 (.863) record after
winning the 1999 Division Five state championship before taking over the job at
C.D. Hylton High school in 2002 where he promptly won the Division Six state
championship and remained head coach there through 2009 posting a 70-24 (.744)
record pushing his decade total to 89-27 (.767).
All-Decade Northwest Programs
Division Five Program - Massaponax
Panthers
Though no school in the region took
home a Division Five state championship during the ten-year span, the Panthers
led the area with three regional title wins (2003, 2005, and 2009) notching a
77-35 (.688) mark in the decade with eight playoff wins and one state title game
appearance.
Division Six Program - C.D. Hylton
Bulldogs
The Cardinal District powerhouse
program posted a 91-27 (.771) record in the 00's and won the decade's first six
regional championships while collecting one of the region's two state
championship during the era by besting Oakton 6-0 in the 2002 title game while
racking up 14 playoff wins in the ten-year period.
Second Team Offense
QB - Brian Hudson, Brooke Point
RB - Damien Thigpen, Stonewall
Jackson
RB - Savion Frazier, Gar-Field
WR - Julian Beale, Osbourn
WR - Josh Baldwin, North Stafford
TE - Eric Frohnapfel, Colonial Forge
T - Patrick Slebonic, North Stafford
T - Flordell Kissee, Gar-Field
G - Jono Petrovich, C.D. Hylton
G - Justin Hairston, Woodbridge
C - Ara Der-Boghossian, C.D. Hylton
ATH - Ryan Williams, Stonewall
Jackson
Second Team Defense
DL - RJ Dawson, C.D. Hylton
DL - Prince Anumak, C.D. Hylton
DL - George Banseh, Potomac
DL - Austin Brown, Woodbridge
LB - Mulku Kalokah, Potomac
LB - James Parker, C.D. Hylton
LB - Ernest Adjei, Gar-Field
LB - Quille Odom, Osbourn Park
DB - DJ Walton, C.D. Hylton
DB - Stefan Orange, Culpeper
DB - Jeff Overton, C.D. Hylton
ATH - Cameron Martin, GW-Danville
Second Team Specialists
K - Eric Buckenmeyer, Woodbridge
P - Eric Dobratz, Potomac
KR - Kenny Lewis, GW-Danville
PR - Chris Garrett, Stonewall Jackson