Area football players earn All-Ohio recognition after standout seasons

The biggest storylines this past season on the local gridirons highlighted the release of the All-Ohio football teams in early December.

Hillsdale made a repeat trip to the Division VII state championship game. Triway had a historic program run in Div. V. Norwayne captured another Wayne County Athletic League crown. Smithville came of age in a big way. Those results proved to be big in the final voting and selections.

Leading the way was Hillsdale senior running back Owen Sloan, who was one of eight Falcons to earn All-Ohio and one of four picking up first-team honors. Sloan powered his way for 2,108 yards on the ground and scored 32 times as he capped one of the area’s best careers for a running back. He finished third all-time with 5,087 yards rushing, fourth all-time with 692 rushing attempts, second all-time with 72 rushing touchdowns and third all-time with 450 total points.

Senior placekicker A.J. Brown capped his career with 190 made PATs, passing Orrville's Chad Teague (184, 1997-00) to become the area’s all-time leader and finishing second to Teague (241) in total points at 220 to earn first-team honors.

Senior Brady Heller helped lead the Hillsdale defense with 109 tackles and earned a first-team selection.

Junior quarterback Kael Lewis, who will enter his senior year 11th all-time with 5,516 yards passing, fifth all-time with 62 passing touchdowns and eighth all-time with 352 completions, was a first-team pick.

Senior wide receiver Hayden McFadden, who became the area’s all-time career leader with 2,969 receiving yards, passing Triway's Tyler Davis (2018-20), who had 2,842, was a second-team choice. He also passed Triway's Jordon Miller (33, 2012-14) to become the area’s all-time career leader with 40 receiving touchdowns. He finished fourth all-time with 142 career receptions.

Senior Aiden Hoffman joined him as a second-team linebacker while Jake Haven and Brock Bower earned honorable mention.

For Triway in Div. V, there were two who stood out from a very talented squad in Roman Gilbert and Bruin Flinner, who both earned first-team honors. Gilbert piled up 14 sacks to finish with 22 for his career, fourth in area history. Flinner finished with area highs of 71 receptions and 1,017 yards to go with nine touchdown catches. He will start his final campaign 11th all-time in career receptions with 125, 14th all-time with 14 touchdown receptions and 15th all-time with 1,750 receiving yards.

Senior quarterback Luke Starr capped his career fourth all-time with 433 completions, ninth all-time with 53 passing touchdowns and seventh all-time with 5,875 passing yards, earning second-team honors. Rounding out the list of Titans was standout offensive lineman Landen Harvey with a third-team selection.

Also in Div. V, Ryder Ingold led Norwayne with 58 catches, 1,004 receiving yards and tied for an area-high 12 receiving touchdowns to earn first-team honors. Ingold finished 13th all-time with 17 touchdowns and 19th all-time with 1,502 receiving yards. He was joined by teammates Cameron Hackworth (third team) and Carter Miller (honorable mention).

Tuslaw was led by linebacker Nathan Eberhardt, who earned third-team honors in Div. V with 87 tackles and four interceptions.

The Smithies were electric in Div. VI as they posted their first 10-win season since 2004, led by first-team selection running back Mason Haines and second-team selection wide receiver and do-everything Isaiah Lee. Haines racked up 1,381 yards on the ground and became the program’s all-time rushing leader with 4,089 yards, finishing ninth all-time. Lee ran for 401, caught for another 625 and finished fifth in the area with 79 total points. Joining them as third-team picks were senior offensive lineman Chase Tomassetti and sophomore linebacker Zach Lanneaux.

Dalton linebacker Conner Mori earned first-team honors in Div. VI with 114 tackles, 25 tackles for loss and two interceptions. He was joined by third-team selections quarterback Carter Hignight, defensive lineman Jackson Oswald and defensive back Aiden Pelfrey.

Garaway had eight players earn honors in Div. VI. Senior defensive lineman Colson Keller led the way as a first-team pick. Sophomore quarterback Grady Miller, junior running back Matthew Frey, senior wide receiver Micah Yoder, senior offensive lineman Brady Miller, senior defensive lineman Dillon King, senior linebacker Thomas Grimm and junior defensive back Wyatt Reifenschneider all earned honorable mention accolades.

Orrville was led by standout seniors Parker Hostetler (second team) and Breylon McDuffie (third) in Div. IV. Hostetler, a running back, finished third in the area with 1,293 yards rushing and scored 16 times. McDuffie, a wide receiver, finished second in the area with 61 catches, 895 yards and 12 scoring receptions.

West Holmes was led by Lynn Cline, who earned a second-team selection as a linebacker in Div. IV, finishing with 96 tackles. Senior running back Brody Bowman ran for 1,120 yards and scored eight touchdowns, freshman defensive back Coi Beachy totaled 119 tackles and senior lineman Max Coakley helped pave the way for the offense as all earned honorable mention.

Loudonville was led by senior linebacker Josiah Hershberger, who earned honorable mention in Div. VII.