District domination: 11 Irish make team

By Joe Scalzo

Six Valley standouts earned player of the year honors, while two coaches captured awards on the Northeast Inland all-district team.

Ursuline’s dominant performance on the field continued off it Friday as the Irish landed 11 players on the Division V Northeast Inland football team.

Junior defensive end Jamel Turner was named the Division V district defensive player of the year, one of six Irish players to earn first team all-district honors.

Turner (6-3, 215) had 14 sacks and 201‚Ñ2 tackles for loss during the regular season, helping the top-ranked Irish finish 10-0 for the first time since 1956 and win their first Associated Press poll title. Turner, an all-Ohioan last season, already has scholarship offers from 20 schools, including Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame and LSU.

He’s joined on the first team by senior WR Dale Peterman, senior OL Matt Krause, senior LB Alex Menton, senior DE Dominique Cole and junior LB Dawalyn Harper. Ursuline is the only Mahoning Valley team remaining in the playoffs.

Crestview senior running back Corey Hill was named the division’s offensive player of the year after rushing for 2,040 yards and 27 TDs, leading the Rebels to the regional semifinals.

Mooney senior defensive lineman John Simon, an Ohio State recruit, was named the defensive player of the year in Div. IV. Simon (6-3, 280) finished the season with 148 tackles, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, 13 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. He will play in the Army All-American Bowl in January.

LaBrae coach Bill Bohren was named the coach of the year after leading the Vikings to a 9-1 regular season record, an All-American Conference White Tier title and the school’s first playoff berth in 25 years.

In Div. III, Liberty senior Fitzgerald Toussaint, a University of Michigan recruit, was named the offensive player of the year after rushing for 2,029 yards on 214 carries (10.4 average) and 28 TDs during the regular season. He finished his career with 4,690 rushing yards and helped the Leopards make the playoffs twice.

In Div. VI, Leetonia quarterback Josh Selway and McDonald running back Alex Sampson shared offensive player of the year honors after helping their respective teams advance to the postseason. Sampson’s coach, Dan Williams, was named the district coach of the year.

Sampson (5-11, 190) rushed for 1,268 yards and 28 TDs for the Blue Devils, who became the first team in school history to advance to the playoffs three straight years. They also captured the outright Inter Tri-County League Tier Two title and won a first-round playoff matchup with Western Reserve.

Selway rushed for 1,717 yards and 17 TDs and threw for 772 yards and eight TDs, carrying the Bears to the postseason after losing a host of seniors from last year’s league championship team. Selway also gained attention statewide for his successful battle with cancer.