Lehman Catholic’s Owen Smith was named the Northwest Central Conference player of the year and is one of several area players to earn all-league honors.
Lehman quarterback Elliott Gilardi, receiver Kameron Lee, center Collin Haller, guard Seth Sargent and kicker Michael Denning were named first team all-NWCC on offense while defensive lineman Michael Bunker, linebacker Drew Barhorst and defensive back Brandon Barhorst were named first team on defense.
“I said all year we had some special players, and that showed on the selection,” Lehman coach Dick Roll said earlier this month. “We had four of the positions’ top vote-getters for player of the year, and that sort of split the votes up a little bit. But we’re happy for Owen. All of those guys, they’re just good players.”
Smith, a senior, was also on first team on offense as a running back and on defense as a defensive back. Smith rushed for 1,727 yards and 21 touchdowns on 152 carries. He also caught 10 passes for 154 and two touchdowns. Smith finishes his career with 2,627 career rushing yards and 35 total touchdowns.
Gilardi threw for 1,440 yards and 24 touchdowns and also rushed for 950 yards and 17 touchdowns. Gilardi, a junior, has 2,758 career passing yards and 1,527 rushing yards.
Kameron Lee led the NWCC with 516 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions. Bunker led the NWCC with 13 sacks, while Brandon Barhorst had 54 total tackles with one interception and one fumble recovery. Drew Barhorst had 68 total tackles, two sacks and one interception.
Denning completed 69-of-72 extra-point attempts and made 4-of-6 field goals. He also averaged 48.6 yards per kickoff.
Drew Barhorst is a sophomore and Denning is a junior, while Lee, Haller, Sargent and Bunker are seniors.
Riverside running back Gaven Anderson and senior defensive lineman Gavin Stallard were also selected to first team.
Anderson, a senior, ran for 1,325 yards and 16 touchdowns. He finishes his career with 2,107 rushing yards and 29 total touchdowns.
Brandon Barhorst was selected to second team as a receiver, and Lee was second team as a punter. Senior offensive tackle Logan Richard was also a second team selection.
Barhorst had 226 rushing yards and 393 receiving yards with 10 total touchdowns, while Lee averaged 35.5 yards per punt.
Lehman defensive lineman Sam Young was selected to second team, as was linebacker Braiden Sherman. Both are seniors. Young had 40 total tackles and Sherman had 56 tackles.
Riverside senior offensive tackle Andrew Racine and linebacker Nick Hall were second-team selections. Hall, a senior, had 104 total tackles and five sacks.
Lehman’s Michael Wesner, Tyler Sollmann and Nick Largent were honorable mention, as were Riverside’s Hunter Russell, Luke Roby and Mason Sacks.
Upper Scioto Valley linebacker Kolton Keith was the NWCC defensive player of the year, and Lima Perry’s Luke Taviano was coach of the year.
Keith had 108 total tackles with six sacks. Taviano led Perry to a 6-5 overall record after the team finished 3-7 last year. He took over as Perry’s head coach last April, a month after former coach Herb Lane Jr. was killed in a car accident.
