FOOTBALL: Indians’ Johnson three-time MVP; two Bulldogs take home superlatives
Published 5:11 pm Monday, December 10, 2018
Roschon Johnson was involved in 49 of Port Neches-Groves’ 66 touchdowns this season, just a small measure of the big impact he’s made.
For the third straight year, Johnson was honored with a district MVP award, this time in District 12-5A Division II.
Johnson highlights a list of honorees from the district and is one of six superlative award winners. Nederland senior outside linebacker Adam Roccaforte was named defensive MVP and sophomore running back Kade Scott earned newcomer of the year.
Johnson finished the season with 3,942 total yards, the third straight year he broke the 3,900-yard mark. In each season, PNG (9-4) reached the 5A Division II Region III semifinal.
Unofficially, Johnson rushed the ball 243 times for 1,618 yards and completed 160 of 281 passes for 2,324 yards with eight interceptions.
Roccaforte made big plays as a receiver, but he made his mark on the defensive side. He was a unanimous selection for the top defensive honor in 12-5A-II with 63 tackles, 10 quarterback pressures, a forced fumbe and fumble recovery.
Scott enjoyed a strong sophomore year with 959 yards and 10 touchdowns on 110 carries in eight games before being sidelined with an injury.
Baytown Lee quarterback Ijenea Wooley was named the offensive MVP. Marquite Doucette of Crosby earned the outstanding special teamer honor, and Santa Fe’s Mark Kanipes was named coach of the year.
PNG wideout Jose Ceja made first-team All 12-5A-II as a wide receiver, with teammates Jaylen Garth and Abraham Reyes and Nederland’s Kevin Miranda and Johnathan Nguyen getting the nod as offensive linemen.
On defense, Nederland and PNG each landed four on the first team: Hunter Sonnier on the defensive line, Kerrington Broussard and Jordan Huckabay at linebacker and Landon Hiltz at safety for Nederland; and Donovan Bergeron and Santiago Agudelo at linebacker, Kade Martin at cornerback and Tyler Jackson at safety for PNG.
The rest of the first-team offense: Santa Fe quarterback Nathan Kruger; running backs Brad Nunez of Vidor, Spencer Long of Barbers Hill, Zack Simon of Crosby and Keke Davis of Lee; Vidor tight end Grant Johnson; receivers Dalton Holland and Brady Rogers of Barbers Hill, Chris Olige of Dayton, Montrel Motton and Elijah Partida of Lee and Austin Lamb of Santa Fe; offensive linemen Chris Cole of Crosby, Rashad Futch of Lee, Durham Avant and Casey Collier of Barbers Hill; and Crosby kicker Trevor Helburg.
Rounding out the first-team defense are: linemen Brandon Diaz of Crosby, Phoenix Shackelford of Lee, Josh King-Bradley and Ethan Hagler of Barbers Hill; linebacker Hunter Moore of Crosby, Colton Scott of Santa Fe and Cavin Branin of Barbers Hill; defensive backs Branden Heffernan of Barbers Hill, Vernon Hartfield Jr. of Crosby, Zach Pike of Dayton and Motton; and punter Lamb.
The second-team offense: quarterbacks Blaysin Fernandez of Nederland, Hayden Johnson of Barbers Hill and A.J. Nail of Dayton; running backs Jaylan Williams of PNG, Zach Dahlenburg of Vidor and Noel Wright II of Crosby; PNG tight end Cooper Hammond; Nederland fullback Armani Douglas; receivers Nate Hays of Santa Fe, Christian Rhodes of Barbers Hill; C.J. Lewis of Crosby, Jermond Lovely of Dayton, Blayne Burnett of Nederland and Kaleb Wuenschel of PNG; offensive lineman Ammon Hutson of Vidor, Chris Barrios of Barbers Hill, Chayse Todd of Crosby, Jacob Sutphin of Dayton, Juan Carillo of Lee, Kevin Ramirez of Nederland, Trey Lisauckis of PNG and Joey Gibbs of Santa Fe; and Nederland kicker Payne Barrow.
The second-team defense: linemen Kaleb Wisko of Santa Fe, Ian Wooten of Vidor, Dylan Ausmus and Austin Ballard of Barbers Hill, Jamar Hamilton of Crosby, Slate Bodin of Nederland and David Minter of PNG; linebackers Rex Thompson of Barbers Hill, Terrance Wiley and Hunter Bailey of Crosby, R.J. Orebo of Dayton and Michael Moore of Santa Fe; defensive backs Marcus Jnoffin of Crosby, Raylin Johnson of Lee, Logan Nguyen of Nederland, Ja’Colby Smith-Barber and Dakota Baxter of PNG, Landon Thompson of Santa Fe and Josh Wright of Vidor; and Barbers Hill punter Dalton Holland.