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Jake Santos was the lone bright spot for VHS, rushing for 100 yards and two touchdowns. September 20, 2019 (Photo by Caden Weatherly)

Foothill League: Football Awards And First Team Selections

Player of the Year: Johnathan Kaelin, Sr., Golden Valley. Over 1,500 total yards and 23 total touchdowns for the 8-2 Grizzlies.

Offensive Player of the Year: Zach Johnson, Sr., Hart

The Indians quarterback and UC Berkeley signee passed for 2,788 and 27 touchdowns, while adding another 246 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Helped Hart to a 7-5 overall record including a first round playoff win over Chaparral in which he threw for 328 yards and four touchdowns, his best passing performance of the season.

Defensive Player of the Year: Zachary Van Bennekum, Sr., West Ranch

Van Bennekum was a force for the Wildcats on both sides of the ball, but gets recognized by the league for his stellar play at linebacker this season. Whereever the ball was, Van Bennekum was close behind, moving sideline to sideline and routinely making big plays for the best team in the Foothill League at forcing turnovers in 2019. Van Bennekum recorded an impressive 19 tackles for loss and three sacks to go along with six interceptions.

Lineman of the Year: Owen Hand, Sr., Valencia

Owen Hand joins a long list of Valencia players to win this award, as the Vikings produce the best players in the trenches year in and year out. He follows Valencia alum Benjamin Seymour of the Vikings to take home the award most recently.

First Team Offense:

Joseph Lahn, Sr., Golden Valley

Lendale Cervantes, Sr., Golden Valley

Taden Littleford, Sr., Hart

Ashton Thomas, Sr., Hart

Tyler Thompson, Sr., Hart

Josh Bond, Sr., Saugus

Ryan Morrison, Sr., Valencia

Jake Santos, Sr., Valencia

Nick Pham, Sr., Valencia

Zamondre Merriweather, So., Valencia

Ty Morrison, Jr., Valencia

Walker Eget, Jr., West Ranch

John Collier, Sr., West Ranch

First Team Defense:

Darnell Musgrove, Sr., Golden Valley

Tyler Walker, Sr., Golden Valley

Luke McCoy, Jr., Golden Valley

Travis Gill, Sr., Hart

Leighton McCarthy, Sr., Hart

Cade Gallagher, Sr., Saugus

Carson Farber, Sr., Saugus

Mitchell Torres, Sr., Valencia

Jonathan Tcheumani, Sr., Valencia

Diego Garcio, Sr., Valencia

Dean Miller, Jr., Valencia

Bryce Buchanan, Sr., West Ranch

Brandon Wyre, Sr., West Ranch

JC Cotti, Sr., West Ranch

 

Foothill League: Football Awards And First Team Selections

2 comments

  1. I would like to know how how they select 1st team players. I know that the West Ranch kicker scored more points than the Valencia kicker.

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About Justin Powell

Justin moved to the San Fernando Valley from the Inland Empire in 2011 to complete his BA of Communications degree at California State University, Northridge. Just a few months after getting his degree he moved to Valencia and started as an intern at AM-1220 KHTS, and was promoted to Sports Reporter within a year. Though Justin is still relatively new to the Santa Clarita Valley, he is an avid sports fan and passionate about building the sports department at KHTS into a special source for local high school sports.