79 percent of Resurrection football lands spots on Region 4-1A team
Resurrection better be able to buy plaques in bulk.
The Eagles, the Class 1A South State Champs, landed 26 players -- from their 33-man roster -- on the recently released Region 4-1A team.
Yes. You read that right. Seventy-nine percent of its roster received spots on the all-region team.
The circumstances are rather unique.
The Eagles defense surrendered just 65 points this season to opposing offenses -- a whopping eight to region foes.
When RCS football coach Scott Sisson showed up to the region coaches meeting, his counterparts told him they couldn't pick just one player from the bunch to honor.
As a result, written next to defensive MVP is "The Entire RCS Defense."
The ripple effect meant 12 players were named defensive MVPs. And, because RCS won the region, the Eagles get eight first-team spots, four second-team spots and two honorable mentions.
Sisson was "dumbfounded." He asked his counterparts if they have ever seen a whole unit honored in such a way. The other coaches, who voted unanimously, said no.
"'We've never played a defense like that, either,'" Sisson recalled.
He had one other question. Could they even do this?
"It's our region," Sisson was told. "We can do whatever we want."
Resurrection's defensive MVPs included Paul Blackwell, Denzell Johnson, Jackson Byrd, Terry Lancaster, Cearly Parker, Becht Rowell, Steven Demetropoulos, David Alford, Jerry Johnson, Michael Gatchet, Barron Freeman and Ben Walley.
Justice Sharp, Dillon Jolly, Patrick Watts, Justin Archer, Carter Warren, Zach Pierce, Patrick Roth and Blake Porter all earned first-team spots, with Ben Walley, Jack Sisson, Patrick Lee and Caden Hinman on the second team. Caleb Newbill and Hunter Sharp were honorable mentions.
Byrd was named the region's lineman MVP, and Phillip Burrow is the special teams MVP.
Plaques galore
Now that the honors have been announced, Sisson has more work to do.
"I told them, 'y'all are going to cost me a fortune with all these plaques I'm going to have to buy now," Sisson laughed.
This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 8:26 PM with the headline "79 percent of Resurrection football lands spots on Region 4-1A team ."