All-Area High School Football Team

By Andrew Marcus
Sportswriter for The Lansdale Reporter

Follow me on Twitter @amarcus515

The All-Area team is picked by me and based on what I have seen and read. This is NOT affiliated with The Lansdale Reporter. It is given the title of "All-Area" based on the requirement of needing to play in the Lansdale Reporter, Montgomery Media, Times Herald, or The Mercury's coverage area.

I am aware Saint Joseph's Prep, Neshaminy, and Archbishop Ryan have had some stellar seasons from stellar athletes, but there is no Jawan McAllister, D'Andre Pollard, or Samir Bullock on these teams.

Without further adieu...



OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

FIRST TEAM QUARTERBACK: Rasaan Stewart (Perkiomen Valley) - This would have been my pick before he orchestrated a 60-20 win in the District One quarterfinals. Forget about the defense he plays at safety, a position he will play at the next level, and admire the stats he gained as the signal caller for the Vikings. Stewart capped off an impressive career with a standout senior season. A 2,000/1,000 year for a team that won 10 games makes him the easy choice my the Area Player of the Year. My apologies to LaSalle's Kyle Shurmur and Abington's Craig Reynolds.





SECOND TEAM QUARTERBACK: Kyle Shurmur (LaSalle)
THIRD TEAM QUARTERBACK: John Fitz (Central Bucks West)
HONORABLE MENTION QUARTERBACK: Connor Hanlon (Plymouth-Whitemarsh)

FIRST TEAM RUNNINGBACK:  Craig Reynolds (Abington) - A midst a quarterback change due to injury the Galloping Ghosts never quit. Reynolds, the senior never quit moving his legs and the most important piece to Tim Sorber's squad. He eclipsed 1,600 yards and 25 scores for one of the final four teams standing in District One.

SECOND TEAM RUNNINGBACKBACK: Mike Class (Pennridge)
THIRD TEAM QUARTERBACK: Jarred Jones (Spring-Ford)
HONORABLE MENTION RUNNING BACK: Jarrett McClenton (Archbishop Wood)

FIRST TEAM FULLBACK:  Luke Berry (North Penn) - If there is any reason the North Penn football team is not afraid to run right at you it is the powerful season. He never goes down on first contact and he picks up first downs on regularity. Berry can open a hole for his tailback with the best of them and is captain in every sense of the word.

SECOND TEAM FULLBACK: John Lee (Upper Dublin)
THIRD TEAM FULLBACK: Brian Afflick (Plymouth-Whitemarsh)
HONORABLE MENTION FULLBACK:  Josh Messina (Archbishop Wood)

FIRST TEAM OFFENSIVE LINE: Ryan Bates (Archbishop Wood) - He is unmovable object and the reason the Vikings can get creative on offense. Forget about a pass rush against Bates and with him at tackle they could put almost any one at running back they would run for 1,000 yards. McClenton won AAA PCL MVP this season, but with three first team offensive lineman, led by Bates, the honor could have gone to him.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSIVE LINE: Frank Tranzilli (North Penn)
THIRD TEAM OFFENSIVE LINE:  Pat Finn (Pottsgrove)
HONORABLE MENTION OFFENSIVE LINE:  Ian Bates (Lansdale Catholic)

FIRST TEAM WIDE RECEIVER  John O'Malley (Hatboro-Horsham) - It was not the best year for the Hatters, but at least the fans got to watch O'Malley in action each week. He did some of his biggest tricks on the deep ball from his sophomore quarterback Casey Walsh, but he also ran the ball with authority when needed. The Hatters should be thankful to have his skills coming back for another season. He is as dangerous as they come.

SECOND TEAM WIDE RECEIVER: Jimmy Herron (LaSalle)
THIRD TEAM WIDE RECEIVER: Micah Stutzman (Pennridge)
HONORABLE MENTION WIDE RECEIVER: Manny Nieves (Souderton)

FIRST TEAM TIGHT END: Alex Eppinger (North Penn) - The Knight overcame injuries and illness to solidify the run game of the Suburban One Continental Conference champs. Once a true lineman, he switch to a blocking tight end and was terrific. Him and his partner in crime Nick Wright made a stellar one-two punch for coach Dick Beck's smash mouth offense.

SECOND TEAM TIGHT END:  Zach Talley (Lansdale Catholic)
THIRD TEAM TIGHT END: Marc Conran (Upper Dublin)
HONORABLE MENTION TIGHT END:  Shayne McCurdy (Academy New Church)


ALL-AREA MEDIA KICK:  Matt Ammendola (North Penn)
ALL-AREA MEDIA PUNTER:  Peter Psomiadis (Pennridge)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

FIRST TEAM DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Mason Romano (Spring-Ford) - When you saw the Rams on the schedule you knew it was paramount to make most of the limited opportunities you received. Led by the senior defensive end the Rams played in their share of low-scoring affairs. His pass rush gave opposing quarterbacks fits and was one of the rare teams and players to slow down Perk Valley's Rasaan Stewart, a 14-7 win. Romano is my Area Defensive Player of the Year. My apologies to Pottsgrove's Michael Fowler and LaSalle's Zaire Franklin.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Josh Beare (Pennridge)
THIRD TEAM DEFENSIVE LINEMAN:  Grant Udinski (Central Bucks West)
HONORABLE MENTION DEFENSIVE LINEMAN:  Nick Wright (North Penn)

FIRST TEAM LINEBACKER: Zaire Franklin (LaSalle) - The Syracuse commit meant so much to the Explorers this season, both on offense as a tackle and certainly on defense. It is a shame that their season gets cut off at the league title game against Prep. Both the Hawks and Franklin's Explorers deserve to be playing deep into the postseason.

SECOND TEAM LINEBACKER:  Michael Cassidy (Methacton)
THIRD TEAM LINEBACKER:  Joe Leventhal (Lower Moreland)
HONORABLE MENTION LINEBACKER: Jude Coughlin (Lansdale Catholic)

FIRST TEAM DEFENSIVE BACK: Michael Fowler (Pottsgrove) - The Falcons continued to churn out league titles and be one of the best team's in Class AAA. Fowler fearless cover skills combined with his tackling ability help limit the big plays and always keep the PAC-10 powerhouse in control of the clock and dominating the scoreboard.




SECOND TEAM DEFENSIVE BACK: Joe Ramos (Central Bucks West)
THIRD TEAM DEFENSIVE BACK: Kendall Singleton (Archbishop Wood)
HONORABLE MENTION DEFENSIVE BACK: Kurran Holland (Perkiomen Valley)