Bridgeport High School captured three of the top five honors and placed nine members on the Big 10 All-Conference "Blue Division" football team..
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Junior
Gavin Williams took home the top award, being named the Big 10 Player of the Year. Teammate
Gabe Martin was named the Defensive Player of the Year, while
Bryson Lowther was named the Lineman of the Year.
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Nick Mayle of Philip Barbour was named Coach of the Year. Offensive Player of the Year went to Preston's Slaton Manko.
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The selections are made by a vote of the league's coaches.
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On offense, Bridgeport's junior
Eli Knight was named first team running back. He was joined by linemen
Wes Conley and
Harrison Hall, both seniors.
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Defensively, the Tribe saw senior lineman
Noah West and junior lineman
Tristin Noble selected to the first team. BHS also had a pair of linebackers chosen to the first team in senior Johnny Knight and junior
Brody Jeran.
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Rounding out the first team was junior
Graham Vincent as defensive back.
Sean Veltri, also a junior, was named the team's utility player.
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As for Williams, he finished the season with 1,977 yards rushing on 127 carries for an astounding average of 15.6 yards per run and a team-high 27 touchdowns. For good measure, he connected on 62-of-65 point-after tries for the Tribe. Defensively, he added 33 tackles for Bridgeport along with an interception.
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Martin, who led the team in tackles his sophomore year, was dominant again until an injury forced him to miss all or most of five contests. Still, his time made an impression on the league's coaches as he finished with 21 tackles for BHS.
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Lowther proved to be a force on both sides of the line as he helped the ground game churn out an average of 414.5 yards per game. Defensively, he caused all kinds of havoc with 69 tackles, including a team-high eight sacks and 21 tackles for loss. Â
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The Blue Division consists of most of the Big 10's larger schools. The group includes Bridgeport, Buckhannon-Upshur, East Fairmont, Fairmont Senior, Preston, and Robert C. Byrd.
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The Gold Division consists of Elkins, Grafton, Lewis County, Lincoln, North Marion, and Philip Barbour.
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The top honors listed above included both of the divisions of the Big 10 Conference.
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To see all the selections of the Blue and Gold Divisions, clickÂ
HERE.
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