2016 All-County Football Team

Published 5:50 am Wednesday, December 21, 2016

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Defense

DL, Ty Lett, TRM

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DL, Trentez Johnson, TRM

DL, Rickey Samuel, WSN

DL, Trae Lee, Escambia Academy

LB, J.T. Gantt, WSN

LB, Aaron Morton, Flomaton

LB, Jaylan Brown, Escambia County

DB, JoJo Booker, TRM

DB, Fred Flavors, Escambia County

DB, Henry Davison, TRM

DB, Kainoa Gumapec, Escambia County

 

Defensive MVP, JoJo Booker, TRM

T.R. Miller senior, JoJo Booker was everywhere on the field. Literally everywhere.

Booker played wide receiver on offense, kicked punts, returned punts, etc. Whenever the Tigers needed a playmaker it was No. 14 who was usually the one to get the job done.

Photo Allison Terrell Booker goes up for a catch against Bayside Academy.

Photo Allison Terrell
Booker goes up for a catch against Bayside Academy.

Where Booker arguably shined the most was on defense.

The Tigers entered the season young, with little experience in the secondary. Booker led the group with nine interceptions, including returning an interception for a touchdown against cross-town rival W.S. Neal on Oct. 28.   Twice Booker recorded the hat trick in interceptions (Sept. 9 against Hillcrest Evergreen and WSN).

From causing havoc with a hit (26 solo tackles), his hands, or leadership (team captain) on and off the field, Booker made quite an impact for the TRM Tigers, who stayed in the Class 3A top-ten for the whole season.

 

Offense

QB, Caleb Winton, TRM

HB, Michael Campbell, TRM

HB, Louie Turner, Escambia Academy

WR, JoJo Booker, TRM

WR, Patrick McGhee, Escambia Academy

TE, Tyrese Nicholson, TRM

OL, Aaron Nicholson, TRM

OL, Preston Townson, TRM

OL, Willie English, WSN

OL, Ryan Gagliano, Flomaton

OL, Cameron Armentor, Escambia Academy

 

Offensive MVP, Michael Campbell, TRM

No player was named player of the week as many times as Michael Campbell this season. The reason? Due to a stellar seven-game stretch in which Campbell rushed for 942 yards and 16 touchdowns. During which over the seven-game stretch, Campbell averaged 135 yards and two touchdowns.

Photo by Allison Terrell Campbell rushes against Bayside Academy.

Photo by Allison Terrell
Campbell rushes against Bayside Academy.

Campbell had his best game on homecoming night versus region rival Flomaton on Oct. 7.

The 220 pound junior was a work horse with 26 carries and 253 yards yards. He finished the night with three touchdowns.

The best may be yet to come for Campbell, who will be a senior next year. “Soup,” as he’s known to teammates and coaches, may be handing out ladles to opponents next season on not just the offensive side of the ball but as well on the defensive side at linebacker.

 

Special Teams

K, Matthew Morgan, TRM

P, JoJo Booker, TRM

 

Honorable Mention

DB, Joshua Jolly, TRM

OL, Chris Nobles, TRM

OL, Josh McMillan, WSN

HB, Kris Brown, Escambia Academy

LB, Casey Steadham, Flomaton

DB, Da’Shun Odom, Flomaton

ATH, Devon Robinson, Escambia County

 

Coach of the Year

Hugh Fountain, Escambia Academy

Escambia Academy head football coach Hugh Fountain is the 2016 All-County Coach of the Year.

Fountain helped lead the Cougars to their second state championship game in three years. He also eclipsed the 200-win mark in the state semifinals. EA finished at 8-5 on the season.

Andrew Garner | The Atmore Advance Fountain

Fountain

The head coach said the award’s credit goes to the players.

“To me, it goes to the players because they make the season,” Fountain said. “Even though we didn’t win a state championship, but we played in it, that was an accomplishment with our guys.”

Fountain said the EA culture is one where a lot of the coaches take pride in being able to coach high-caliber athletes.

“This award, to me, is about these guys and the assistant coaches,” he said. “They’ve been with us for a couple of years.”

Throughout the season, Fountain, along with assistant coaches John Gartman, Cale Thompson, Jeff Price, Marquino Siler, Marty Long, Joey Quimby and JP Sawyer, helped players improve in their respective positions.

Fountain said the coaches always stress to the players that it’s the end of the season that matters.

“One thing that we’ve done with the players is that we’re not afraid to change,” he said. “We’re not afraid to move people around.”

Fountain said the players are willing to play in different positions if need be.

By the numbers:

TRM, 11 selections (Booker selected to offense, defense and special team)

WSN, 3 selections

EA, 6 selections

FHS, 2 selections

ECHS, 1 selection

***Brewton Standard Sports Editor Corey Williams and Atmore Advance Editor Andrew Garner compiled the 2016 Escambia County All-County Football Team. Area coaches nominated top performing athletes by providing statistics. For stats of county selections pick up an issue of The Brewton Standard.***