By Staff
With Buchanan's loss in the second round of the MHSAA playoffs last week, the football season, at least for our local schools, has officially come to an end. Already, coaches, players, fans and parents have started to reflect on the season that was and are eagerly anticipating next year.
This week, Niles and Brandywine held their end of the season banquets at the College Football Hall of Fame, honoring their players and handing out individual awards. Buchanan will have its ceremony at the same place next week. In keeping with that them, I have come up with my own list of awards to dole out to our three teams.
These awards are not official recognitions and are not backed by Leader Publications or the Daily Star. They are simply a fun way to look back on the year in football.
Biggest Surprise of the Year
With just one regular season game remaining, Brandywine had more victories than Niles. Heading into each school's final game, they had identical 2-6 records. However, one of Niles' wins came via forfeit from Battle Creek Lakeview. The Spartans beat the Vikings 48-20 Sept. 17, but had to forfeit the game because they used an ineligible player.
The surprise was that Niles, a playoff team three years in a row, had only one victory in eight games. Equally as surprising was the Bobcats' two wins after losing their first four games by a combine score of 173-18. With such an inexperienced team, many thoughts Brandywine would go winless in 2004.
Game of the Year
Buchanan's 27-24 come-from-behind victory over Coloma Sept. 17. The Bucks trailed by 17 points at halftime in the battle of undefeated Lakeland Conference powerhouses. Trailing 24-19, Buchanan's quarterback Gordon Bryant ran 48-yards on third down and six for the game winning score. If the 20 straight points the Bucks scored in the second half weren't enough, they still had to thwart a final Hail Mary pass to win the ball game.
Play of the Year
In Niles' final game of the year, Oct. 22 at home against St. Joseph, the Vikings clung to a 26-21 lead. Facing fourth and one at the Bears' 48-yard-line with less than three minutes remaining, Niles head coach Dave Janicki elected to go for the first down rather than punt.
Running back Lyle Watson ran into a wall of St. Joe defenders at the line of scrimmage, but quickly bounced outside and ran all the way for a 52-yard score to seal the victory. It was Niles' second win in a row to end a disappointing season on a high note.
Coach of the Year
Though his team had the worst record of the three, Brandywine head coach Terry Borr made the most of what he had this season. When Borr took over the team in July, the program was suffering from declining numbers. He knew he had to get more kids involved, so Borr took he focus off winning and put it on making football fun. The strategy worked, as Brandywine had 30-plus players for most the season.
The Bobcats had just three players return with varsity experience. One of those three, starting quarterback Jeff VanLaere, was injured for the year in the second game. Still, Borr was patient with his players, taught them the basics of football, and even guided the Bobcats to two victories on the year.
Brandywine exhibited continual improvement throughout the season, thanks to Borr and his staff. Though the Bobcats finished 2-7, they pushed playoff-qualifier to the limit.
Player of the Year
In his first year at Buchanan as a transfer from Galien, senior Denny Williams quickly became a team leader. In his first game in a Bucks' uniform, Williams rushed for two touchdowns, followed by two more scores the second game. His best performance of the year, however, came in the final regular season game against Cassopolis, when he rushed for a school-record 255 yards.
Williams was also a team leader on defense at linebacker. He performed so well that he earned First-Team All-Conference honors at both running back and linebacker. Not one, but two All-Conference awards earn him my pick as the area Player of the Year.
Team of the Year
No surprise here. Buchanan went 8-1 through the regular season, its only loss coming at conference champion Berrien Springs. The Bucks qualified for the playoffs for the first time ever and won the first playoff game in school history. Though their playoff run came to an abrupt end at Constantine, the 2004 Bucks accomplished great things that weren't expected of them at the beginning of the season.
Not only did Buchanan win nine games, but it dominated its opponents. The Bucks outscored teams by an average of 36-18. In the final game of the season against Cass, the Bucks rushed for a school-record 556 yards. Five Bucks were named First Team All-Lakeland Conference and four more made the Second Team. For their record-breaking season, Buchanan gets my nod for area team of the year.