By The Daily Item
The two Valley football teams still alive in the PIAA playoffs are, not surprisingly, well represented in the Heartland Athletic Conference all-star squads.
HAC-I champion Selinsgrove had 13 first-team selections as well as the Coach of the Year in Dave Hess while Southern Columbia, which tied Mount Carmel for the HAC-II crown, has nine first-team honorees. Lewisburg, which lost in the District 4 Class AA title game on Saturday, has seven top picks.
In the top division, the Seals, ranked first in the state by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, had seven offensive picks and six more on the defensive side of the ball. Four Selinsgrove players, Jon Trego, Spencer Myers, Matt Wenrich and Ryan Keiser, were first-team selections on both offense and defense.
Joining Trego and Myers on the offensive line were Shikellamy guard Mark Sangill and Selingrove teammate Logan Hetherington. Wenrich is the first-team fullback, while the Braves' T.J. Hertzog joined Montoursville's Cody Haupt as the tailbacks. Keiser is one of two first-team receivers while his battery-mate Cory Briggs is the quarterback and Kyle Schuck the tight end.
Selinsgrove, Shikellamy and Danville were well represented on the first-team defense.
Up front, the first-team linemen were Trego, Myers, Shikellamy's Josh Brosious and Danville's Hughtson Bogart. Valley linebackers fill out the first team with Selinsgrove's Bryant Trautman and Wenrich joining Danville's Dylan Dailey and Hertzog.
In the secondary, Keiser is joined by teammate Cameron Benner and Shikellamy's Tyler Pratt.
Southern Columbia, which won its record 18th District 4 title and will meet Tri-Valley in the PIAA Class A quarterfinals on Friday night, has nine honorees, including three first-team offensive linemen. Mount Carmel, which shared the title with Southern, has four top picks.
Valley stars line the front with Southern's Ian VanWirren, John Lamb and Brad Witckoskie joined by Mount Carmel's Ahmad Aboumar and Shamokin's Wes Tillett. That quintet paved the way for two of the three honorees in the backfield with MCA's Justin Pellowski and Southern's Jake Morton grabbing top honors along with Loyalsock's Stephen Stopper.
Southern's Jake Townsend is the first-team pick at quarterback while Corey Bittner is one of two tight ends. Bryan Snyder, the Tigers' veteran kicker, is also a top pick.
Defensively, Aboumar and Tillett are first-team selections up front along with Southern sophomore Tom Schetroma. Southern's Ethan Snyder and Shamokin standout Brent Forbes are joined by brothers Don and Mike Kinney of Loyalsock as the top linebackers.
In the defensive backfield, Pellowski is also a first-team pick to go along with his offensive nod.
In the HAC-III, champion Hughesville grabbed nine first-team selections, followed by Lewisburg's seven.
Guard Sean Chearest is Lewisburg's lone first-team pick up front with sophomore fullback Merle Moscarello earned honors in his first-year as a starter. Lewisburg's other top pick on offense is placekicker Robbie Gaines.
On defense, Lewisburg has top picks at all three levels. Cody Fisher is one of five defensive linemen selected while Cody Raup and Nate Brown are two of a talented four-man linebacking corps. In the secondary, Ben Kerlin earned top honors for the Green Dragons.
