Dll-AAA Mr Football Semifinalists

[Devilsx5]

DIVISION II, CLASS AAA
DeAngelo Hardy, McCallie
Elijah Howard, Baylor
Keshawn Lawrence, Ensworth
Jabari Small, Briarcrest
Omari Thomas, Briarcrest

[Spartan4Life]

Elijah Howard. 

[Booger]

your choice has shocked the world Sparty

Booger just sayin 

[LouPickney]

That had to be an incredibly difficult cut to make to get to five. Congrats to all of the semifinalists -- that is a major distinction.

DeAngelo Hardy is such a talented runner that his passing skill gets overlooked at times. McCallie runs so much motion to set up rushing plays, and Hardy is especially good at making it unclear who has the ball. He's the only quarterback to make the list. With Hardy at QB, no lead is safe.

Elijah Howard is a special running back even at a time when Division II-AAA is loaded with talented RBs. He has his own signature maneuver with the dead leg. His ability to abruptly cut cross-field is staggering. If Howard gets outside the tackles and gets any sort of a seam, he will destroy you. On top of that, he's very quick to hit an opening, especially in the red zone.

Keshawn Lawrence is an exceptionally talented safety. Instinctive, disciplined, adept against the run, and very talented in coverage. I've perhaps called more Lawrence games than anyone not at Ensworth over the past four years (four regular-season and a playoff game), and he was great at RB in past years. Lawrence is mostly at WR when used on offense now, and he's as effective as ever when Ensworth gets him the ball.

PSA: Never punt the ball to Keshawn Lawrence. Ever. Don't do it. It's like trying to tackle an agent from The Matrix. Fair warning, Briarcrest.

Jabari Small has been a consistently strong runner for Briarcrest this season. Trying to choose between Small and B.J. Harris from McCallie (perhaps the biggest snub) and Al Wooten from CBHS and the rest couldn't have been an easy task. Small is similar to Howard in his ability to run at such sharp angles, almost in a gravity-defying way.

Omari Thomas is the only defensive lineman on the list, and he is a major reason why Briarcrest has been so effective against the run this season. With McCallie DE Jay Hardy giving his verbal commit to Auburn this week, it leaves "Big O" as the clear-cut top remaining uncommitted senior defensive lineman in the state, at least IMO. Guys with his combo of size and athleticism just don't come along very often.

[JRB]

I saw 4 of the 5 nominees this year and all are very deserving.  I only saw each player in one game so my perspective is limited.  Based on one game as the "yardstick", my pick would be Elijah Howard.  He simply was more impactful on the outcome of the game than the others.     

[Booger]

31 minutes ago, JRB said:

 I only saw each player in one game so my perspective is limited. 

neither did most of the voters

Booger just sayin 

[D23A]

Likely going to be between Keshawn and Elijah for the award. Don't know who the third finalist will be.

[LouPickney]

The finalist list is out.

DIVISION II, CLASS AAA
Elijah Howard, Baylor
Jabari Small, Briarcrest
Omari Thomas, Briarcrest

I wrote before that Omari Thomas was the clear-cut top remaining uncommitted senior defensive lineman in the state, though that might not be fair with Knox Catholic's Tyler Baron and Ravenwood's Reggie Grimes (whose father was a sophomore on the 1992 Hunters Lane team that gave my Father Ryan team one of only two regular-season losses that year) still uncommitted.

But if you're talking strictly defensive tackles and not defensive ends, it's Omari well ahead of the field. I didn't think Briarcrest would get two spots considering how many great players there were in II-AAA this season, but obviously that's the way it worked out.

Also, BA's Paxton Perry is a finalist for Kicker of the Year. Joining him on the list is Luke Akers at Ravenwood (who I saw calling FRHS/Ravenwood last season) and Zeke Rankin of Alcoa, who I don't know much about aside from knowing he plays for a traditional football powerhouse.