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Local footballers dominate All-State teams

It was a great year for local football players. In total, the three Summit County high school teams — Park City, South Summit and North Summit — accounted for 20 spots on the Deseret News All-State teams in a year in which all three squads qualified for their respective playoffs.

Leading the way was South Summit quarterback Ty Jones, who was named the 2A MVP for a season in which he helped lead the Wildcats to a second-straight 2A state championship victory. Jones completed 56 passes for 1,244 yards and threw 18 touchdowns. He also ran for 805 yards and another 15 touchdowns.

Jones, who was a first-team award winner last season, said he didn’t expect to be named MVP after this season.

"I really didn’t," he said. "I just knew it was my job to get the team there and do my part to get that title."

Though the most important thing this year for Jones was that his team won another state title, he said it’s nice to be acknowledged for individual play as well.

"It’s an awesome accomplishment," he said. "After making the first team last year, this was the next step I could take. It was overwhelming."

Jones was joined by several teammates at the All-State awards banquet, many of whom received first-team honors. Running backs Colby Averett (the 2A MVP last year), Bracken Santos and Isaac Tillett (the only Wildcat junior on the first team), along with lineman Hunter Angell and linebacker Daxton Hansen, also made the first team.

Averett finished the year with 11 offensive touchdowns and 128 tackles from his linebacker position. Santos had 14 total touchdowns and intercepted five passes. Tillett rushed for 705 yards and 11 touchdowns. Angell had 66 tackles from his defensive line spot and opened up running lanes for the previously mentioned running backs offensively. Hansen finished the year with 102 tackles and three sacks.

Jones said he doesn’t envy the people who had to choose which South Summit player would be the 2A MVP.

"This senior group has been super athletic," he said. "Anyone could have gotten that MVP. I would hate to have had to choose between us."

South Summit Coach Jerry Parker agreed, saying there were a few players who could have won the award.

"I thought we had three kids who could get it — Ty, Bracken or Colby again," he said. "Bracken got the award through Channel 5 (KSL). But, as far as Ty picking up his performance to get the award, I thought he did an outstanding job preparing for this season and doing whatever he had to do to help the offense run. He was a magician offensively."

Though a total of 12 South Summit players were awarded for their strong play this season, Parker said he thinks a couple others were slighted.

"Honestly, I think we should have had a couple more," he said. "We were loaded this year. Our kids were very talented. We had kids on the sideline who could have started for most teams."

Looking forward, it’s seemingly up to Tillett to keep the Wildcats’ streak of 2A MVP awards alive next season. Parker said he thinks Tillett is up to the task.

"He has a shot to be the MVP and we have a shot to win it all again," he said. "We return one defensive player and three or four offensive players. That’s all. But we have a lot of guys ready to be plugged in. Isaac’s a great player and it’s amazing what a year does for maturity. We expect big things from him."

It was also a good year for the Wildcats’ neighbors to the north. North Summit seniors Ryan McMichael, Cason Deforest and Carson Richins all made the first team, too.

McMichael, a quarterback, scored 27 total touchdowns and had 82 tackles on defense. Richins ran for 1,070 yards and 15 touchdowns. Deforest finished the season with 54 tackles as a defensive end and also scored five total touchdowns.

In Park City, senior quarterback/running back/defensive back Ian Moritz received first-team honors for a season in which he piled up 102 tackles in addition to his offensive efforts.

Second-team honors went to Cameron Smith of North Summit, Chris Castona and Quinn Zimmerman of South Summit and Josh Pelegrin of Park City. Honorable mentions went to Ethan Miles, Skyler McCormick, Michael Yost and Harley Georgi of South Summit, Braden and Mason Richins of North Summit and Parker Shea of Park City.


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