OLDS — Eight players received awards during the École Olds High School football team's awards banquet, held Nov. 17 in the Commons.
It was the first such banquet held in about three years, due to COVID-19 restrictions. It capped off a great season which saw the Spartans post a 4-2 record.
Landon Erick was named Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Blair Van Brunschot and Dane Drent tied for the Offensive Player of the Year award.
Noah Worth was named Defensive Player of the Year and Johnny Mullins was chosen Lineman of the Year.
Colby Pagan took home the Rookie Player of the Year award and Brock Bratrud was named Most Improved Player.
The Unsung Hero Award was presented to Parker Irving.
Aaron Stomsmoe coached the offence and presented Van Brunschot and Drent with their awards.
“These two offensive players contributed the vast majority of our points this season,” Stomsmoe said.
“It wasn’t without the help of the rest of the team, don’t get me wrong, but it seems every time we scored a point, these two were involved.
“It seemed fitting that we split this award between the two of them and call them both our top offensive players.”
Defensive coach Lyle Groves handed out the Defensive Player of the Year award.
"This is an award in which the player not only excelled on the field but also demonstrated what a premier player should: sportsmanship and leadership through hard work,” he said as he called Worth up to the podium.
“Noah came out and he did just a tremendous amount of personal improvement,” Groves said.
He said early on, Worth asked the coaches what he could do to improve himself and really applied himself in the gym and academically."
“To show that initiative really shows what we look for in a player and an athlete,” Groves said.
"As a coach, it really helps our performance when we have players that are willing to do whatever it takes each day, both mentally and physically.
“He showed a commitment to himself to be better and that showed with what he did this year for the team.
“His leadership skills and work ethic he displayed this year are going to take him very far.”
Offensive line coach Cayden Andrews presented Mullins with his Lineman of the Year award.
“Johnny would always be right in the middle of the trenches, battling his way into the backfield," Andrews said.
However, he said Mullins didn’t just charge in there without thinking and noticing what was going on.
“He would go in and he would wait and watch to see where the ball was going to create his plan of attack and go there with the opposing team and disrupt the play in the backfield,” he said.
“He was a team player and beast of a lineman.”
Pagan’s award as Rookie of the Year was well deserved, quarterbacks coach Marcus Lorenz indicated.
“This player’s dedication, hard work and a positive attitude were greatly appreciated by his teammates and coaches,” Lorenz said. “Although he was a rookie this season, he definitely did not play like one.”
Lorenz also gave out the Most Improved Player award.
He said Bratrud “became a force to be reckoned with this season.”
He said Bratrud’s ability to run the ball but also block for his teammates was “spectacular to watch.”
George Grant coached the defence and gave out the Unsung Hero award.
He said although he didn’t have a regular position to play, Irving did whatever the coaches asked him to do.
“We asked him, ‘OK, we need you to be the running back.’ And not a problem, he’d jump in there. ‘OK, we need you go out to receiver.’ Yeah, he would do that,” Grant said.
He did the same on defence.
"It was an absolute pleasure to watch him improve and grow and really become a true leader on the football team,” Grant said.
Head coach Kent Lorenz gave out the last award of the night: MVP.
“Landon, you had a fantastic season,” Lorenz said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen as much growth for somebody stepping into that position.
“Playing the game of football in general, it’s very fast and it can be really hard to process.
“But from our first game, scrimmage at Lindsay Thurber, to the end of the season, we had you calling the plays of coach Aaron. You were reading the defences, what they were doing.”
Several coaches recommended that players work out in the gym in the off-season to get stronger for next season. Some players did so this year and were told that that clearly paid off.
The players thanked their coaches and parents for all they did for them. In the parents’ case, sometimes that meant forcing them out of bed for morning practices.
The team will lose seven players to graduation this year.
