Two area coaches and 21 players were honored during the 56th Annual Fall Meeting of the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Thursday, October 27, in Escanaba.

Randy Schaedig of Cedarville (9-0) in Class D and Pat Maloney of Rudyard (7-2) in Class A-B-C received special mention as Coach of the Year in the Upper Peninsula.

Class A-B-C

Fourth Pierson Earns

All-U.P. Honors

Zach Pierson on defense for St. Ignace earned First Team Class A-B-C honors. The LaSalle High School senior became the fourth member of the Pierson family to earn All-Upper Peninsula honors. Forty years ago (1965) the Saints’ Barry Pierson was awarded Dream Team quarterback in the Upper Peninsula and his three sons, Charlie, Chase, and Zach, have followed with Upper Peninsula defensive honors.

Senior Trent Salo of Rudyard was named Class A-B-C first team offense. Receiving special mention were juniors Derrick Clark and Jake Smith of St. Ignace, seniors Travis Clegg and Jordan Gaskin of Rudyard, and juniors Owen McGrath and Dan Bartley of Rudyard.

Class D

Seniors Gary Kott and Aaron Bright of Cedarville, juniors Caleb Rader and Jason King of Pickford, and seniors Jeff Graham and Derek Parish of Brimley were named to the Class D First Team.

Special mention honors went to senior Cory Wellnitz, and juniors Justin Baker and Peter Treleaven of Cedarville, and seniors Scott Butkovich and Jacob Swider, junior Grayson Hood, and sophomore J.J. Troyer of Engadine.

Class A-B-C Offensive Player of the Year was awarded to Phil Milbrath of Norway and Defensive Player of the Year to Matt Payment of Newberry, while Class D Offensive Player of the Year was presented to Casey DeMars of Lake Linden-Hubbell and Defensive Player of the Year to Brian Fabbri of Crystal Falls-Forest Park.

Coaches, Teams of the Year

Menominee were named Class A-B Team of the Year, while the Maroons coach Ken Hofer received Class A-B-C Coach of the Year. Iron Mountain was Class C Team of the Year and Crystal Falls-Forest Park was Class D Team of the Year, and the Trojans coach Bill Santilli was named Coach of the Year.

All-Class Dream Team

The All-Class Dream Team on offense included center Sean Myers of Menominee, guards Jeremy Gilbert of Gladstone and Tom Basto of Calumet, tackles Alex Sedlacek of Negaunee and Jeff Busick of Menominee, ends Justin Groeneveld of Kingsford and Dustin Brancheau of Ispheming, running backs Phil Milbrath of Norway, Casey DeMars of Lake Linden-Hubbell, and Jake Pann of Newberry, quarterback Mike Olson of Kingsford, kicker John Ellis of Iron Mountain, and return specialist Kyle Schinella of Ispheming.

The All-Class Defensive Dream Team were tackles Matt Payment of Newberry, Steve Rigoni of Iron Mountain, and Brian Fabbri of Crystal Falls Forest Park, ends Brand Bland of Menominee and Brett Young of Gladstone, linebackers Jordan Barley of Menominee, Jake Klingelhutz of Kingsford, and Mike Lyman of Ispheming, backs James Cappeart of Gladstone, Kyle Schinella of Ispheming, and Eric Boye of Menominee, and punter Joe Pontbriand of Norway.