Austin St. Louis St. Ignace Junior Austin St. Louis of St. Ignace was selected to the Upper Peninsula All-Class Dream Team and named Defensive Player of the Year in the Straits Football League (SFL) and Davin Salo of Rudyard received All-Class Dream Team as quarterback and SFL Offensive Player of the Year during the Upper Peninsula meeting at Ludington House in Escanaba Thursday, October 29, and the SFL meeting at LaSalle High School in St. Ignace Sunday, October 25.

During the 60th meeting of the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, 16 players from the Eastern Upper Peninsula were selected to the elite team.

In Class A-B-C, three Rudyard seniors received first team honors. Arik Hesselink at offensive end, Ben Harter at offensive guard, and Ben Gable at defensive end.

Class D first team players were seniors Phillip Hood of Engadine as return specialist and defensive back, Zach McFarlane of Cedarville at offensive running back, Ben Eckola of Pickford at offensive tackle, and junior Ian Burton of Cedarville as the punter.

Davin Salo Rudyard Special mention honors went to Pat Maloney of Rudyard as AB C coach, seniors Gerrit Mortensen of St. Ignace at quarterback, punter, and kicker, Tyler Anderson of Cedarville at defensive back, and Michael Klobucher of Engadine as kicker.

Honorable mention went to juniors Michael Kenny and Patrick Duman, both of Cedarville, and senior Jon Kelly and junior Charlie Helsey, both of Pickford.

Players of Year: Class A-B-C offensive player of the year was Mich VanEffers of Escanaba; Class D top offensive player went to Mike Miller of North Dickinson; Class A-B-C defensive player was Winston Larson of Kingsford, and Class D defensive player was Brandon Sunbald of Lake Linden/ Hubbell.

Top Coaches: John Croze of Calumet was named Class AB C Coach of the Year and Dave Linczeski of Ontonagon Class D top coach.

Teams of the Year: Kingsford Flivvers (7-2) in Class A-B, Calumet Copper Kings (8-1) in Class C, and Lake Linden/Hubbell Lakes (9-0) in Class D.

Straits Football League

Joining St. Louis on the SFL defensive team were seniors Scott Coffey and Brett VanSloten of Rudyard and Chris Vogelheim of Rogers City at defensive backs; senior linebackers John Evashevski and Dan St. Onge of St. Ignace, Ron Coffey of Rudyard, and Cody Elowsky of Rogers City; and senior linemen Ben Gable of Rudyard, Gavin Puckett of Newberry, and Reese Schmucker of Rogers City.

Salo was joined in the SFL offensive backfield by senior Gerrit Mortensen of St. Ignace and senior Steven Penter of Newberry; at end, junior Austin St. Louis of St. Ignace, senior Arik Hesselink and junior Jared Clark of Rudyard, and senior Ben Tulgestke of Rogers City; linemen, junior Grant Simmons and seniors Ben Harter of Rudyard, Gavin Puckett of Newberry, and Travis Claus of Rogers City. Gerrit Mortensen of St. Ignace was named the SFL punter and kicker.

Receiving honorable mention were seniors Caleb Litzner and Mike Barthelemy of St. Ignace; junior Zac Dempsey and sophomore Tyler Wilson of Rudyard; seniors Cody Priestley and Dakota Lasslett, and juniors Jordan Davis and Lance Pinter of Newberry.

St. Ignace and Rudyard shared the conference championship. The Saints, Bulldogs, and Rogers City qualified for the playoffs.