High school football player recognized for leadership on and off the field

Winnipeg's high school football season is over and now the awards have been handed out.

Among those was the Harry Hood Award, which has been handed out since 1954.

The award is given to the athlete who "exemplifies the standard in playing ability, school citizenship, fair play and scholastic standing."

This year's recipient was Nevan Brown, a middle linebacker with the Dakota Lancers.

He broke the Winnipeg High School Football record with 99 tackles this season and is also sporting a 94 average in school.

He said he was honoured when he found out he was the 2022 recipient.

"I think it speaks a lot to not only the player I am on the field but the individual I am in the community and in the classroom as well. It's just really good to have the recognition not only for being a good football player, but being a good person," said Brown.

Head Coach Mitchell Harrison said he couldn't have asked for a better leader to be on the team but notes he demonstrates his leadership in his day-to-day life.

"We do a ton of volunteering at Dakota in the community. Again he's the first guy signing up for those things. He's always ready to go and ready to lead a group in volunteering or do whatever he needs to do to make sure it's a success," said Harrison.

He said the work Brown does continuously rubs off on other players who then in turn strive to be better.

"(Brown) is just an absolute stud in terms of football but also leadership and academics and volunteerism. I'm going to be sad, I'm not going to lie, I'm going to be sad when he is gone."

Harrison added seeing kids succeed like this is why he loves the job that he has and knows Brown is going to have a positive impact in the world, whether that be on or off the field.

Brown said he has always been motivated to be the best version of himself, no matter what he is doing.

"There's a lot of people that can be good at football, right? But football ends at some point and you have to be able to help in other aspects of your life too. So it's just important to me to expand my knowledge and capabilities in areas outside of football as well," said Brown.

Brown started playing football when he was nine years old and debated quitting after his first year because he struggled, but he said his dad's encouragement kept him going.

"My second year, the ball started rolling a little bit, things started to click. Won an atom division championship that year. I was a pivotal player on the defensive side of the ball and I have just been improving ever since."

Brown is in Grade 12 and said he has three scholarships to play football—at the University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina.

He said he hopes his post-secondary career will lead to him playing the CFL, but he knows his education is important as well.

"My plan is to go into kinesiology, probably take a look at a business minor. So one of my aspirations is to own my own gym or physio practice sometime in the future."

Harrison said seeing Brown's success will be a great motivator for players next year.

"The biggest impact for me as a coach is you now have people competing to be good leaders and to be good citizens outside of just competing to be good football players. And understanding that the expectation, when we talk about things like determination or grit or resiliency, we're talking about the whole human, and not just you as a football player."

The Harry Hood Award also comes with a $1,000 scholarship that is presented by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Alumni Association.

An entire list of previous award winners can be found online.

The All-Division Team for each Division is listed below.

DIVISION 1

Offense:

Quarterback

Cole Anseeuw - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Running back

John Boubard - Dakota Lancers

Cole Kennedy - Oak Park Raiders

Offensive Line

Magnus Arnason - Grant Park Pirates

Kiernan MacDonald - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Myles Peters - Steinbach Sabres

Sean Rowe - Dakota Lancers

Tobi Sokunbi - Vincent Massey Trojans

Receiver

Daniel Audit - Oak Park Raiders

Rylan Klenk - Dakota Lancers

Brandon Kubay - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Jalen McDonald - Vincent Massey Trojans

Punter/Kicker

Brady Fay - Vincent Massey Trojans

Defense:

Defensive Line

Tarig Ahmed - Grant Park Pirates

Jerome Fouillard - Oak Park Raiders

Izzy Opanubi - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Carlos Teklu - Dakota Lancers

Linebackers

Nevan Brown - Dakota Lancers

Matthew Gillespie - Oak Park Raiders

Dario Macchia - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Defensive backs

Jake Deneka - Grant Park Pirates

Cohen McCluskey - Dakota Lancers

Njita Sinkala - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Marcus Wahl - Dakota Lancers

Eamon Wallace - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Returner

Augustine Nkundimana - Dakota Lancers

DIVISION 2

Offense:

Quarterback

Justin Sharpe - Vincent Massey Vikings

Running back

Kye Parker - Portage Trojans

Offensive Line

Quinton Beaulieu - Sisler Spartans

Anthony Costain-Starr - Portage Trojans

Carter Moore - Vincent Massey Vikings

Connor Riddols - Springfield Sabres

Alex Witoski - Springfield Sabres

Receiver

Lucas Cels - Vincent Massey Vikings

Matthew Escoto-Andino - Vincent Massey Vikings

Liam Hutter - John Taylor Pipers

Jarome Penner - Sturgeon Heights Huskies

Dylan Tereck - John Taylor Pipers

Punter/Kicker

Jarome Penner - Sturgeon Heights Huskies

Defense:

Defensive Line

Christian Czezowski - Miles Mac Buckeyes

Keegan Haubrich - John Taylor Pipers

Christian Nieman Mayer - Sturgeon Heights Huskies

Dayton Rudolph - Sisler Spartans

Linebackers

Lucas Burgoyne - Vincent Massey Vikings

Will Cockriell - Miles Mac Buckeyes

Liam Fischer - Sturgeon Heights Huskies

Miguel Pantua - Garden City Fighting Gophers

Defensive backs

Kevin Garcia - Vincent Massey Vikings

Quiru Julian - Kelvin Clippers

Kian Ruiter - Sisler Spartans

Liam Southcombe - Crocus Plains Plainsmen

Returner

Amari Griffiths-Sosoo - Miles Mac Buckeyes

DIVISION 3

Offense:

Quarterback

Mariucz Pelly - Beaver Brae Broncos

Running back

Josh Farber - St. John’s Tigers

Nicholas Parrott - Churchill Bulldogs

Offensive Line

Ronin Evans - Kildonan East Reivers

James Monkman - St. John’s Tigers

David Rickard - River East Kodiaks

Solomon Sitar - Maples Marauders

Cale Wright - Dryden Eagles

Receiver

Seth Boychuk - West Kildonan Wolverines

Connor Freeman - River East Kodiaks

Khadafi Pelly - Beaver Brae Broncos

Rylan Rempel - River East Kodiaks

Punter/Kicker

Dylan Fonseca -  DMCI Maroons

Defense:

Defensive Line

Robal Marhay - DMCI Maroons

Nikolas McKee - Maples Marauders

Cody Vanderveer - Kildonan East Reivers

Linebackers

Zahid Bandali - Maples Marauders

C.J. Ebron - DMCI Maroons

Noah Hrabi - West Kildonan Wolverines

Darius Totin - Kildonan East Reivers

Defensive backs

David Amaliri - Kildonan East Reivers

Brayden Klippenstein - St. John’s Tigers

Carter McKinstry - Dryden Eagles

Travis Thakoor - West Kildonan Wolverines

Karter Wickham - Beaver Brae Broncos

Returner

Quintin Patrick - Maples Marauders

 JUNIOR VARSITY

Offense:

Quarterback

Khaleel Hosein - Dakota Lancers

Running back

Onan Furst - Oak Park Raiders

Amid Kanu - Dakota Lancers

Offensice Line

Nic Crittin - Vincent Massey Trojans

Daatin Dubuc-Morrisseau - Grant Park Pirates

Cole Garriock - Oak Park Raiders

Brady Penner - Dakota Lancers

Ezekiel Schumacher - Steinbach Sabres

Receiver

Nathan Esch - Oak Park Raiders

Brock Grieves - Grant Park Pirates

Lekan Oyeleye - Vincent Massey Trojans

Mason Voogt - Dakota Lancers

Punter/Kicker

Noah Petterson Dakota Lancers

Defense:

Defensive Line

Travis Hayden - Oak Park Raiders

Destiny Okedara - Dakota Lancers

Eric Sabourin - Grant Park Pirates

Linebackers

Mohammad-Nour Alkahtab - Grant Park Pirates

Sam Opanubi - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Sebi Pizarro-Soler - Vincent Massey Trojans

Owen Sampson - Oak Park Raiders

Defensive backs

Jake Godfrey - Dakota Lancers

Brayden Hyde - St. Paul’s Crusaders

Jack Pierre - Vincent Massey Trojans

Nigel Reader - Steinbach Sabres

David Sindikubwabo - Dakota Lancers

Returner

Daylon Donaldson St. Paul’s Crusaders