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
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