Cape Central's Al Young takes home Carr Trophy

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Al Young finally took home that elusive Carr Trophy as the most outstanding football player in the SEMO Conference.

A finalist for a second straight year, the Cape Central senior picked up the honor Wednesday night at the 70th annual Poplar Bluff Letter Club Gridiron Banquet.

"It feels good to finally win it. I just can't stop smiling since I won it," Young said.

Young is the first Central player to win the award since Frank McGinty win it in 1998. As a wide receiver and defensive back for the Tigers, the 6-foot Young racked up 1,764 yards from scrimmage -- 318 more than last year -- and 29 offensive touchdowns on 143 touches. He also had one defensive score. He averaged 8.3 yards per carry, 22.7 yards per reception and accounted for 168 of Central's points this season.

Poplar Bluff's Steven Haley was caught by surprise when he heard his name during the presentation of the Derland Moore Award for the top defensive player a few minutes earlier.

"I have stage fright as it is, and when you're up there with two of the best defensive players in the conference, it's pretty surreal," Haley said. "As soon as I got up there, I got shivers."

Haley joins former teammate Jacob Sliger, who won it in 2013, as the only other Mule to win the award since 2011. Haley racked up a school record 153 tackles -- 23 for loss -- two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

Tristen Francisco of Poplar Bluff, Nick Thompson from Malden and Kennett's Edward Wilson were all named Scoring Trophy Winners while Quan Johnson (Kennett), Zach Gray (Malden) and Mitchell Gamer (Sikeston) earned honors as the top offensive linemen in the conference.

After leading the Green Wave to the Class 2 state championship, Malden coach Joel Wyatt took home the award for Coach of the Year in the SEMO South for the second straight year. Wyatt coached the Green Wave to a 14-1 runner-up finish.

Central coach Nathan Norman also repeated as Coach of the Year in the SEMO North after helping the Tigers reach the Class 4 semifinals in each season. Central has been to three consecutive semifinals under Norman.

Caruthersville coach Jimmy Jackson and Kennett coach Aaron Pixley were named co-coaches of the SEMO Central.