Fall sports finalists announced for Semoball Awards

High school athletes throughout the region were recognized Saturday as 55 student-athletes from across Southeast Missouri were announced as finalists for the Third Annual Semoball Awards.

Final nominees from eight different sport categories -- football offense, football defense, volleyball, boys soccer, boys and girls cross country, boys swimming and diving and girls tennis -- were revealed on air on SEMO ESPN Radio.

All finalists will attend the Semoball Awards on July 9 at the Bedell Performance Hall on Southeast Missouri State's River Campus, where winners from each category will be unveiled.

A Perryville soccer duo was in studio as the finalists for Boys Soccer Player of the Year were announced, and it hopes to continue the tradition of Pirate domination in the category, where former teammates Luke Schlicting and Luke Dobbelare took the crown the past two years.

"It would be nice to follow in Luke's footsteps after he won it last year," senior midfielder Kyle Wood said of Schlicting. "We always looked up to him as an older brother and it would be nice to follow him and keep the tradition going."

Wood was a key cog in Perryville's attack this season, with 15 goals and 13 assists, while earning a bevy of postseason honors, including Class 2 First Team All-State.

Wood was joined by teammate Eann Bergman, a repeat finalist after being among 2015's group. He finished the season with 22 goals and 18 assists and led the team in scoring for a third consecutive year.

"It's an honor," the senior forward said. "I was nominated last year and my teammate Luke [Schlicting] won it, and Luke Dobbelare won it the year before, so it would be a real honor to keep the tradition going."

Perryville junior defender Dylan Jannin -- the Class 2 All-State Co-Defender of the Year -- also made the cut, and paired with his teammates to keep the tradition going on the field as well. The Pirates followed up the school's first-ever boys soccer state championship by going 24-5 and finishing as Class 2 runners-up. Perryville fell to O'Hara 2-1 in the state title game.

Despite coming up just a little short, Wood said his memories of the campaign will be positive ones.

"This year has been full of memories and it's something I'm never going to forget," Wood said. "Just spending all the time with the guys day in and day out, it's just been so fun. Hanging out, doing stuff before games, hanging out at Eann's house -- it's just been great."

With repeat trips to the final four and a steady stream of standouts filling the Semoball Awards finalist list year after year, it's that close-knit fabric that Perryville coach Jerry Fulton believes has allowed his team to maintain success, even after graduating nine seniors a year ago and expecting to have a rebuilding season.

"I think Kyle said it when he said something about Luke being like a big brother," Fulton said. "It's more of a family atmosphere. When you get a program that's going like this, it pulls them in and they're more like brothers or a family and that helps a huge amount in the success we're having.

"I think it's just the great rec program that they start in at such a young age and it just gets in their blood. I know both [Bergman and Wood] went through the rec program from first grade to eighth grade and it was just wonderful for them that we had a high school program by the time they got here so they could finish their career. If you look back at their four years, when our success really started, these guys were freshmen. They've had the benefit of being there the full four years and it's just been a great experience."

Joining the Pirate triumvirate on the list of finalists is Jackson junior striker Josh Scholl and Poplar Bluff junior striker/midfielder Jeffry Hardin. Scholl had 22 goals and 12 assists and Hardin posted 19 goals and 14 assists.

Other fall programs had continued success on the field, including Cape Central football, which returned to the Class 4 semifinal for a third straight year. The Tigers fell to Webb City in the semifinal, but not before a number of players put together standout seasons.

Perhaps the least suspenseful announcement came in the form of repeat finalist and Central star Al Young. The reigning Football Offense Player of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year, Young headlines this season's group of Football Offense finalists.

The wide receiver had 992 yards and 13 touchdowns receiving along with 772 yards rushing and another 14 TDs on the ground. He was also the Carr Trophy winner.

Two of Young's teammates will also be in the running for Football Offense Player of the Year -- breakout sophomore running back Aaron Harris and senior offensive lineman Casey Vaughn. Harris ran for 1,615 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first year as a starter, while Vaughn paved the way for both of his teammates.

Jackson senior wide receiver Jeremy Elliott is also up for the award, as the only player in the region to post more than 1,000 yards receiving.

Other Football Offense finalists are Dexter's Ethan Stevens, Kennett's Edward Wilson, Poplar Bluff's Tristen Francisco, Caruthersville's Peyton Faulkner and Malden's Chapen Riley and Nick Thompson, who has committed to Southeast Missouri State.

The defensive side of things is headlined by locals like Jackson linebacker Gabriel Dudley and his 115 tackles. He's joined by rivals from Cape Central -- linebacker Corey Starks (team-high 97 stops) and defensive back Kway'Chon Chisom (86 tackles, four interceptions).

Other finalists for Football Defense Player of the Year are Hayti's Dayon Moore, Kennett's Britt Harris, Poplar Bluff's Steven Haley, Sikeston's Earnest Fobbs and Malden's Nick Thompson, Zach Gray and Kylus Thompson. Nick Thompson is the first player to earn a spot as a finalist on both sides of the football.

Ten finalists were revealed for Volleyball Player of the Year, headlined by two-time selection and Southeast Missourian Player of the Year Abbie McAlister, from Notre Dame. McAlister broke a 9-year-old school record with 493 kills and helped her team to a 30-3-2 record and a district title.

Bulldog teammate and setter Sam Feeney is also on the list after notching 744 assists.

Jackson senior Autumn Reid became a two-time finalist on a list dominated by local standouts -- Perryville middle blocker Ahnie Hoff, Saxony Lutheran outside hitter Allie Sprink, St. Vincent middle blocker Katie Verseman and Woodland outside hitter Krista Rhodes.

The rest of the 10 volleyball finalists are Dexter's Krysten Garrison and Bernie's Kaylie Tanner and Morgan Baker.

Five finalists each were selected for boys and girls cross country. The group of girls features the Jackson senior pair of Carli Knott, a finalist for a second year in a row, and two-time Semoball Awards Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year Chelsea Drum, along with Notre Dame's Alaina Baumgart, Poplar Bluff's Katie Sliger and Van Buren's Jennifer Morey.

For the boys, finalists are Jackson's Alex Philipps, two-time nominee Notre Dame's Rudy McClellan, St. Vincent's Levi Krauss, Zalma's Peyton Ford and Poplar Bluff's Isaiah Williams.

The group of finalists for Boys Swimmer of the Year is dominated by Cape Central swimmers who broke a state record this past fall. Last year's Swimmer of the Year Brogan Davis returns to the list, still just a sophomore. He's joined by teammates Regan Ragsdale, Sam Hahs and John Young. That quartet set a state record in the 200 medley relay with a 1:35.13.

Jackson senior Jack Gard is also in the running for honors in the pool.

Hahs and Gard are both repeat finalists.

Notre Dame's Carly Hopkins and Grace Powderly -- the team's Nos. 1 and 2 players, respectively, will be gunning for Girls Tennis Player of the Year. Hopkins has finished in the top eight at the state tournament in all four years of her high school career and was 36-1 in doubles, where she finished fourth alongside Powderly this fall. Powderly was 13-3 in singles in 2015.

Hopkins was the 2015 Girls Tennis Player of the Year.

Those two will face off against a contingent of Kennett ladies -- Hadley Hilburn, Heidi Shetley and Alexa McPherson.

The fall sport finalists will be joined by winter sport finalists -- announced on April 9 -- and spring sport finalists -- revealed in June. In the meantime, they may kill time with a little bit of awards trash talk, even among teammates.

"Most definitely," Wood said.

Fans can nominate student-athletes for winter and spring awards by emailing sports@semissourian.com or going to the forthcoming Semoball Awards website, which is expected to go live in the coming weeks.

Finalists from a pool of 57 high schools are selected by a panel of semoball.com sports editors and writers along with broadcasters from SEMO ESPN Radio. Selections are based on statistics, in-season observations and nominations.

Tickets for the Semoball Awards will go on sale in February. Awards finalists will receive an invitation in the mail to reserve a free ticket, and parents of finalists will also receive an invitation and information on how to purchase more tickets.

The event's keynote speaker will be unveiled at 9 a.m. Wednesday at SoutheastHEALTH's HealthPoint Fitness. The announcement is open to the public and will also be broadcast live on SEMO ESPN Radio's Sports Huddle as well as via webcast on semoball.com.

The Third Annual Semoball Awards are presented thanks to presenting sponsor SoutheastHEALTH, official bank sponsor First Midwest Bank, title sponsors Athlon Sports and the St. Louis Cardinals and radio partner SEMO ESPN Radio, along with the area's five newspapers.

Parties interested in sponsoring individual sports can contact Lucas Presson at 573-388-3649 or email at lpresson@rustmedia.com.