The Mission Valley Athletic League announced its awards for the 2017 football season, recognizing the top offensive and defensive players in the league, along with the complete all-league team.
Kennedy-Fremont senior Emerson Freeman was named the Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound defensive end had nine sacks, two fumble recoveries, and a blocked punt. He was generally avoided in the run game, but still managed to notch 33 solo tackles. Freeman also contributed offensively at the tight end position, with 18 catches for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns, earning first-team all-league honors on both sides of the ball.
The Offensive Player of the Year award was shared by Irvington running back Dalton Evans and Moreau Catholic running back Adi Anderson. Evans helped lead the Vikings back to the Division I playoffs again this season, in his third year as a starter in the offensive backfield, and also earned first-team honors on both sides of the ball, as a running back and linebacker.
Anderson carried the load for the Mariners, who reached the Division IV quarterfinals for the fourth straight year. The junior ran for 216 yards in a close loss during the regular season to Division IV semifinalist St. Bernard's, and had one of his top performances in a MVAL title-clinching win over Kennedy, rushing for 153 yards and three touchdowns on just five carries.
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB - Onijai Sellers (MC)
RB - Adi Anderson (MC), Dalton Evans (I), Michael Martin (JFK)
WR - Adonis Forrest (MC), Clayton Reboca (JFK)
TE - Emerson Freeman (JFK)
OL - Logan Kiester (JFK), Jacob Martin (MC), Storm Gieringer (I), Matthew Johnson (I), Raymundo Cabral Artero (JFK)
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Storm Gieringer (I), Emerson Freeman (JFK), Dylan Kim (MC)
LB - Daylon Brown (MC), Tristan Hess (I), Dalton Evans (I), Jordan Seiden (MC)
DB - Alonso Sainz (I), Max Anderson (MC), LJ Anderson (MC), Clayton Reboca (JFK)
K - Victor Barajas (Washington)
P - Hayden Moses (MC)
KR - Sam Carpio (I)
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB - Zedric Pettit Brown (JFK)
RB - Fresh Ison (MC), Jermaine Afoa (JFK), Jacoby Harris (I)
WR - Jaylen Edmonds (W), Anthony Vanpool (Newark Memorial)
TE - David Hector (MC)
OL - Luis Garcia (NM), Sean Anderson (NM), Mo Kovacs (MC), Genaro Estrada (American)
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL - Genaro Estrada (A), Marko Garcia (MC), Gabriel Thomson (JFK)
LB - Justin Johnson (A), Sean Anderson (NM)
DB - Caleb Hopkins (NM), Anthony Vanpool (NM), Jacoby Harris (I), Russell Winston (MC)
K - Hayden Moses (MC)
P - Sam Carpio (I)
KR - Fresh Ison (MC), Isaiah Washington (W)
HONORABLE MENTION
QB - Franky Lawrence (W)
WR - Sam Carpio (I), Damian Stone (I), Izaiah Reid (A)
TE - Luis Leyva (A), Caleb Hopkins (NM)
OL - Christian Ramirez (A)
DL - Jacob Burns (I)
DB - Nicholas Manges (JFK)
KR - Anthony Vanpool (NM)
K - Pierson Babish (NM)
P - Emerson Freeman (JFK), Luis Leyva (A)
