Bayside's best: Find out which football stars won Player of the Year honors and more

The 2022 Bayside Conference season was a thrilling one, with high levels of talent being displayed on the field week in and week out. With Stephen Decatur and Kent Island the only remaining Bayside teams left standing in the playoffs, most of the Bayside squads have wrapped up their seasons, meaning that awards recognition for the past year has been decided by the coaches.

Kent Island's Kasey Heath was recognized as the MVP of the 2022 Bayside Conference season, as he starred for the Buccaneers as one of the best running backs in the state, and was a stellar linebacker as well. Also representing Kent Island is head coach Bryon Sofinowski, who was named Coach of the Year.

Queen Anne's running back KJ Smothers was named the Bayside Offensive Player of the Year, as he led the state in rushing yards this season, carrying Queen Anne's offense to a 7-2 regular season.

Representing the Bayside South on the defensive side of the ball are Wi-Hi's Darius Foreman and Stephen Decatur's Luke Mergott, who shared Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors. The two top Bayside South squads played integral roles in shutting down opposing offenses. For Mergott, this was the second time he received the Defensive Player of the Year award in his four years as a Seahawk.

The Special Teams Player of the Year award once again goes to Wi-Hi star Malique Leatherbury, who also won the award last year. Leatherbury returning punts and kick-offs for touchdowns was a regular occurrence for Wi-Hi this season, as he dazzled with his speed and ability to make tacklers miss.

MVP: Kasey Heath (Kent Island)

Offensive Player of the Year: KJ Smothers (Queen Anne's)

Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Luke Mergott (Stephen Decatur) and Darius Foreman (Wicomico)

Special Teams Player of the Year: Malique Leatherbury (Wicomico)

Coach of the Year: Bryon Sofinowski (Kent Island)

Here all the All-Bayside Football teams for the 2022 season:

All-Bayside First Team

Offense:

• QB: Brycen Coleman (Stephen Decatur), Kevin O'Connor (Easton)

• RB: Kasey Heath (Kent Island), KJ Smothers (Queen Anne's), Nasir Holden (Parkside)

• FB: Bryant Waters (Parkside), Chris Wells (Wicomico)

• Slot: Jordan Nixon (Easton), Ashton Siwald (Queen Anne's), Gavin Solito (Stephen Decatur)

• WR: Chase Raab (Easton), Malique Leatherbury (Wicomico)

• TE: Luke Mergott (Stephen Decatur), Jai Roy (Queen Anne's)

• Offensive Utility: Keegan O'Brien (Kent Island)

• Offensive Line: Nate Ford (Queen Anne's), Brady O'Neal (Kent Island), Carson Brown (Easton), Jermey Smith (Kent Island), Jabez Baptiste (Wicomico), AJ Trimble (Stephen Decatur)

• Punter: Gino Meienschein (Parkside)

• Kicker: Brogan Eastlack (Stephen Decatur)

• Kick Returner and Punt Returner (Malique Leatherbury)

Defense:

• DT/NG: Brady O'Neal (Kent Island), Marvin Foster (Easton), Ali'i Turner (Parkside)

• ILB: Kevin O'Connor (Easton), Kasey Heath (Kent Island), Guisseppe Mellinger (Kent Island)

• OLB: Jordan Nixon (Easton), Jai Roy (Queen Anne's), Keegan O'Brien (Kent Island)

• DE: Owen Piavis (North Caroline), Luke Mergott (Stephen Decatur), Austin Hollan (Kent Island)

• CB: Darius Foreman (Wicomico), Lloyd Price (Kent Island), Ashton Siwald (Queen Anne's)

• Safeties: Kurt Thomas Jr. (Wicomico), Amarian Manuel (Stephen Decatur)

• Defensive Specialty: David Lockwood (Stephen Decatur)

• Special Teams: John Smith (Parkside)

All-Bayside Second Team

Offense:

• QB: Darius Foreman (Wicomico), Luke Maciarello (Parkside)

• RB: Zymear Smith (North Caroline), Camron Gondeck (Colonel Richardson), Brandon Jenkins (Easton)

• FB: Dustin Blue (Easton), Will Simmonds (Colonel Richardson)

• Slot: Keegan O'Brien (Kent Island), Nasir Holden (Parkside), Collin Mooney (Easton)

• WR: Trybe Wise (Stephen Decatur), Chris Baynard (Easton)

• TE: Tucker Claxton (Kent Island), Dontay Werner (North Caroline)

• Offensive Utility: Nate Tapley (Stephen Decatur)

• Offensive Line: Kyler Hayden (Parkside), Kaden Cephas (Colonel Richardson), Henry Plavis (North Caroline), Yadiel Torres (Cambridge-South Dorchester), Malone Grace (Queen Anne's), Anthony Brinkley (Easton), Mike Terrell (Parkside)

• Punter: Brycen Coleman (Stephen Decatur)

• Kicker: Gino Meienschein (Parkside)

• Kick Returner: Luke Mergott (Stephen Decatur)

• Punt Returner Brycen Coleman (Stephen Decatur)

Defense:

• DT/NG: Nate Ford (Queen Anne's), Jabez Smith (Kent Island), Kenny Spates (Stephen Decatur), Carson Brown (Easton)

• ILB: Gavin Solito (Stephen Decatur), Parker Whiteford (Queen Anne's), Makhi Johnson (Wicomico), Daegan Risser (Stephen Decatur), Toby Mackall (Easton)

• OLB: Sean Bunce (North Caroline), Jaden Ferguson (Cambridge-South Dorchester), Camron Godneck (Colonel Richardson)

• DE: Jaydon Handy (Wicomico), Dalton Mason (Kent Island), Azavion Manuel (Stephen Decatur)

• CB: Malique Leatherbury (Wicomico), Tre Dorn (Stephen Decatur), Zymear Smith (North Caroline)

• Safeties: Carter Dickey (Queen Anne's), Connor Kercheval (North Caroline)

• Defensive Specialty: Chase Raab (Easton)

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Honorable Mention

• Easton: Nate Butler (CB), Tony Ferreira (CB), Khalil Colbert (OT), Toby Mackall (ILB), Jeremiah Stanley (DL)

• Queen Anne's: Devin Wright (QB), Zach Blanchard (OT), Dillon Furrow (OG), Nick Hall (DE), Aiden Banning (ILB), William Conley (Safety), Hollace Branch (DT), DJ Smith (CB), John Rowell (DT), Cordy Fleming (Safety), Amirr Cole (Punter), Seth Blackwell (Kicker)

• Kent Island: Tommy McAndrews (QB), Traton Jackson (OL), Copper Dellane (OL), Shane Bogardus (Safety), Carter Haney (CB), Mac Barba (Kicker)

• Stephen Decatur: Caden Shockley (RB), Logan Bradshaw (WR/OLB), Garrett Maloney (OL), Justin Bailey (OL), James Watkins (OL), Sully Auker (DT), Ethan Bradshaw (OLB), Dalontae Henry (CB), Nasier Tull (RB), Damartae Purnell (OL), Davin Chandler (Slot)

• Colonel Richardson: Will Thomas (C), Austin Alexander (OT), Brennan Thomas (OG), Chris Rockwell (DE), Brayden Dadds (DE), Colin Brewer (DT), Carter Turbuit (KR)

• North Caroline: Trent Towson (RB), Tyson Weber (CB), Rashawn Samuel (OLB), Justice Hall (FB), Tommy Morris (ILB), Jaeden Warner (OL), Hezakia Hynson (OL)

• Snow Hill: Zyheem Collick (Utility), Jayceere Fields (CB), Tyler Reddick (OLB), Donell Davis (Utility)

• Cambridge-South Dorchester: Darren Belzaire (WR), Logan Dukes (OL), Jamarion Wongus (CB), Anthony Hughes (CB), Antonio Blueford (OLB), Quintin Blueford (DL), Kamari Stanley (DL)

• Parkside: Jeff Mueller (OLB), Braden Baum (ILB), Canaan Mapp (DB/RB), Shaheed Armstrong (DL), Seth Jones (OL), Justice Butler (DB), Aiden Brinsfield (TE), Aaron Gaillard (OL), Brad Mueller (OLB), Dustin Brown (DB), Lucas Washburn (OL)

• Wicomico: Makhi Johnson (RB/LB), Dachawn Outlaw (WR/S), Jordyn Dickerson (LB), Jordan Hayman (RB/LB), Lamont Duggins (OL), Caleb Robinson (LB), Anthony Hambleton (K), Jalen Mills (LB), Phillip Hutt (DL), Jaydon Handy (TE), Chris Wells (LB)

• James M. Bennett: Zakai Smullen (QB/S), Malachi Donaldson (RB), Kai Jenkins (WR), Widenerson Moise (DE), Victor Bermudez (DT), Jayden Ballard (ILB), Geoff Adams (OLB), Dashon Matthews (Utility), Aiden Neff (S)

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: All-Bayside Conference football awards honor 2022's brightest stars