Football | Spencer Mesaros named Division V Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Spencer Mesaros was a conundrum as a freshman, a brilliant talent that Southeast coach Pat Youel needed to figure out where to play.
Once situated at defensive lineman, Mesaros was an all-Ohio selection as a sophomore, then again as a junior.
As a Southeast senior, Mesaros took it a step further, earning Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in Division V, as the Division IV and Division V All-Ohio football teams were announced Tuesday.
Mesaros wasn't alone on the Division V all-state first team.
He was joined there by a pair of Garfield seniors, running back Anthony Demma and offensive lineman Riley LaPorte. Demma earned that spot by rushing for over 2,000 yards (2,066) and 29 touchdowns and averaging nearly 10 yards per carry (9.9). LaPorte was a big part of why the G-Men ran for 3,886 yards and also earned first team all-state last year.
Their teammate, Garfield defensive back Brody Swigonski, snagged third team all-state honors. The senior was also a strong quarterback and runner for the 12-1 G-Men.
Garfield tacked on three honorable mention all-state honorees: offensive lineman Austin Roman, kicker Colin Lysiak and linebacker Keegan Sell.
Crestwood also had three honorable mention all-state selections, as quarterback Mason Daniels, running back Louie Blasiole and linebacker Ethan Strahan earned the honors.
Rootstown had four players make honorable mention, including three seniors in quarterback Brandan Nicholas, wide receiver Donovan Birkett and linebacker Isaac Di Tirro, as well as sophomore defensive lineman Tony Karp.
Southeast also had four players earn honorable mention in senior running back Jaidyn Sapp, senior offensive linemen Nate Buckeye and Andrew Kelchner and senior defensive lineman Vinnie Sanderfer.
Waterloo junior defensive lineman Austin Wise also earned honorable mention all-state.
The Offensive Players of the Year were quarterbacks Gabe Tingle and West Lafayette Ridgewood and Levi Gullion of Piketon.
Tingle, a 5-11, 180 senior, passed for 1,212 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed for 283 yards and four TDs.
Gullion, a 6-3, 195, senior, passed for 3,075 yards and 31 touchdowns and rushed for 1,028 yards.
In Division IV, the Offensive Player of the Year was Cincinnati Wyoming running back C.J. Hester. a junior who rushed for 2,484 yards and 35 touchdowns. He added four more scores on receptions, leading Wyoming to a 10-0 season and two wins in the playoffs.
Luke Ferrell of Bloom-Carroll was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Ferrell had a team-best 127 tackles, including 31 for loss, with nine sacks, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Columbus Linden-McKinley's Eric Valentine was selected the Coach of the Year.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Spencer Mesaros named Division V Co-Defensive Player of the Year
