Delaware’s only all sports radio station, 1290 The Ticket, has announced its fifth annual 1290 The Ticket High School Football Awards. The recipients were based upon the players that participated during the 13 game broadcast schedule on the station’s Friday Night High School Football Game of the Week coverage.
Division II takes home two awards as Saint Elizabeth senior linebacker and fullback, Eric Patton, is the 2011 Most Valuable Player and Caravel head coach, Bill Martin, receives the 2011 Coach of the Year Award. Saint Mark’s senior defensive back, Jabre Lolley, takes home 2011 Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Newark senior quarterback, Taylor Reynolds wins Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Finally, for his offensive and defensive performance in the 2011 Division I State Championship game, Middletown senior running back and defensive back, Jordan Griffin, is the 2011 Championship Game MVP.
Not only did Eric Patton dominate the defensive side of the ball for Saint Elizabeth, registering 74 tackles from the linebacker position in only 8 games, he also dominated on offense. The 6’1”, 215 pound fullback led the team with over 1,300 yards rushing, 14 rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns. Patton averaged 162 yards per game and 8.7 yards per carry. The senior may have saved his greatest game for his last as he rushed for 202 yards in a 1290 The Ticket Game of the Week victory over rival Saint Mark’s.
For Taylor Reynolds’ spectacular senior campaign, he becomes the first player to win Offensive Player of the Year twice. The James Madison University commit threw for over 2,000 yards on 145-of-254, completing 57% of his passes. The Yellowjackets’ captain threw for 24 touchdowns, while only being intercepted seven times on the season. In addition, Reynolds added 979 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns on his way to leading Newark High School to an 11-1 record. This season, Taylor tied the Crown Trophy record by winning 1290 The Ticket Player of the Game three times in a season and has now won a total of two Offensive Player of the Year awards, four Player of the Game awards in football and one Player of the Game award in basketball.
In the D-1 State Championship game, Jordan Griffin and the Middletown Cavaliers defeated Reynolds and the previously undefeated Yellowjackets 27-23. The senior running back scored a rushing touchdown to give the Cavs their first lead at 20-16 and also rushed for the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Griffin finished the night with 85 yards rushing, but perhaps more impressively, he held his namesake, Xavier Griffin of Newark, to only one catch for 13 yards.
Despite playing injured for several games and missing one, Jabre Lolley of Saint Mark’s still intercepted five passes and broke up six others as one of the most feared defenders in the state. Quarterback rarely threw the senior’s way, but when they did, Lolley piled up 121 interception return yards and registered 67 tackles on the season, good for 7.5 tackles per contest. Lolley also blocked a kick this season and scored 13 touchdowns on offense, for good measure.
A season removed from a 2-7 record in a year that was marred by a coaching carousel, Caravel head coach Bill Martin led his team to a perfect 12-0 record before a Championship Game loss to Indian River. In just his first full season as Buccaneers head coach, Martin’s team averaged 34 points per game and impressed with victories over the likes of Archmere, Delmar, Hodgson and Saint Elizabeth.
Each winner and school will be presented one-of-a-kind customized trophies courtesy of Crown Trophy in People’s Plaza. For more information on past and present winners, visit 1290theticket.com.
2011 1290 The Ticket High School Football Awards:
Most Valuable Player: Eric Patton (Sr. FB/LB Saint Elizabeth)
Offensive Player of the Year: Taylor Reynolds (Sr. QB Newark)
Defensive Player of the Year: Jabre Lolley (Sr. DB Saint Mark’s)
Championship Game MVP: Jordan Griffin (Sr. RB/DB Middletown)
Coach of the Year: Bill Martin (Caravel)
