DARKE COUNTY — The Daily Advocate is honoring individuals who excelled on the football field this year with an all-Darke County football team.
Below are The Daily Advocate’s choices for the all-Darke County football team for the 2017 season with 11 first team offensive players, 11 first team defensive players, two first team special teams players and 20 honorable mention selections.
First team all-Darke County
RB: Daniel Coats, Arcanum
The senior had 1,135 rushing yards and returned five punts for touchdowns.
RB: Jared Buckley, Tri-Village
The senior led Darke County with 1,241 rushing yards and had a total of 15 touchdowns.
WR: Hunter Muir, Ansonia
The junior led Darke County with 30 receptions for 671 yards and five touchdowns.
TE: Rygh Fortkamp, Ansonia
The senior caught five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown along with blocking for the Tigers.
TE: Jake Barga, Bradford
The senior caught 10 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns.
OL: Nathan Denniston, Ansonia
The senior helped lead the Tigers to their first playoff appearance in seven years.
OL: Andrew Rowland, Ansonia
The junior helped pave the way for an offense that ran for more than 3,000 yards.
OL: Jayden Heltsley, Arcanum
The sophomore was the best blocker for the Trojans.
OL: Josh Phillips, Bradford
The senior was the leading blocker along the Railroaders’ offensive line.
OL: Nathan Fry, Greenville
The junior blocked for an offense that gained more than 2,000 yards in the Greater Western Ohio Conference.
OL: Braden Russell, Greenville
The senior was a team captain and leader on the Green Wave offensive line.
DL: Dane Craport, Arcanum
The junior had 60 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and one fumble recovery.
DL: Landin Brown, Greenville
The senior anchored the Green Wave defensive line with 43 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
DL: AJ Ahrens, Versailles
The senior had 68 tackles, seven tackles for loss, eight sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
DL: Evan Hiestand, Versailles
The junior broke a school record with 12 sacks and made 75 tackles, nine tackles for loss, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.
LB: Max Wardrip, Ansonia
The senior led the Tigers with 84 tackles, eight tackles for loss and two sacks.
LB: Micah Light, Greenville
The junior led the Green Wave with 74 tackles, had two sacks, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.
LB: Nathan Gladdish, Mississinawa Valley
The senior had 109 tackles, eight tackles for loss, one forced fumble and four fumble recoveries.
LB: Will Hall, Mississinawa Valley
The junior made 84 tackles including eight tackles for loss.
LB: Camren Munchel, Tri-Village
The senior led Darke County and the Cross County Conference with 148 tackles.
LB: Kurtis Rutschilling, Versailles
The senior had 106 tackles, nine tackles for loss, two interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
DB: George Grow, Versailles
The senior had 59 tackles, six tackles for loss, one interception and two fumble recoveries.
K: Michael Hall, Ansonia
The sophomore was 28-of-30 on extra point attempts and made a 22-yard field goal.
P: Josh Steinbrunner, Versailles
The senior averaged 40 yards per punt and had a punt that traveled 70 yards.
Honorable mention
Ansonia: Aydan Sanders, Cody Sanders, Jarvis Thwaits
Arcanum: Andrew Baker, Noah Scarberry, Alex Weiss
Bradford: Hunter Gheen, Hunter Penkal
Greenville: Tyler Beyke, John Butsch, Alec Fletcher
Mississinawa Valley: Trent Collins, Cody Dirksen, Zeb Hannan
Tri-Village: Noah Burns, Christian Ricker, Dagan White
Versailles: Noah Grisez, Levi Sherman, Garrett Thompson