The 2019 Christiansburg High School football team assembled one last time Sunday to enjoy a banquet and to reap the accolades and honors from a 5-6 season that included a berth in the state playoffs and a defeat of Blacksburg High School’s Bruins.
Also a part of the day’s celebration were the junior varsity squad, which went 11-1 and was undefeated in district play, and the Christiansburg Middle School team. Certificates were presented to team members.
Head coach Alex Wilkens and his staff headed letters to 37 varsity players and then followed that up with the presentation of some individual awards.
Maston Stanley was the lone four-year letterwinner. His senior season he was named to the all-district first-team as a running back and as a linebacker, the all-Region 3 first team as a running back and as a linebacker and the All City-County first team as a running back and as a linebacker. He was named the Crunch NRV Offensive Player of the Year and the City/County Player of the Year.
M.J. Hunter was a three-year letter winner. He was honored this season as the First-Team All-District punter, a First-Team All City/County defensive back, a Second-Team All-District defensive back, a Second-Team All-Region 3D defensive back, the Second-Team All-region 3D punter, an honorable mention All-District offensive all-purpose player; and an honorable mention All-Region 3D offensive all-purpose player.
Rally Williams, honored this season as an honorable mention Region 3D linebacker, was also a three-year letterwinner.
Two-year letter winners were David Ayala, Caleb Carter, Jake Clemons (honored this season as an honorable mention All-District eight end and an honorable mention All-Region 3D tight end), Brandon Cox, Bryson Griffith (honored this season as a Second-Team All-District offensive lineman and an honorable mention All-Region 3D offensive lineman), Caleb Henry (honored this season a First-Team All-District defensive all-purpose player, as a First-Team All-City/County wide receiver, a First-Team All-City/County defensive back, a Second-Team Region 3D defensive all-purpose player, and an honorable mention Region 3D receiver). Gabe Howery, Jesse Irizarry (honored this season as a Second-Team All-District offensive lineman and honorable mention Region 3D offensive lineman), Kenyon Johnson-Buchannon, Alex Leonard, Hunter Linkous, Drew Lloyd (honored this season as a Second-Team All-District running back and an All City/County Super Sophomore), Greg Payne, Bryson Rasmussen, Trevor Simpkins and Jared Witten.
A number of Blue Demons were first-year letterwinners: Travis Altizer (honored this season as an All City/County Super Sophomore), Brady Barrett, Caden Berg, Charlie Bourne, Eli Brubaker, Eliot Caldwell, Jaxon Clarke, Christian Cunningham, Brady Gordon, Casey Graham, Thaxton Henley, Gabe Howery, Aiden Lacoma (honored this season as an All City/County Super Sophomore), Micah Meyer, Kristian Pence, Jupp Schoenberner, Alfred Shean, Tyrique Taylor and Tyler Troutt.
The coaches presented the 2019 Milestone Awards to the offensive line and to Stanley. The defensive Milestone Award was likewise won by Stanley in recognition of hsi making 100+ tackles for the third season in a row.
What has become designated as the TEAMBLUE awards because the key first words of the awards spell out Team Blue were presented to individual players from the middle school squad, the junior varsity team and the varsity team.
The Together awards as the best team leaders went to Tanner Evans (middle school), Casey Graham (JV) and Rally Williams (varsity).
The Effort awards for the hardest workers were won by Brody Blount (middle school), Thaxton Henley (JV) and Maston Stanley (varsity).
The Attitude awards to the most coachable players were presented to Camden Toler (middle school), Curtis Altizer (JV) and Bryson Griffith (varsity).
The Mental Toughness awards to the players who worked through adversity with no excuses were claimed by Donovan Richardson (middle school), Eli Brubaker (JV) and Drew Lloyd (varsity).
Caleb Cromer (middle school), Nathan Filipiak (JV) and Jesse Irizarry (varsity won the Belief awards as the players on their respective teams with the most positive morale no matter what the circumstances.
Winning the Loyalty awards as the players who have the most pride for being part of the program were Gavin Dow (middle school), Reid Allen (JV) and Jared Witten (varsity).
The Unselfishness awards for the players who always put the team first were won by Max Fernandez (middle school), Dillon Partain (JV) and Jaike Clemons (varsity).
The Enthusiasm awards for the team members who got excited about hard work and teamwork were handed out to Noah Earley (middle school), Stephan Myrthil (JV) and Kenyon Johnson-Buchannon (varsity).