Dresden Awards Dedication to Football Program

ALL-REGION TEAMS: Dresden football players were chosen for the All-Region team based on their performance in the season, which included: Milo Pflueger, Tatum Oliver, Raymond Johnson, Chandler Turnbow, Gavin Cooper, Cameron Schlicht, DeAngelo Lambert, Tristan Jett, Trey Eddings, Mark Maddox, Hunter Hamilton, and Jaylyn Mitchell.

SENIOR SENDOFF: Senior players and managers were honored at the Football Awards Ceremony Saturday evening. Dresden senior football players included (Front, L to R) Chandler Turnbow, Ian Pinion, Jeremiah Beasley, Trey Eddings, and Gavin Cooper; (Back, L to R) Paul Nichols and Alex Gilmer

BY JASMINE WILLIAMS

jasmine@magicvalleypublishing.com

DRESDEN (February 12) – The Dresden Quarterback Club hosted more than 160 students, coaches, their families and members of the media during the For The Pride football awards ceremony Saturday to celebrate the achievements of the Dresden High School Lions’ football team for the past season.

President of the Dresden Quarterback Club, Tracy Eddings welcomed the guests and talked about traditions of the football team and how respectful and kind the team had been in the past year. She also announced the members of the team who would be receiving their four-year jacket for being a member of the football team all four years. They included Gavin Cooper, Ian Pinion, Trey Eddings, Alex Brackett, Chandler Turnbow and manager Paul Nichols.

Following was Cheer Coach Danielle Gardner, who spoke about the squad’s hard work and dedication during the football season and now as they cheer for the basketball season.

Dresden Football Head Coach Keith Hodge spoke about the hard work, dedication, and love for the program that every player and their family, every coach and their family, the school, all managers, film keeper, managers, the Quarterback Club and the community who all have worked to support the football program. He gave special thanks to Scott Killebrew for his support and hard work.

Principal Scott Killebrew acknowledged the team’s academic achievements and their managers as this year the team GPA was 3.2 for the first half of the school year. He first recognized the students who had a GPA of 3.0 to 3.69, which included: Chandler Turnbow, Alex Gilmer, Alex Brackett, Gavin Cooper, Trey Eddings, Ian Pinion, Eli Patterson, Maconnell Forrester, Jayden Dolack, Will Kibbler, Milo Pflueger, Austin Barnes, Ty Bizzle, and Paul Nichols. Next he recognized the students with a GPA of 3.70 or higher: Mark Maddox, Tatum Oliver, Jayson Ritz, Creed Melton, Cameron Schlicht, Tristian Jett, Micah Wingate, Reese Bell, Tanner Thomas, Hayden Poore, Chris Mann, Nick Totty, Tanner Oliver, Carmen Clark, Ashlee Mallon, Gillian Melton, and Merissa Harrison.

Assistant Coach Josh Grant honored the freshman players on the team and spoke of their hard work they must put into the transition of middle school to high school. Assistant Coach Daniel Harris spoke about this year’s sophomores and juniors.

Hodge presented the award for the All Region players. First Team All-Region Lineman of the Year was awarded to Milo Pflueger; First Team All-Region Defensive Player of the Year to Tatum Oliver; First Team All-Region Wide Receiver was Raymond Johnson; First Team All-Region Running Back was Chandler Turnbow; First Team All-Region Offensive Lineman to Gavin Cooper; First Team All-Region Linebacker to Cameron Schlicht; First Team All-Region Defensive Line to DeAngelo Lambert; First Team All-Region Defensive Back to Tristan Jett; First Team All-Region Defensive Back was Trey Eddings; Second Team All-Region Kicker was Mark Maddox; Second Team All-Region Defensive Line was Hunter Hamilton; and Second Team All-Region Defensive Back to Jaylyn Mitchell.

Assistant Coach Tim Evans presented the For the Pride Award to the player who was unselfish and had a great attitude and was dedicated to play football everyday. This award was given to senior football player Alex Brackett for his dedication to the football program no matter what and performance during the season.

The first Captain Award was presented by Assistant Coach Tim Carter who said the leadership qualities of this player in the hallway and on the field with his hard work and being very coachable and was presented to Junior Tatum Oliver. The next Captain Award was presented by Assistant Coach Matt Bane who talked about this player’s ability to lead by example and work harder and stay longer, which was awarded to Gavin Cooper.

The final award of the night was presented by Coach Keith Hodge and senior player Trey Eddings.

This new award was described by Hodge, “The first annual award for this, we are calling this the Chuck West 12th Man Award. We created this through our Quarterback Club and we wanted it to represent exactly what Coach West stood for: pride, love for Dresden, and caring about our student athletes. All of us could come to the podium right now and say a million nice things about this man and what he meant to each of us… It was obvious for all who know him that family was more important than everything. To me, getting to know him was awesome and I know each one of us miss seeing him.”

Senior Trey Eddings also spoke saying, “His legacy lives in the hearts of all of us. But there was one man who above all from Chuck West that has his love for the game. This person shares the same love for the game and taught us to love the game as well. He inspires all as a team and as an individual. He has always encouraged us on and off the field. This person has touched my life and my teammates lives more than anyone else. He has kept us to a high standard and motivates us to do our best.”

The award for the Chuck West 12th Man Award was presented to Coach and son of Chuck West, Justin West for his many years of support and dedication to Dresden athletics on almost every grade level.

With the final award presented, Keith Hodge recognized the senior players: Chandler Turnbow, Alex Brackett, Ian Pinion, Trey Eddings, Gavin Cooper, Jeremiah Beasley, Alex Gilmer and Paul Nichols for their hard work and leadership of the team.