Daugherty snares top OCC award; soccer, volleyball also honored

  • brian questel
  • November 17, 2011
  • 333
                        
103111 OCCawards Promo: Deven Daugherty shares OCC Offensive Player of the Year honors Daugherty snares top OCC award; soccer, volleyball also honored By Brian Questel The award wasn’t the one he was looking for. Devin Daugherty would have rather settled for a spot on top of the Ohio Cardinal Conference or quarterbacking the Generals into the playoffs. That didn’t work out the way the senior and the Generals had hoped, but Wooster did emerge with one OCC award when Daugherty shared the Offensive Player of the Year Award. Daugherty, who led Wooster to a 7-3 mark a year ago before the Generals went 4-6 this past season, shared the award with Ashland wideout Marquise Jones. Orrville picked up the other two awards, as Mason Monheim was the OCC’s Defensive POY and Drew Brenner was the Special Teams award winner. Daugherty was a dual threat for Wooster, rushing for 687 yards on 108 carries and scoring four touchdowns. He completed 46 percent of his passes, connecting on 85-of-186 passes for 1640 yards and 18 touchdowns. Despite those numbers, he didn’t expect to be presented with the award. “Honestly, I was surprised with the great season (teammate) DeVonta (Anderson) had and with the numbers he put up and how he performed for us,” said Daugherty of Anderson, who was a first-team OCC pick. “I was ready to congratulate him. When I found out, I was more than surprised. It’s a big honor. “You dream of something like this and when it happens, you’re very thankful. I want to thank all the players behind me for this award.” “He’s an explosive athlete,” said Wooster coach Mike McCreary. “He’s one of the fastest players on the team, he’s blessed with a cannon for an arm and he’s intelligent. He’s got the skills to be a quarterback (in college), but the skills to be a receiver, too. “He’s so quick, he makes good cuts in the open and he can take it to the house easily. With his arm, he can make all the throws.” His physical attributes aside, McCreary also noted the difference in Daugherty’s mental approach to the game this season. “As a two-year starter, man, what a difference,” said McCreary. “You can communicate with him, he knows what’s going on and he can communicate back. That’s really nice. Sometimes it gets a little nerve wracking your senior year and sometimes guys can’t back it up. As far as I’m concerned, he exceeded (his junior year).” Daugherty was a wide receiver before being moved to quarterback as a freshman. “As soon as we said he was going to be a quarterback, he went to town to be the best,” said McCreary. “He worked hard. He has an arm, but that doesn’t always mean you’ll be a good quarterback. He works so hard, but it’s not only physical ability. “When we needed a punter, man, did he practice and practice. When we added him as the kicker, it was the same thing. Here’s a guy who wasn’t a quarterback or a punter or a kicker when he started and he ended up being co-MVP. He’s athletic enough to do it, but it’s his drive that sets him apart.” Anderson was the Generals’ only first-team selection. The running back had a strong senior season, rushing for 1226 yards on 176 carries. He had 21 of those carries finish in the end zone. It was a remarkable year after ending football with a concussion and then having his wrestling season end with a serious knee injury that resulted in surgery. “He made himself,” said McCreary. “He worked hard to prove he was capable of playing and playing into the future. With his knee injury and then his other knee he hurt when he was younger, he worked to make sure he was physically ready to go through the season. Like Devin, he stepped up his game and tried to make himself the best in the state instead of just for Wooster.” Lineman Grant Stokes was named to the second-team, while honorable mention went to Keegan Bess, Darrian Owens and Brenner Lewis to round out the football awards. David O’Donnell, a midfielder, topped the boys’ soccer awards with his first-team selection for the 4-12-1 Generals. Matt King-Smith was named to the second team, while honorable mention nods went to Nick Coppola and George Kulka. “Everyone knew David was one of the best in the league,” said Generals’ coach Brian Hansen. “It was a matter of who would be around him after losing all those seniors (in 2010). It was a culmination of what he did as a whole, from his sophomore to his senior year. “The guys in the room were happy to see he was a senior. ‘Seriously, he’s finally a senior? We’ve been voting for him three years – we’re glad he’s a senior.’” In volleyball, sophomore Syd Logee was a second-team pick, while seniors Brittany Nicholson and Emily Crawford were honorable mention. Wooster closed out the year with an 11-12 record overall and fifth in the OCC with a 5-9 mark. “There is a small group in our league and the top four teams dominated the first- and second-team selections and they are the most deserving,” said Wooster coach Jen Snowbarger. “Other teams have a few good players, but they get overlooked because those teams are so dominant in the league. “Those top four teams were the majority and that’s how it should be. Great teams have great players.”


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load