State champion teams reel in top football awards

New York's state championship football teams have reaped the benefits of their hard work by sweeping the player of the year awards presented by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

The annual awards were announced in tandem with the annual all-state football teams, and Section V landed the top honor in the three large-school classes:

* Rush-Henrietta senior quarterback Ashton Broyld was selected the top player in Class AA after running for 24 touchdowns and throwing for 24 more last fall for the 13-0 Royal Comets. The Syracuse University recruit ran for 1,540 yards and threw for 1,961 as a senior.

* Senior running back Mike Messina shared the Class A award after helping Aquinas to a record fifth New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship. He ran for 1,571 yards and 19 touchdowns despite playing sparingly in the second half of games before the Section V final.



The other Class A player of the year is Archbishop Stepinac quarterback Tyrell Goodman. The senior threw for 1,686 yards and 23 touchdowns (with just three interceptions) and ran for 1,172 yards and another 14 scores during a 12-0 season.

* In Class B, two-way standout Sam Stonerock was selected after leading Hornell to its second straight 13-0 season. Stonerock rushed for 1,902 yards, scored 30 touchdowns and piled up 12 sacks as a linebacker.

* Stephen Shoemaker, a two-way lineman for Bronxville, garnered the Class C award after helping the team to a 12-0 mark and a 34-14 victory against General Brown in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final in Syracuse.

* Record-setting Tuckahoe running back Jarett Sommer was the pick in Class D. A four-year varsity player who also lined up at linebacker, Sommer rushed for 1,082 yards during a 12-1 senior season and a school-record 3,573 for his career.

The complete all-state team is available on RoadToSyracuse.com.

MORE FOOTBALL: WAITING ON ISHAQ
While a number of the nation's top prospects declared their college intentions during and after the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Ishaq Williams opted to wait.



The Abraham Lincoln defensive end/tight end is expected to decide shortly between Penn State, Notre Dame and Syracuse, Railsplitters coach Shawn O'Connor told New York City-area media.

Having taken summer classes to get ahead, Williams can graduate early and thus enroll in college this month to get a jump on his collegiate career, presumably making a decision on his part imminent.

If Williams doesn't enroll at Syracuse, Orange coach Doug Marrone at least has a nice consolation prize in the form of Brandon Reddish, who committed on Wednesday.

The Fort Hamilton receiver and defensive back was The New York Post's player of the year after helping the Tigers to their third PSAL championship in six years. Reddish scored 18 touchdowns and picked off seven passes in 2010.

Meanwhile, Jordan Canzeri's stock continues to rise, but the Troy running back was in a holding pattern recently because of the annual coaching carousel.

Canzeri didn't get much notice from major-conference schools until a stellar performance in the NYSPHSAA Class AA final vs. Rush-Henrietta. But Rutgers, Connecticut and Pittsburgh started intensifying their interest last month.



Connecticut's courtship was hindered by the departure of Randy Edsall to coach at Maryland, with the Huskies brass reportedly trying to decide between Mark Whipple of UMass and former Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni as of mid-week.

A source familiar with Canzeri's options said Pittsburgh was expected to offer a scholarship immediately after New Year's weekend, but the Panthers fired Mike Haywood following his arrest in South Bend, Ind., barely two weeks after he landed the job.

Tulsa coach Todd Graham was hired as the replacement last week and has a lot of ground to make up in a very short period of time. Canzeri will look very good to the Panthers if Graham's staff can't dazzle several of the early commits who had second thoughts after Dave Wannstedt left.