Submitted photo
Platte County quarterback Spencer Stewart won the Frank Fontana Memorial Award on Sunday, Dec. 16 at Olathe West High School in Olathe, Kan.
Spencer Stewart’s only season at Platte County was a historic one.
On Sunday, Dec. 16, the senior quarterback won the 20th annual Frank Fontana Award, presented during the 36th Annual Thomas A. Simone Awards held at Olathe West High School in Olathe, Kan.
The award is given for the most outstanding player in the Kansas City metro area for schools between Class 1 and 4 on both sides of the border.
“It is super surreal, it is a tremendous honor to be nominated and to win it is a huge honor,” Stewart said. “I’m blessed to be in the position to win it.”
Stewart threw for 2,491 yards and 38 touchdowns to help the Pirates post a 10-2 mark and advance to the district championship.
“I probably won’t be able to touch it again, but it is really cool. It is sit up in the activity center and I walk past it almost every hour,” said Stewart, who is still weighing options to play in college next year.
A transfer from Shawnee Mission Northwest, Stewart also helped the Pirates claim a share of the Suburban Conference Blue Division title with Smithville and Kearney.
Stewart completed 198 of 374 attempts, passing for 245 yards per game. His best game was a 395-yard showing in a road win against Grain Valley. He threw for 300 yards two other times — vs. Grandview and Raymore-Peculiar – and completed a season-high 24 passes in an upset of Class 6 Ray-Pec.
Stewart tossed six touchdowns in the team’s second meeting against Winnetonka and had a combined five in the first meeting, three passing and two rushing.
“I had a lot of fun the year and had some great times, great teammates and great coaches,” Stewart said. “It was a whole lot of fun to play for Platte County and this is the cherry on top for a really successful senior season.”
Stewart is the fourth winner from Platte County and the third quarterback. The first winner was quarterback Brandon Gutshall in 2000 and the next year, running back Zach Sherman took home the honors. Quarterback Krae Kelso won in 2011.
Last year, Tanner Clarkson, now at Missouri Western, was a Fontana finalist for Platte County.
Stewart’s top target this year, Dylan Gilbert, was one of four finalists for the 11th annual Otis Taylor Award, given to the top tight end/wide receiver in the metro area.
The senior hauled in 71 catches for 1,171 yards and 15 touchdowns this year, on his way to breaking career receiving marks at Platte County.
The award went to Garrett Burt of Blue Valley North, who hauled in 101 catches for 1,838 yards and 21 touchdowns. His quarterback, Wisconsin signee Graham Mertz, was the Simone Award winner after throwing for 4,008 yards and 51 touchdowns.
The other award winners were Von Young IV of Fort Osage (Buck Buchanan Memorial Award), Dylan Downing of Bishop Miege (Bobby Bell Award) and Blue Springs coach Kelly Donohoe was the winner of the Nathan Stiles Inspiration Award. The Wildcats coach is currently battling cancer.
The All-Simone Team, selected by PrepsKC, was also honored at the award ceremony.