Football players from Platte County and Park Hill are finalists for awards given out on Thursday, Dec. 12.
The Thomas A. Simone Awards will be handed out at 9 a.m. Thursday at Olathe North High School.
During the ceremony, the Thomas A. Simone Award, Frank Fontana Award, Buck Buchanan Award, Otis Taylor Award, Bobby Bell Award and Kansas City Chiefs/Eric Driskell Coach of the Year winners will be announced. In three of those awards, the local teams will have a finalist.
An initial list of 10 nominees were picked for the awards by a panel of sportswriters and sportscasters, including Cody Thorn of the Platte County Citizen.
The list was cut down to four or five finalists Sunday, Dec. 1 and announced by PrepsKC founder Dion Clisso on KSHB 41. The finalists for the Thomas A. Simone Award, essentially the Heisman for greater Kansas City in Missouri and Kansas, is Arland Bruce IV, a quarterback/running back from Olathe (Kan.) North; Luke Grimm, a wide receiver/running back from Raymore-Peculiar; Jake Van Dyne, a quarterback from Liberty North and Tank Young, a running back from St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.).
Park Hill South quarterback Matt Suchanick was initially on the list of 10 for his big numbers posted in pass-centric offense for the Panthers.
The area’s other quarterback that was picked for an award is Platte County junior quarterback Chris Ruhnke, a finalist for the Frank Fontana Award.
TODD NUGENT/Citizen photo
Platte County’s Chris Ruhnke drops back to pass in the Class 4 finals against Webb City on Friday, Nov. 6. The junior is a finalist for the Frank Fontana Award.
That award is given to the top all-around small school player between Class 1-4. If Ruhnke wins, he will be the second Pirate in a row to win after Spencer Stewart was selected last year. Stewart now plays quarterback at NAIA Baker.
Three of the five finalists hail from Missouri. The others are also quarterbacks in Lincoln College Prep junior Howard Brown and Odessa senior Josey Meierarend. Tonganoxie (Kan.) running back Cooper Cunningham and Bonner Springs (Kan.) running back/linebacker Bryce Krone are also nominees.
Fellow Platte County player Garret Watson, a senior linebacker, is a nominee for the Bobby Bell Award — given to the top Class 1-4 lineman or linebacker. Odessa senior defensive lineman Colby Watson, Lincoln College Prep junior linebacker Jermaine Hamilton-Jordan and Bishop Miege (Kan.) defensive lineman Max Van Meter are the other candidates. Two years ago, current Lincoln Blue Tiger defensive end Michael Smith won the award for Platte County.
The Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top lineman/linebacker for players in Class 5-6, has three of four finalists from Missouri.
Park Hill senior and future Iowa State Cyclones defensive lineman Johnny Wilson made the list of four finalists. Rockhurst senior linebacker Tucker Atwood and Staley senior linebacker Hayden Gregg made the cut, as did Ethan Kremer, a junior offensive/defensive lineman from Mill Valley, Kan.
The Otis Taylor Award, given to the top wide receiver or tight end, features Grimm up for a second award. Bishop Miege (Kan.) senior Daniel Jackson, Raytown senior D’Vontae Key and Shawnee Mission (Kan.) Northwest senior Ty Lindenman are the other finalists.
The nominees for the coach of the year awards are Grain Valley’s David Allie, Center’s Bryan DeLong, Lincoln College Prep’s William Lowe and Joel Applebee of Mill Valley, Kan.