Bill Khan | The Flint Journal , November 24, 2011 7 a.m.
The 2012 football season promises to be the Year of the Quarterback in the Flint area, as four of the five teams that survived the longest in the state playoffs had juniors calling signals.
The 2011 season wasn't too shabby for quarterbacks either, so much so that even 2,400 passing yards didn't guarantee anyone a spot on The Flint Journal's All-Area team.
Three quarterbacks are on the 25-member All-Area team, with versatile Carman-Ainsworth senior Shane Barron getting the specialist position because of his numerous contributions beyond running the offense.
Grand Blanc junior Bart Williams is the area's Player of the Year after breaking the Flint-area records for passing yards and touchdown passes. Linden junior Shaye Brown is the other quarterback on the team.
Grand Blanc led the way with five All-Area selections. In all, 12 schools are represented on the team.
Williams was 226-for-387 for 3,210 yards, 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His yardage total eclipsed the mark of 3,138 set by Linden's Cody Marks in 2009. He broke the touchdown pass record of 35 set by Bendle's Brent Combs in 2005.
Brown is the latest in a long line of prolific quarterbacks at Linden. He was 201-for-332 for 2,721 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions, getting the Eagles to the third round for the first time.
Both All-Area quarterbacks had explosive receivers at their disposal.
Among Williams' targets was Jalen Cureton, who scored touchdowns on 11 of his 35 receptions, gaining 574 yards. Grand Blanc's Jordan Fields caught 67 passes for 1,088 yards and 13 touchdowns, making the All-Area team as a defensive back after intercepting six passes and making 31 tackles.
Baker was Brown's favorite receiver, catching 43 passes for 828 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had three 100-yard performances.
The other All-Area receiver is Byron senior Gavin Shepard, who had 934 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, despite rarely playing in the second half because the Eagles blew out seven of their nine regular-season opponents.
The All-Area running backs are Beecher's Jimmel Fleming, Lake Fenton's Rob Kesler, New Lothrop's Austin Severn and Lapeer East's Monta Stangler.
Fleming ran 144 times for 1,347 yards and 17 touchdowns, rushing for 166 yards against a Montrose team that went 9-0.
Kesler was the standout in Lake Fenton's three-back system, rushing for 1,170 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also intercepted six passes.
Stangler was second in the Flint area in rushing with 1,410 yards on 149 carries, scoring 11 touchdowns. He also caught 15 passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns.
Severn set a New Lothrop record by averaging 15.1 yards a carry, running 67 times for 1,012 yards and 15 touchdowns. He had 1,314 all-purpose yards, scoring 20 touchdowns.
The six linemen on the team are Powers Catholic's Danny O'Brien, Goodrich's Zach Sweet, Millington's Connor Collins, New Lothrop's Jon Toma, Carman-Ainsworth's Myles Overton and Beecher's Jequarius French
O'Brien was the most heavily recruited player in the area, eventually making a verbal commitment to Tennessee. He had 98 tackles and three sacks at defensive tackle.
Sweet is a three-time first-team all-leaguer who had 117 tackles this season, including 14 for losses.
Collins anchored a Millington line that paved the way for a school-record 414 points. He is No. 1 in his class with a 4.05 GPA.
Toma was a key two-way lineman for a New Lothrop team that scored an area-record 526 points in the regular season and has posted the two lowest points allowed totals by an area defense since 1982 the past two seasons.
French had 11 sacks among his 56 tackles. He forced three fumbles and knocked down 12 passes.
Overton is a defensive tackle who helped Carman-Ainsworth win the final Big Nine Conference championship. He is getting interest from Big Ten Conference schools.
Grand Blanc has two of the four All-Area linebackers in senior Lester Liston Jr. and junior Luke MacLean. Montrose senior Nick Huckabay and Fenton senior Joe Delavergne are the other linebackers.
Liston has verbally committed to Cincinnati. He was second on the team with 98 tackles and the Bobcats' leading rusher with 699 yards and nine touchdowns on 98 carries.
MacLean is attracting Division I college interest, which is certain to grow after he led Grand Blanc with 107 tackles and 4.5 sacks.
Huckabay played stellar linebacker while also starting at quarterback for Montrose. He had 85 tackles, five interceptions and four sacks. He ran for 13 touchdowns and passes for five.
Delavergne had 75 tackles, forced four fumbles and recovered two during the regular season.
Joining Grand Blanc's Fields as All-Area defensive backs are Montrose senior Caleb Reinhart and Powers junior Nick Sullivan.
Reinhart had 101 tackles, three interceptions and four sacks at free safety. He also rushed for an area-leading 1,557 yards on 209 carries.
Sullivan is a jack-of-all-trades for Powers, playing a key role in all three phases of the game. He had 70 tackles, two sacks and two blocked punts as a safety.
Fenton's Kenny Allen made the All-Area team as a kicker, although he will attend Michigan as a preferred walk-on to punt for the Wolverines. Allen was 8-for-11 on field goals, kicking a season-best 45-yarder with 1:55 left to beat Linden on Sept. 1.
Powers senior Daniel Meissner is the All-Area punter for the second straight year. He averaged 38.1 yards on 32 punts.
Barron was an All-Area receiver last year before switching to quarterback for his fourth varsity season. Barron rushed for a school-record 337 yards against Flushing, finishing the season with 1,367 yards and 16 touchdowns on 164 carries. He threw for four touchdowns and caught one touchdown pass. He picked off two passes. Barron accounted for 1,802 all-purpose yards.
New Lothrop's Clint Galvas is the Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Galvas' last two New Lothrop teams have allowed the fewest regular-season point totals since the 1982 Kearsley team gave up 30. This year's team became the first Flint-area squad to score 600 points.
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