ALL-COUNTY FOOTBALL TEAM: Fairview's Frost named Overall MVP; Whatley, Smith, Jennings, Scott claim other top honors

Jake Winfrey, The Cullman Times, Ala.
Updated ·7 min read

Dec. 8—It took no time at all for Cullman County's football minds to decide this year's top standout.

And with the huge numbers Eli Frost put up, it's easy to see why there wasn't much of a discussion.

The Fairview running back amassed 2,484 yards and 39 touchdowns during a terrific junior season in which he averaged 10.6 yards per carry and 248.4 yards per matchup, eclipsed 300 yards on five different occasions and registered at least four touchdowns in eight of his team's 11 games.

Frost did all that — along with recording 24.5 tackles (7.5 for loss) and 2.5 sacks — despite missing two full contests due to an elbow injury suffered early in a Week 9 clash against Russellville.

If that wasn't enough, he also set new single-season school records for rushing yards and touchdowns — previously provided by Matt Black in the 1994 season — en route to surpassing West Point's Kobe Smith (2,222 yards in 2015) as Cullman County's single-season rushing leader.

There's no doubt: Frost is the deserving Overall MVP of this year's All-County Football Team.

Good Hope's Colten Whatley (Offensive MVP), Hanceville's LJ Smith (Defensive MVP), Fairview's Carson Jennings (Lineman of the Year) and Good Hope's Alan Scott (Coach of the Year) took home the other top accolades.

Fairview paved the way with eight first-team selections, including Zane Roberts (OL), Bradley Smith (OL), Kolt Redding (K), Jayden Pineda (DL), Cale Foster (LB), Eric Gonzalez (LB), Jameson Goble (DB) and Cade Yeager (DB).

West Point was next in line with six players — Parker Marks (WR), Aiden Dujoud (OL), Hunter Hensley (ATH), Sylar Philyaw (DL), JD Cochran (LB) and Brody Freeman (DB).

Tucker Malin (WR), Kaleb Jones (H/TE), Guillermo Alday (OL), Russ Wooten (DL) and Taz Bartlett (DB) made the cut for Good Hope, while Brosnan Ward (RB), Eli Akin (OL), Zach Campbell (ATH), Connor Pitts (LB) and Marquies Leeth (DB) were Hanceville's honorees.

Cold Springs (Hank Harrison — RB; Cody Jewell — OL; Victor Laurentius — DL), Holly Pond (Sawyer Olinger — QB; Kollin Brown — WR; Christian Couch — H/TE) and Vinemont (Alex Salazar — OL; Tai Shurtleff — OL; Ayden Thomason — DL) rounded out the first team with three picks apiece.

The All-County Team is handpicked by Cullman County's seven football coaches.

All-State will be announced by the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) later this month.

All-Area, which is chosen by The Times and includes Addison/Cullman, will be unveiled in January.

See below for this year's full All-County Team, including second-teamers and honorable mentions.

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OVERALL MVP

Name: Eli Frost

School: Fairview

Class: Junior

Highlights: Had 235 carries for 2,484 yards and 39 touchdowns. Had four catches for 32 yards. Had 156 return yards. Had 24.5 tackles (7.5 for loss) and 2.5 sacks.

Coach Speak: "I'm super proud of Eli as well as the group of guys around him. It takes everybody to make it work, and he'd be the first one to tell you that. I couldn't ask for anything more from Eli. He has brought an unbelievable work ethic every day. Sometimes, you don't always get that with a young man who has that much talent and who's had that much success. He helps other guys be better around him, and he also sees the bigger picture. It's not always about numbers. It's also about representing your school at a high level, and I think he does a great job with that." — Fairview's George Redding

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OFFENSIVE MVP

Name: Colten Whatley

School: Good Hope

Class: Junior

Highlights: Had 1,292 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and four interceptions. Averaged 12.4 yards per completion. Had two 2-point conversions. Had 425 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Coach Speak: "My hat goes off to Colten. He came into a tough situation because we've had good quarterback play at Good Hope the last several years. I know he doesn't put any pressure like that on himself, but I think from a community standpoint everybody has questions like, 'Hey, what's going to happen?' At the first of the year, we weren't really sure, either. We knew what he could do from a junior varsity standpoint, but I'm extremely proud of the way he handled everything and the way he continued to improve each and every game. He had a fantastic second half of the season." — Good Hope's Alan Scott

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DEFENSIVE MVP

Name: LJ Smith

School: Hanceville

Class: Junior

Highlights: Had 57 solo tackles, 51 assisted tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.

Coach Speak: "First of all, LJ is a leader on and off the field — in the weight room, academically. He was all over the football. If someone ended up on the ground, he was there with them. He's very smart, and he's able to communicate calls to the defensive line. He plays with a lot of passion, and he's just a great kid. We're very fortunate to have someone like him on our team." — Hanceville's Ryan Brewer

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LINEMAN OF THE YEAR

Name: Carson Jennings

School: Fairview

Class: Senior

Highlights: Anchored offensive line that paved the way for 4,023 rushing yards and 52 touchdowns on the ground. Had 36 tackles (10 for loss) and a sack.

Coach Speak: "If you could bottle up the passion and energy that Carson brings and sell it to every young man who comes through your program, you're going to be successful. And everything about that is genuine. What you see now is what you saw every day in the program. He's a leader on the field and off — a tremendous person." — Fairview's George Redding

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COACH OF THE YEAR

Name: Alan Scott

School: Good Hope

Highlights: Led the Raiders to a fifth straight playoff berth in a region that included Cherokee County (Class 4A runner-up), Oneonta (Class 4A semifinalist) and Etowah (Class 4A second round).

Coach Speak: "Alan does a great job over there. His kids are ready to play. They play hard, they play tough. He also motivates them well, and I think he gets the most out of his kids. He does a really good job preparing them for whoever their opponent is." — Hanceville's Ryan Brewer

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FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE

QB: Sawyer Olinger, Holly Pond

RB: Hank Harrison, Cold Springs

RB: Brosnan Ward, Hanceville

WR: Tucker Malin, Good Hope

WR: Kollin Brown, Holly Pond

WR: Parker Marks, West Point

H-BACK / TE: Kaleb Jones, Good Hope

H-BACK / TE: Christian Couch, Holly Pond

OL: Cody Jewell, Cold Springs

OL: Zane Roberts, Fairview

OL: Bradley Smith, Fairview

OL: Guillermo Alday, Good Hope

OL: Eli Akin, Hanceville

OL: Alex Salazar, Vinemont

OL: Tai Shurtleff, Vinemont

OL: Aiden Dujoud, West Point

ATH: Zach Campbell, Hanceville

ATH: Hunter Hensley, West Point

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FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

DL: Victor Laurentius, Cold Springs

DL: Jayden Pineda, Fairview

DL: Russ Wooten, Good Hope

DL: Ayden Thomason, Vinemont

DL: Sylar Philyaw, West Point

LB: Cale Foster, Fairview

LB: Eric Gonzalez, Fairview

LB: Connor Pitts, Hanceville

LB: JD Cochran, West Point

DB: Jameson Goble, Fairview

DB: Cade Yeager, Fairview

DB: Taz Bartlett, Good Hope

DB: Marquies Leeth, Hanceville

DB: Brody Freeman, West Point

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FIRST-TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Kolt Redding, Fairview

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SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE

QB: Barret York, Fairview

RB: Matt Williams, Cold Springs

RB: Diego Rodriguez, Vinemont

RB: Garit Roberson, West Point

WR: Kmal Bell, Good Hope

WR: Tyler Cone, Good Hope

WR: Eli Sims, West Point

H-BACK / TE: Josh Winfrey, Cold Springs

H-BACK / TE: Isaac Moody, Vinemont

OL: Devon Johnson, Cold Springs

OL: Eddie Maroney, Cold Springs

OL: Houston Walton, Good Hope

OL: Diego Arreguin, Holly Pond

OL: Jacob Hale, Vinemont

OL: Mikhail Dujoud, West Point

ATH: Eli Clements, Good Hope

ATH: Braxton Broad, Hanceville

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SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE

DL: Justin Stewart, Cold Springs

DL: Seth Loggins, Good Hope

DL: Tyler Hughes, Hanceville

DL: Riley Wayne, West Point

LB: Jake Harper, Fairview

LB: Landon Bagwell, Good Hope

LB: Callahan Lindsey, Good Hope

LB: Bryson Phillips, West Point

DB: Dylan Smith, Cold Springs

DB: Hank Hudson, Good Hope

DB: Brady Cleek, Hanceville

DB: Diego Garcia, Holly Pond

DB: Kyler Pugh, Vinemont

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SECOND-TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Omar Segundo, West Point

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HONORABLE MENTION

COLD SPRINGS

Tucker Philbeck

Brady Phillips

Clayton Terry

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FAIRVIEW

Isaac Elrod

Caiden Hall

Carson Jones

Ashton McLeskey

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GOOD HOPE

Jed Clements

Jude Johnson

Charlie O'Neil

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HANCEVILLE

Bear Busby

JT Davis

Jayden Smith

Keiton Whatley

Lamondre Williams

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HOLLY POND

Tristan Hibbert

Jayden Holloway

Damian Raymond

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VINEMONT

Kayden Henderson

Toby Hill

Chayce Sandlin

Rush Sandlin

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WEST POINT

Noah Laney

Aidan Maddox

Shawn Sanford

Dawson Smith