2023 Large-School All-Area Football Team: Raiders' resiliency resonates: Yoak, Champlin take top honors for East Carter

Dec. 28—CANNONSBURG — East Carter had a stellar year in 2023. The Raiders went 9-2 before falling to eventual state runner-up Bell County by just one point in overtime.

"I think our season went really well," East Carter coach Tim Champlin said. "We were two points away from moving on at state, but we did great. We faced adversity early, but our kids battled through it. We won a lot of close games. They might not have always been pretty, but we'll take a win."

The grit and determination fueled the Raiders' success, where the team captured quality road wins against Boyd County and Russell, and won the Battle of the Barrell against rival West Carter in a closely contested game.

"They battled and found their ways," Champlin said. "We always said to give yourself a chance to win in the fourth quarter, and staying close always does that."

A large part of that success was due to sophomore running back Landon Yoak.

"He had a great season," Champlin said. "I had a meeting with him and his dad last year at the end of the season. I told him that we were graduating Isaac (Boggs) and that we had several kids who could be the next running back, but nobody has proven themselves yet. We thought Yoak was one of those kids in the mix that needed to do some stuff offseason."

Yoak certainly did the right stuff to make an impact this year.

"He went to work and got his mind and body right," Champlin said. "He prepared himself to come out and have a great season. We were patient with him early and he was patient. We had a lot of different guys touching it early, but he emerged from that by the way he carried the ball, his toughness, grit, and determination, and his field vision."

With the success of the team and the standout performance from the young rusher, Champlin and Yoak earned the Coach and Player of the Year Awards for this year's The Daily Independent Large-School All-Area Football Team.

"It feels great," Yoak said of the recognition. "It feels good that my coaches and my teammates have this much trust in me and allow me to carry the ball this many times a game. It's an honor."

Yoak indeed got a lot of touches per game. He averaged over 18 carries a game, racking up 1,434 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season.

"He's a tough, hard-nosed kid," Champlin said. "We leaned on him a lot this season. He had the maturity for the job. He runs so angry and violently. He's hard to bring down. and when you put a kid like that behind an offensive line like we had... he just exploded."

Yoak credits his teammates, especially the offensive line, for allowing him to gather so many positive yards on the ground this year.

"I was always trying to help my team compete all season because they were doing the same for me," Yoak said. "We have playmakers on the outside like Mikey Hall, Gabe Roberts, and Jared Potter. They got the running game to open up, created holes, and dominated every single game."

As for Champlin, he says the Coach of the Year Award is really a team award in his eyes.

"Being Coach of the Year is just a testament to our staff and our kids," Champlin said. "They do a great job. It's basically an honor that they get to pass around to our whole team and staff for the job they do."

Sharing the honor is fitting, considering how Yoak describes the bond on the team.

"This team is really close," Yoak said. "We spend a lot of time together. We're probably around each other more than we do our family. We love each other. It's more than just a team, it's a family."

Champlin hopes the success of this year helps drive the program in the future.

"Beating Russell at Russell was a huge deal for our program and community," Champlin said. "Winning at Boyd County with a last-second pass to the end zone was big. We were able to hold off West (Carter) and Fleming (County) at home. We never had any lopsided games. Our kids just showed a lot of resiliency this year. Hopefully, we can carry that over and continue that next year."

East Carter was tied for the most players on this year's All-Area team with eight.

The Raiders joining the Player of the Year on the squad are Gabe Bernardo, Ryan Carter, Allen Cooper, Mikey Hall, Izack Messer, Jared Potter, and Gabe Roberts.

Hall led the team in receiving yards with 641 off of 36 catches, including five touchdowns.

Roberts, one of two All-Purpose players on this year's team, had 404 receiving yards, with 35 catches and seven touchdown catches.

Offensive lineman Cooper helped pave the way for a lot of Yoak's success. He also had 34 tackles.

Bernardo and Messer join the team as defensive linemen. Messer had 45 tackles and Bernardo had 29.

Carter and Potter round out the team for East Carter. Both players had 68 tackles on the season. Potter also had a pair of interceptions.

Ashland joined East Carter with eight players on the All-Area team.

The Tomcats' contributions to the team are Cole Christian, Cam Davis, Sawyer Edens, Adam Frame, Brandon Houston, Braxton Jennings, LaBryant Strader, and Atayveon Thomas.

Strader earned his honors at the quarterback position. The junior threw for 1,813 yards, completing 81 of 125 passes including 20 touchdowns. Strader also ran for 201 yards and seven touchdowns.

Houston remained one of Strader's favorite targets. The senior collected 604 receiving yards from 26 receptions including six touchdowns.

Running backs Jennings and Thomas both put up significant numbers for Ashland. Jennings led the team in rushing yards with 807, while Thomas was just behind with 776. Jennings had 15 touchdowns and Thomas had six.

Offensive linemen Christian and Frame helped provide time and scoring opportunities for their teammates.

Rounding out the Tomcats' members are Edens and Davis. The two defensive standouts had 191 tackles together, with Edens getting 115 and Davis tallying 76. Davis also had one interception returned for a touchdown this season.

Boyd County and Lawrence County had seven members each.

Boyd County sent Maverick Boyd, Cam Collins, Garrett Crum, Cole Hicks, Jack Hogsten, Rhett Holbrook, and Dakota Thompson to the All-Area roster.

Holbrook put up 2,051 passing yards, completing 149 of 223 passes, including 19 touchdowns through the air. He also scrambled for 614 yards for 11 touchdowns.

Crum snatched 49 passes for 678 yards and seven touchdowns.

Maverick Boyd joined the team as this year's kicker. The senior soccer standout hit 40 of his 44 PAT attempts. The team never attempted a field goal.

On the defensive side, Hogsten led the team with 89 tackles. Thompson had 70 tackles at linebacker.

Boyd County's selections were wrapped up by defensive backs Collins and Hicks. Collins had 61 tackles on the season. Hicks led the team with seven interceptions, including 133 return yards and one touchdown.

Lawrence County's members are Luis Chicko, Cody Crum, Colin Howard, Will McDavid, Talan Pollack, Blake Prater, and Dalton Runyons.

Crum ran for 1,035 yards on 159 rushes and ran for nine touchdowns.

Runyons racked up 385 yards as a receiver, catching 20 passes for four touchdowns.

Chicko and Prater rounded out the offensive contributions as offensive linemen.

Tackle-related stats were not updated on KHSAA's website for Lawrence County. McDavid and Pollack each had a fumble.

Johnson Central had five members: Christian Barnes, Logan Castle, Hudson Lewandoski, Conner Music, and Logan Music.

Barnes and Logan Music both ran their way onto the team. Barnes ran for 998 yards for 13 touchdowns on 177 attempts. Logan Music rushed for 813 yards and seven touchdowns.

Lewandoski received his honors for his work on the offensive line for the Golden Eagles.

On defense, Conner Music recorded 38.5 tackles and led the team in sacks. Castle tallied 81 tackles and recovered one fumble.

Rowan County brought four players to the All-Area team: Josh Drake, Jackson Hamilton, Dominic Justus, and Madden Owen.

Owen caught 41 passes for the Vikings, accumulating 558 yards and five touchdowns.

Justus and Hamilton represented Rowan County's defense. Hamilton led the team with 85 tackles and an interception. Justus had 41 tackles and one sack.

Drake was named the All-Area punter.

Greenup County's three players are finishing off this year's team.

Tyson Sammons rounds out the quarterback selections this season. The junior threw for 1,527 yards, completing 90 of 178 passes for 14 touchdowns. He also ran for 1,561 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Drew Boggs was selected as the All-Purpose Player along with East Carter's Roberts. He caught 25 passes for 361 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also recorded 68 tackles.

Gue had 22 tackles and three interceptions from the defensive backfield.

The team was comprised by coach's vote. The newspaper's sports staff selected the Player and Coach of the Year.

2023 Large-School All-Area Football Team

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACKS

Rhett Holbrook (Boyd County)

Tyson Sammons (Greenup County)

LaBryant Strader (Ashland)

RUNNING BACKS

Christian Barnes (Johnson Central)

Cody Crum (Lawrence County)

Braxton Jennings (Ashland)

Logan Music (Johnson Central)

Atayveon Thomas (Ashland)

Landon Yoak (East Carter)

RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS

Garrett Crum (Boyd County)

Mikey Hall (East Carter)

Brandon Houston (Ashland)

Madden Owen (Rowan County)

Dalton Runyons (Lawrence County)

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Luis Chicko (Lawrence County)

Cole Christian (Ashland)

Allen Cooper (East Carter)

Adam Frame (Ashland)

Hudson Lewandoski (Johnson Central)

Blake Prater (Lawrence County)

KICKER

Maverick Boyd (Boyd County)

DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

Gabe Bernardo (East Carter)

Jack Hogsten (Boyd County)

Colin Howard (Lawrence County)

Dominic Justus (Rowan County)

Izack Messer (East Carter)

Conner Music (Johnson Central)

LINEBACKERS

Ryan Carter (East Carter)

Logan Castle (Johnson Central)

Sawyer Edens (Ashland)

Jackson Hamilton (Rowan County)

Will McDavid (Lawrence County)

Dakota Thompson (Boyd County)

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Cam Collins (Boyd County)

Cam Davis (Ashland)

Cole Hicks (Boyd County)

Talan Pollack (Lawrence County)

Jared Potter (East Carter)

Aiden Gue (Greenup County)

PUNTER

Josh Drake (Rowan County)

ALL-PURPOSE PLAYERS

Drew Boggs (Greenup County)

Gabe Roberts (East Carter)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Landon Yoak (East Carter)

COACH OF THE YEAR: Tim Champlin (East Carter)

HONORABLE MENTION

Asher Adkins (Ashland), Isaac Adkins (Johnson Central), Maverick Ashby (Ashland), Jaxon Barker (East Carter), Caleb Barnes (Johnson Central), Braden Birchfield (Rowan County), Gabe Blackburn (Johnson Central), Ty Brooks (Lawrence County), Marcus Brumfield (Boyd County), Brody Castle (Boyd County), Carlo Chicko (Lawrence County), Abner Collinsworth (Lawrence County), Carter Conley (Johnson Central), Chris Cross (Rowan County), Seth Davis (Johnson Central), Trey Davis (Johnson Central), Jake Derifield (Lawrence County), Eli Fletcher (Lawrence County), Nate Freize (Ashland), Erik Germann (Boyd County), Jacob Grimm (Johnson Central), Gage Gullett (Greenup County), Hunter Hedrick (Boyd County), Bryer Holbrook (East Carter), Caden Holmes (Greenup County), Cooper Howard (Greenup County), John Jackson (Boyd County), Kaden Johnson (Lawrence County), Quentin Johnson (East Carter), JT Judd (Rowan County), Logan Lemaster (Johnson Central), Peyton Lowe (Lawrence County), Sam Lyons (Ashland), Nate Manning (Boyd County), Logan Marrow (Johnson Central), Dalton Matney (Johnson Central), Ashton Moore (East Carter), Brady Marushi (Ashland), Austin Nichols (Ashland), Abram Nordan (Rowan County), Dylan Peck (Johnson Central), Layne Pelphrey (Rowan County), Waylon Perkins (Greenup County), Ryan Rice (Johnson Central), John Ratliff (Johnson Central), Tucker Rogers (Ashland), Jake Sexton (Ashland), Elijah Smith (Greenup County), Taryn Tackett (Boyd County), Conner Taylor (Greenup County), Dashawn Watson (Rowan County), Ethan Webb (Johnson Central), Cavin Williams (Lawrence County).

(606) 326-2658 — wadams@dailyindependent.com

(606) 326-2658 — wadams@dailyindependent.com