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A half dozen Carl
Junction football players raked in more post-season honors this
month as The Joplin Globe announced its All-Area Football Team.
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First Team selections
included senior Zak Porath at Running Back and
fellow senior Seth Hackney at Offensive Lineman.
When asked about
Porath, Coach Bret Gosch stated, "We knew Zak had
the ability (after an injury-plagued junior year).
He took his dents but stayed on the field.
He's as close to a "natural" as I've ever coached.
He has a natural competitive spirit."
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Joplin Globe All-Area
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First Team
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Zak Porath,
Running Back
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Seth
Hackney, Offensive Lineman
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Second
Team
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Hank
DePriest, Defensive Lineman
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Honorable Mention
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Austin
Osborn, Offensive Lineman
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Aaron
Cervin, Linebacker
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Jordan
Carden, Kicker
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Regarding Hackney,
Gosch praised his defensive skills as well as his offensive
blocking ability, speaking like a coach who felt the 6'3", 275
pound lineman could have received honors for both sides of the
ball.
"He likes the
offensive side of the ball better, but he's equally good on
either side (of the line). Ability-wise, he really made
our defense. It was great having him cover up two
first-year inside linebackers. On offense, everybody knew
we were going to run behind him, but we had that kind of
confidence in him."
With these two,
it's no wonder Carl Junction averaged over 6 yards per carry and
223 rushing yards per game.
But when asked
separately what they each considered as highlights of their
final year of high school football, both replied with similar
responses.
"Getting to turn
the season around from 2-8 our junior year to 8-2 our senior
year. Also getting to play with the seniors for the last
time," Porath responded.
Hackney's answer:
"Returning from an upsetting 2-8 season to a tri-conference
championship and being able to play with 11 other seniors who
wanted to win as bad as I did."
It really isn't
any surprise that Bulldogs fans believed they cheered for
winners every time the Class of 2008 walked off the field.
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