Bluegrassrivals

Franklin-Simpson senior Kane Ray was named The Most Valuable Player of the 2011 football team that tied a school record with 13 wins and advanced to the Class 4-A state championship game during the annual banquet Monday night.

“We had a great year. We won 13 games that ties for the most in school history in addition to district, region and state semifinals championships,” F-S head coach Tim Schlosser said. “They finally bought in to what we were saying and became a team. And they overcame some adversity and attitude issues.”

F-S (13-2) fell to highly regarded Fort Thomas Highlands 42-14 in the 4-A title game. Highlands had won three straight Class 5-A championships being dropping a class to 4-A.

Ray, a senior, played inside linebacker for the Big Blue Defense, which had to practically be rebuilt. However, Schlosser got some good advice from former Western Kentucky head coach David Elson, who served as F-S’s defensive coordinator for one season before returning to the college ranks as head coach at New Mexico State.

Ray was also named Top Gun Defense after leading the Cats in total tackles with 98 and contributing 15.5 tackles for losses for a net minus 82 yards.

A pair of cousins and seniors amassed nearly 12,000 career all-purpose yards for the Wildcats and made their 2011 offense difficult to defense. Running back Darrius Wickware and wide receiver Jerrell Wickware shared the Top Gun Offense Award.

Jerrell Wickware finished his high school career with 6,281 all-purpose yards – 2,439 yards in kick/punt returns, 2,088 in receiving and 1,754 rushing. Darrius Wickware compiled 5,534 yards during his high school playing days, including 4,908 on the ground.

Other awards at the banquet were:

•110 Percent Award went to Chris Davis;

•Most Improved Offense Award went to Teddy Freeman;

•Most Improved Defense Award went to Joseph Hawkins;

•Scout Team Award went to Matt Moore;

•Ironman Award went to Ray Huckaby, who played every snap during the 2011 season;

•Special Teams Award - Caleb Lockhart;

•12th Man Award – Matt Bushong, who made the game-saving tackle in the region championship game at Lone Oak;

•Stan Portmann Second-Effort Award – Max Bennett;

•Mickey Finn Academic Award – Ian Greer for a 4.086 grade-point-average.

•Preston Anderson Leadership Award – O’Shea Ray;

•Mike Laney Coaches Award – Chris Davis and Jordan Holt;

•Sportsmanship Award – Ian Greer and Ray Huckaby.

•Winners Club – defensive backs Adam Alford and Peyton Smith; defensive linemen Ray Huckaby and O’Shea Ray; linebacker Kane Ray; offensive linemen Huckaby and O’Shea Ray; running back Darrius Wickware; quarterback Max Bennett; and wide receiver Jerrell Wickware.

Huckaby, O’Shea Ray, Kane Ray and Max Bennett served as the 2011 captains. They are among 18 seniors to graduate off the state runner-up team.

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