Prep football: All-state list stocked with Valley talent

ANCHORAGE — Everest Moore may not be the biggest, fastest or strongest lineman in the state of Alaska. But according to the coaches in the large-schools class, Moore is the best.

Moore, a Palmer senior standout on both sides of the ball, was named the 2007 lineman of the year during the Alaska State Football Coaches Association annual all-state selection meeting Sunday in Anchorage.

Also named the Railbelt Lineman of the Year, Moore edged East Anchorage junior Anu Poleo, the Cook Inlet Conference Lineman of the Year, for the award.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen, said it is Moore’s overall ability as an offensive and defensive lineman that sets him apart from the remainder of the top linemen in the state.

“Like I told the coaches, there’s probably no doubt (Poleo) would beat Everest in a foot race or in a strength competition, but when it comes to his overall attention to being a lineman, being a technician, blocking the right guy, Everest is deserving,” Christiansen said.

Christiansen and his assistant coaches have also praised Moore for his intelligence and character throughout the season.

“He’s a class act,” Palmer line coach Tim Popowski said after practice last week. “He’s good in school; a leader out there on the field.”

Moore is one of four Palmer players named to the first team. Joining Moore, a first-team selection at both offensive and defensive tackle, are senior offensive guard Drew Frohling, senior running back Devin Konkler and senior inside linebacker Shannon Sawyer.

To be eligible for all-state consideration, a player must be named first-team all-conference. Christiansen was happy to see each of the four Palmer players who were named first-team All-Railbelt on the all-state list.

“Some of the other coaches recognized how well we did as a team,” Christiansen said.

Three key pieces to a Palmer running attack that produced 2,845 yards and 33 touchdowns in 11 games this season — Moore, Frohling and Konkler — were named to the first team.

“We were able to move the ball quite well,” Christiansen said.

Palmer topped the 300-yard rushing mark six times this season, and was not held below 100 yards in any game. A season-low 103 yards came in the first game of the season, a 19-14 loss to Dimond.

Konkler finished the season as the top runner in the large-schools class with 1,450 yards, and scored a team-high 13 touchdowns.

Sawyer, a standout inside linebacker, represented the Moose on the defensive side of the ball.

“He’s our leader out there,” Christiansen said. “(Our defense) played really well at times in the playoffs. Nobody scored on us in the second half in the playoffs, that’s really something.”

The Wasilla Warriors can also boast a major award and a two-way first-team all-state player.

In just his second year in the position, Wasilla’s Jim Shetter earned the coach of the year award.

“It’s an honor,” Shetter said Monday afternoon. “It’s also a representation of how hard our kids worked, and is representative of what my coaching staff did this year.”

Three of Shetters players were named to the first team, including senior Shane Green who earned first-team honors on both offense and defense.

“Not many times are you picked on both sides of the ball,” Shetter said. “I’m excited for Shane to be able to get on both offense and defense.”

At tight end, Green finished with a team-high 21 catches, and was an integral part of the Wasilla run-blocking schemes. But Green’s impact could have been felt the greatest on defense.

“He was our quarterback for defense,” Shetter said. “He was a very inspirational player for us, very competitive.”

Two of Wasilla’s top lineman — seniors Trevon May and Zach Orr — were also named first-team offense.

“Those are guys who really anchored our line,” Shetter said.

Prior to the season, Shetter’s goal was to introduce a playoff-caliber running attack. The result was a wishbone offense that produced 1,502 yards rushing, and helped Wasilla secure its first postseason berth since 2002.

Junior quarterback Adrese LaVern earned second-team honors for the Warriors. In his first season as Wasilla’s starter, LaVern finished third in the state with 1,175 yards passing and 13 touchdowns.

The Colony Knights placed a pair of players on the first team.

Junior linebacker Gino Paoletti and senior defensive back Jaron Murphy were two of the top players on a CHS defensive unit that allowed only an average of 14 points per game during the regular season.

The Colony defense held opponents to 14 or fewer points in five of eight regular season games.

Murphy was also named to the second team at running back. He led the Knights with 822 yards and eight touchdowns.

Defensive end Chris Krieg and defensive tackle Angelo Bellotte joined Murphy on the second team.

The Houston Hawks scored four spots on the small-schools second team.

Senior Israel Morales was named second-team fullback and inside linebacker. Senior Garrett Mooney was named second-team offensive tackle and senior James Steed earned second-team honors at defensive tackle.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.