SHIPPENVILLE – Clarion-Limestone junior quarterback/linebacker Hayden Johnston highlights the fourth annual D9Sports.Com District 9 football awards as the 2003 District 9 Football Player of the Year.

Johnston is joined by nine addition award winners in eight categories including Kane’s Jared Cecchetti as the second annual Defensive Player of the Year, Johnsonburg’s Anthony Imbrogno as the Rookie of the Year, Bradford’s Joe Reinhardt as the Offensive Lineman of the Year, Bradford’s Kyle Macfarlane and Keystone’s Billy Colwell as the Co-Special Teams Players of the Year, Bradford’s Steve Ackerman as Coach of the Year, Bradford’s Sean Hvizdzak as Performance of the Year and the Ridgway-Curwensville game Oct. 10 as the Game of the Year. D9Sports.Com is also honoring the late Mike Colligan, who was an assistant coach at Bradford before he passed away in November, as a Special Contributor.

A complete look at each winner is listed below. The top three vote getters in each category are listed below the award winners.

POSITION – Quarterback/Linebacker

YEAR – Junior

TEAM RECORD – 12-1 (District 9 Class A Champions – Second straight year; Won first round PIAA Playoff game over West Middlesex; lost in PIAA Second Round to Western Region champion Bishop Carroll).

STATISTICS/INFORMATION – 103-for-173 passing, 59.5 percent, 1,546 yards, 24 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 169.98 quarterback rating; 124 carries, 580 yards, 4.7 yards per carry, 7 touchdowns. Averaged 163.5 yards per game in total offense. Ranked third in among quarterbacks playing in District 9 Leagues and second in District 9 in yards passed for. Ranked first in District 9 in touchdowns thrown for and first in District 9 in quarterback rating. Ranked 21^st in District 9 in rushing and first in rushing among quarterbacks. He was also a standout linebacker for the Lions recording over 100 tackles while also playing on both kickoff and punt return and coverage teams. He was the D9Sports.Com District 9 Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore and the D9Sports.Com Rookie of the Year as a freshman.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1. Hayden Johnston – Clarion-Limestone; 2. Sean Hvizdzak – Bradford; 3. Claude Haskins – Port Allegany.

POSITION – Defensive Lineman

YEAR – Senior

TEAM RECORD – 6-4 (Third place in AML South)

STATISTICS/INFORMATION – 111 tackles, 72 solo tackles, 44 tackles for zero or negative yards, 8 sacks, 23 quarterback hurries, 6 caused fumbles, 2 fumbles recovered, 1 blocked punt; Recorded 425 career tackles and 20 career sacks. Was also an outstanding offensive lineman and kicker for the Wolves.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1. Jared Cecchetti – Kane; 2. Ross Simcoe – Coudersport; 3. Brent Raabe – Bradford.

TEAM RECORD: 10-3 overall, 5-0 D9 League (First Place)

TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Won D9 League title; Won District 9 Class AAA title; Became just the second school in District 9 history to win two state playoff games defeating Huntingdon 25-10 in the first round and then upsetting Perry 13-7 in the quarterfinals before losing to Pine-Richland 37-7 in the Western Region Finals, PIAA Semifinals. Ackerman was able to keep the team together through a ton of adversity that included losing its final two regular-season games after starting the year 7-0 with injuries playing a key role in the loses and the death of long-time assistant coach Mike Colligan in the week leading up to the Huntingdon playoff game.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1. Steve Ackerman – Bradford; 2. Kerry Snow – Otto-Eldred; 3. Todd Smith – Clarion-Limestone.

POSITION – Quarterback

YEAR – Sophomore

TEAM RECORD – 2-7

STATISTICS/INFORMATION – Despite not earning the starting quarterback nod until Week Three after coming off the bench in Week Two, Imbrogno went 70-for-150 passing, 46.7 percent, for 1,026 yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 111.46. He ranked seventh among quarterbacks playing in District 9 leagues in passing and sixth in District 9 in passing. He also ranked tied for sixth in District 9 in touchdown passes and 10^th in the district in quarterback rating.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1. Anthony Imbrogno – Johnsonburg; 2. Nick Sipes – Curwensville; 3. Ben McGraw – Youngsville.

POSITION – Kicker

YEAR – Junior

TEAM RECORD – 10-3 (Won District 9 Class AAA championship; defeated Huntingdon and Perry in the PIAA Playoffs before losing to Pine-Richland in the Western Region finals, PIAA semifinals).

STATISTICS/INFORMATION – 7-for-11 in field goals including two over 35 yards with a long of 37 yards. 28-32 in extra points (87.5 percent). Averaged 52.7 yards per kickoff on 60 kicks with seven touchbacks.

POSITION – Punt/Kick Returner

YEAR – Senior

TEAM RECORD – 4-5

STATISTICS/INFORMATION – 18 kickoff returns for 614 yards (34.1 yards per return); 3 touchdowns; 10 punt returns for 264 yards (26.4 yards per return); 1 touchdown.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1 (tie). Kyle Macfarlane – Bradford & Billy Colwell – Keystone 3. Sean Hvizdzak – Bradford.

YEAR – Senior

TEAM RECORD – 10-3 (Won District 9 Class AAA championship; defeated Huntingdon and Perry in the PIAA Playoffs before losing to Pine-Richland in the Western Region finals, PIAA semifinals).

STATISTICS/INFORMATION – Led the way on an offensive line that helped Bradford lead District 9 in rushing yards per games with 267.2 while finishing 10^th overall in District 9 in yards per game with 285. Reinhardt's value to the Owls offensive line was never more evident than in the three games he missed with a broken foot when Bradford averaged 179.3 yards per game rushing. Before the injury Bradford was averaging 333 yards per game rushing, and in the first two playoff games after his return the Owls averaged 359 yards per game rushing. He was a second-team Associated Press Offensive Lineman selection this season.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1. Joe Reinhardt – Bradford; 2. Kyle Smith – Brockway; 3. Jared Cecchetti – Kane.

GAME – Nov. 7 vs. Clearfield in District 9 Class AAA championship game at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium.

SCORE – Bradford 44, Clearfield 30.

STATISTICS/INFORMATION – Was the main reason the Owls were able to overcome a 13-9 halftime deficit and win this high-scoring championship game. He had 16 carries for 192 yards and three touchdowns while returning two kickoff for touchdowns (both went 85 yards). He also was one of the key blocker for fullback Dave Snyder who rushed for 100 yards in the game, while on defense Hvizdzak made seven tackles and defended three passes.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1. Sean Hvizdzak – Bradford vs. Clearfield in D9 Class AAA title game; 2. Hayden Johnston – Clarion-Limestone vs. Ridgway in D9 Class A first-round playoff game; 3. Shane Reed – Redbank Valley vs. Keystone.

SCORE – Ridgway 37, Curwensville 36

SIGNIFICANCE – Win kept Ridgway’s playoff hopes alive, and was one of the key determining factors in the Elkers making the 2003 District 9 Class A Playoffs.

GAME INFORMATION – Garret Viglione’s two-point conversion pass to Josh Shirey moments after Beau Iorfido’s 2-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds left capped off one of the wildest games in recent District 9 memory. The game featured three touchdowns with three two-point conversions in the final 2:16 of the game.

It all started with Curwensville leading 28-21 when Ridgway’s Iorfido scored on a 1-yard run with 2:16 left to play. Tim Wright’s two-point conversion run gave the Elkers a 29-28 lead. But Curwensville struck back on its first play from scrimmage following the touchdown scoring on a 76-yard touchdown pass from Shawn Sopic to Greg Gilbert. Dean Swatsworth’s two-point conversion run gave the Golden Tide a 36-29 lead with 1:58 left in the game. Ridgway answered back needing just 1:42 to take the lead for good on the Iorfido run and the two-point pass.

The exciting ending capped a great comeback for Ridgway, which trailed 20-9 at halftime, 28-9 early in the third quarter and 28-15 at the end of three quarters.

TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS – 1. Ridgway 37, Curwensville 36 – Oct. 10; 2. Bradford 13, Perry 7 – Nov. 21 (PIAA Class AAA 2^nd Round); 3 (tie). Coudersport 14, Otto-Eldred 10 – Oct. 3 & Port Allegany 10, Coudersport 9 – Nov. 1 (D9 Class A Playoffs 1^st Round).

INFORMATION – Colligan was a football coach for 30 years at Bradford before passing away Nov. 11, 2003, after a battle with cancer. Colligan was the architect of a Bradford defense that played a key role in the Owls becoming just the second District 9 school to ever win two state playoff games while advancing to the PIAA Class AAA Western Region Finals, PIAA Semifinals.