Shifflet, Berry, Sellers lead Gazette's All-Area football team for 2007

Monday, December 10, 2007
John J. Mesh/McCook Daily Gazette McCook High School juniors Matt Berry, left, and Tyrone Sellers, shown here in their basketball warmups, were named Co-Players of the Year on the McCook Daily Gazette's 2007 All-Area Football team. They were joined on the first team by several of their McCook Bison teammates.

The McCook Daily Gazette is re-running the 2007 All-Area football team article and the list because Hayes Center's Matt Gohl should have been included on the Eight-Man Team. His name was inadvertently omitted.

The McCook Daily Gazette regrets the mistake.

Cambridge High School senior running back Lance Shifflet and McCook juniors Matt Berry and Tyrone Sellers headline the 2007 McCook Daily Gazette's All-Area Football Team.

Grant Strunk/McCook Daily Gazette Cambridge High School senior Lance Shifflet (22), right, runs with the ball during a Class C-2 state semifinal playoff game against Blue Hill Nov. 10. Shifflet rushed for 2,103 yards for the Trojans to lead Class C-2.

McCook's Jeff Gross is the Gazette's Coach of the Year for leading the Bison to their fourth Nebraska Class B state runnerup finish to go with two back-to-back state titles in 2002 and 2003.

Shifflet, 6-foot, 185 pounds, rushed for 2,103 yards in helping the Cambridge Trojans post an 11-1 record. Cambridge lost to Blue Hill 14-0 in the Nebraska Class C-2 state semifinals.

"Lance obviously had a great season if you look at his stats, but what our coaching staff appreciated most about Lance was his leadership," said Cambridge football coach Josh Graves. "Lance didn't always say the most popular thing, but he told his teammates what they needed to hear.

"Lance was also very aware that his success came as a direct result of the hard work done in front of him by the linemen. A great bond between the running backs and linemen allowed for our backs, Lance included, room to run.

"Lance also has phenomenal work ethic which not only helped him reach his peak potential as a football player, but also showed his teammates what needed to be done in order to be successful.

"This year's seniors, Lance included, set a precedent of hard work and they made sure that each athlete who stepped on that field followed that precedent.

"Lance's tireless efforts each day in practice had a much larger impact than most would think. His example proved to be one of the key components to our success.

"Lance is a great football player and we will definitely miss his playing abilities next year. However, more importantly, we will miss his leadership."

Berry, 5-10, 165, rushed for 1,020 yards, passed for 774 and scored 27 touchdowns in leading McCook to a 12-1 record.

Berry scored a Class B state playoff record six touchdowns in McCook's first round win over Hastings on Nov. 5.

"Matt is one of those athletes that really have no ceiling as to how high he can go," Gross said. "I believe we have only scratched the surface of how good he can be. His development as a football player really took off as the year progressed.

"Had it not been for the 3-4 week delay due to a broken throwing hand, his statistics would have been even greater than they were.

"Matt possesses great playmaking ability. As his coach, I believe that he is a legitimate threat to return every kick return or punt return for a touchdown.

"He has great football speed, great football instincts, and superior field vision. What I really love about Matt is his ability to manage the game.

"As the year progressed, we gave him more and more ability to audible and check us into the correct play. This made us so much better and allowed to take off as an offense. Matt is very valuable because he can do so many things.

"He can return kicks, he can run our option offense, he can throw with great efficiency, he can line up at wide receiver and catch anything you would throw at him, he can play great man to man defense as a nickel back or man corner, he can play effective zone coverage as a corner and he can play a very solid safety.

"But you know what we love most about Matt is his ability to play and have fun. And his ability to lead our team, and make everyone around him better. Keep in perspective that Matt Berry is a 17-year-old high school student out on the football field playing a game that he loves with his friends -- that is what makes him special like all of his teammates."

Sellers, 6-4, 220, who is being recruited by Big 12 school Kansas State University (where Bison alums Josh Cherry and Tony Purvis play), was a Super State and team captain selection by the Omaha World Herald.

Sellers caught seven touchdown passes for the Bison as a tight end, including a 34-yarder in McCook's 14-7 overtime loss to Crete in the state championship.

As a defensive end, Sellers was in on 90 tackles. He had 18 tackles for losses, including 9 sacks, 5 quarterback pressures and blocked 3 kicks.

"Tyrone puts a lot of fear in his opponents," Gross said. "He has the ability to block a punt every time the opponent's line up to kick. If you run the ball at him he is strong enough to shed blocks and stone wall you. If you run the ball away he is faster than most high school backs and will run you down.

"If you pass, you had better have two blockers on him or he will sack your quarterback.

"When he is at tight end, he is a great blocker than can cave you down to open up the perimeter or boxes you out to allow us to run inside.

"And then when we pass, he is bigger and faster than most defensive backs, so man to man coverage is a very scary thought for defensive coaches.

"Every so often you have an athlete come through your program that has so much upside and so much potential.

"Very often those athletes do not take advantage of what they have been blessed with. Tyrone definitely does take advantage of his skills and abilities.

"Where do you start? Well Tyrone is an honors student and definitely gets the job done in the classroom.

"Tyrone is disciplined as to strength training and lifts weights year round to make himself a better athlete. He has size, strength, and speed and he utilizes it on the field.

"He practices hard every day and is constantly working to make himself better. Tyrone supports his teammates and plays the game with passion and as a member of a team, not an individual. What more could we ask for?"

Shifflet is joined on the first team by Cambridge Trojan teammates Davin Doyle, Bo Cribelli, Andrew Carpenter, Jacob Langley, Dillon Mowry, Taylor Lewis and Jackson Johnson.

Berry and Sellers are joined on the first team by McCook teammates Colton Cochran, Tyler Brown, John Haag, Joe Vetrovsky, Andrew Reitz, Zach Wieser, Matt Bair, Taylor Garcia, Seth Schaeffer, J.D. Stone, Chris Schleeman, Sam Frazier, Eric Rippen, Aaron Ruppert, Mitch Green and Cory Gaston.

St. Francis, which lost in the Kansas Class 2-1A state semifinals to powerhouse Smith Center, placed four players -- Shawn Warren, Ted Crabtree, David Guthmiller and Ethan Zwygardt.

Southwest placed Adam Crocker and Alan Haag, Rawlins County placed senior John Binning, Southern Valley placed senior Zach Nielsen, Chase County placed Rony Siperda and Perkins County placed Curt Softley on the first team.

The eight-man team is led by Hayes Center's quintet of Matt Gohl, Bobby Deaver, Levi Tyan, Jake Rowley and Luke Clifford.

Wauneta-Palisade placed Taylor Dixon, Chris Crowell, Cody Fanning and James Strand.

Dundy County's representatives are Kyle Glidden and Dustin Bundy. Arapahoe features Justin Brooks, Ethan Jenkins, Dillon Breinig and Jordan Spaulding.

Hitchcock County placed Austin Renfro and Jordan Kershaw on the first team.

Maywood's Casey Dixon made the squad as did Medicine Valley's Ben Wolfe and Anthony Chancellor and Wallace's Brett Christensen and Jake Smith.

McCOOK DAILY GAZETTE

2007 ALL-AREA

FOOTBALL TEAM

Coach of the Year: Jeff Gross, McCook.

Co-Players of the Year: Lance Shifflet, Cambridge; Matt Berry, McCook; Tyrone Sellers, McCook.

11-MAN

FIRST TEAM

CAMBRIDGE

Lance Shifflet

Davin Doyle

Bo Cribelli

Andrew Carpenter

Jacob Langley

Dillon Mowry

Taylor Lewis

CHASE COUNTY

Rony Sieperda

McCOOK

Matt Berry

Tyrone Sellers

Colton Cochran

Zach Wieser

Sam Frazier

Chris Schleeman

Tyler Brown

John Haag

Joe Vetrovsky

Seth Schaeffer

J.D. Stone

Matt Bair

Taylor Garcia

Aaron Ruppert

Eric Rippen

Cory Gaston

Andrew Reitz

Mitch Green

PERKINS COUNTY

Curt Softley

RAWLINS COUNTY

John Binning

ST. FRANCIS

Shawn Warren

Ted Crabtree

David Guthmiller

Etahn Zwygardt

SOUTHERN VALLEY

Zach Nielsen

SOUTHWEST

Adam Crocker

Alan Haag

HONORABLE MENTION

Cambridge: Jerrel Alexander, David Campbell.

Chase County: Miles Spickelmeier.

McCook: Jake Curl, Brady Hess, Jeff Lorentz.

Perkins County: Jay Wall, Nate Borowski, Tyler Lee, Jordan Mahnken.

Southern Valley: Drew Witte, Michael Shaw, Jerome Becker, Mitch Schoenfelder, D.J. Rison, Marc Longsine

Southwest: Jesse Deterding, Jason Daffer.

EIGHT-MAN

FIRST TEAM

ARAPAHOE

Justin Brooks

Ethan Jenkins

Jordan Spaulding

Dillon Breinig

DUNDY COUNTY

Kyle Glidden

Dustin Bundy

HAYES CENTER

Matt Gohl

Bobby Deaver

Levi Tyan

Jake Rowley

Luke Clifford

HITCHCOCK COUNTY

Austin Renfro

Jordan Kershaw

MAYWOOD

Casey Dixon

MEDICINE VALLEY

Ben Wolfe

Anthony Chancellor

WALLACE

Brett Christensen

Jake Smith

WAUNETA-PALISADE

Taylor Dixon

Chris Crowell

Cody Fanning

James Strand

HONORABLE MENTION

Arapahoe: Adam Snyder, Aaron McCoy.

Dundy County: Steven Sander.

Hitchcock County: Sam Matson, Max Pollman.

Medicine Valley: Dillon Motensen, Clint Bryant, Eric Lueth.

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