Montezuma’s John Beck earns Coach of the Year honors, three Braves earn top honors

​     Montezuma Braves Head Football Coach, John Beck, help lead the Braves to a 10-1 record and quarterfinal finish in the playoffs. Beck, who is in his first year as head coach, was named the Class 8P – District 7 All-District Coach of the Year.

By J.O. Parker
 
       Montezuma Braves Head Football Coach, John Beck, has been named the Coach of the Year following the release of the 2021 Class 8P – District 7 All-District Team honors.
      “It’s an honor to be recognized as the district coach of year,” noted Beck. “It is truly a byproduct of the effort the guys put in this year. We had a great group of kids and I am so blessed to be able to be a part of that.”
       Beck went on to thank the rest of the Montezuma coaching staff, Tim Burgess, Josh Kriegel, Cal Smith, Partner Maschmann and Brian Diaz, for their help and advice all year long.
“Having a great staff like we have just makes everything so much better,” added Beck.
Beck, who is in his first year as a head coach, led the 8-Man Braves to a 10-1 record and a quarterfinal finish in the playoffs.    
    Montezuma’s Eddie Burgess, who finished the season with 60 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, earned Offensive Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors for a second straight year, while Zach Bennett received Defensive Line Player of the Year honors for the Braves and Owen Cook was recognized with Kicker/Punter Player of the Year honors for the Braves.
     BGM’s Joe Irlbeck was recognized with Offensive Line Player of the Year honors and Baxter’s Cody Damman was named Defensive MVP for the 2021 season.
      Other area top players included BGM’s Jacob Maurer, who finished the season with 64 touchdowns and 2,272 all-purpose yards and BGM’s Jacob Moel, who finished the season with 1,035 receiving yards. 
       Following are the first, second and honorable mention players for the district:
Montezuma
First Team
DB – Connor Van Zee, Senior, Montezuma
DL – Tod Geiger, Sophomore, Montezuma
OL – Kennen Roadcap, Junior, Montezuma
WR – Masin Shearer, Junior, Montezuma
LB – Martavious Knox, Junior, Montezuma
Second Team
OL – Jack Brenner, Senior, Montezuma
OL – TJ Townsend, Senior, Montezuma
TE – Camden Michalek, Senior, Montezuma
Honorable Mention
DB – Eli Bustamante, Junior, Montezuma
LB – Brett Plants, Freshman, Montezuma
Baxter
First Team
RB/DL – Rory Heer, Senior, Baxter
OL/LB – Nate McMinamen, Senior, Baxter
TE/LB – Jake Travis, Junior, Baxter
OL/DL – Trice Clapper, Junior, Baxter
Second Team
WR/DB – Cael Shepley, Junior, Baxter
DL – Devin Fredregill, Junior, Baxter
LB – Grant Borts, Senior, Baxter
Honorable Mention
OL/DL – Aiden McFadden, Sophomore, Baxter
WR/DB – Treyton Travis, Sophomore, Baxter
BGM
First Team
QB – Jacob Maurer, Junior, BGM
WR – Jacob Moel, Senior, BGM
WR – Shamus Keller, Junior, BGM
Second Team
DL – LJ Henkle, Senior, BGM
OL – Connor Cooling, Junior, BGM
LB – Cooper Winter, Junior, BGM
Honorable Mention
FB – Mason Maschmann, Sophomore, BGM
LB – Logan Heishman, Junior, BGM
Grand View Christian
First Team
RB/LB – Caleb Foster-Krueger, Senior, GVC
TE/DE – Colin Woodbury, Junior, GVC
QB – Noah John, Sophomore, GVC
Second Team
DB – Kyle Curtis, Senior, GVC
RB/LB – Kaden Burger, Sophomore, GVC
Honorable Mention
DB – Eli Tarbell, Senior, GVC
LB – Trevor Swanson, Senior, GVC
Melcher-Dallas
First Team
FB/LB – Cole Metz, Senior, Melcher-Dallas
TE/S – Anthony Schneider, Senior, Melcher-Dallas
RB/S – Logan Godfrey, Junior, Melcher-Dallas
Second Team
TE/LB – Carlos Gonzalez, Freshman, Melcher-Dallas
OG/DE – Lucas Harrington, Junior, Melcher-Dallas
Honorable Mention
OG/DE – Scott Johnson, Senior, Melcher-Dallas
TE/LB – Max Enfield, Junior, Melcher-Dallas
Twin Cedars, who finished 1-7 and Woodward Academy, who finished 0-8, did not have any players receive special honors.