Johnson, Landry win KMFL MVP awards
Gorniak, Mealin named senior, junior division rookies of the year
The Kinsmen Minor Football League wrapped up its 39th season with an annual awards night last Wednesday at Queen Mary Public School.
Junior division trophy winners included Rookie of the Year Trent Mealin of the Redblacks, Offensive Lineman Jacob Keenan of the Redblacks, Defensive Lineman Reed Lain of the Tiger Cats and Offensive Back Hayden Heigh also from the junior champion Ticats.
Defensive Player of the Year was Nate Harvey of the Eskimos along with his teammate Cooper Lunn who won the junior Special Teams award.
Merit Award winners were Tyson Kerber of the Argos and Callum French of the Eskimos.
Coach Awards went to Santiago Selgado-Scott of the Redblacks, Landon Levesque of the Argos, Michael Porter of the Eskimos and Adam Mohns of the Tiger Cats.
In the senior division, Ben Gorniak of the Redblacks was named Rookie of the Year and his teammate Riley Keenan took home the Offensive Lineman trophy.
Defensive Lineman was Andy Hatton of the Argos and Charlie Matthews, also of the Argos, was named Defensive Player of the Year. The Offensive Back award went to a pair of players who quarterbacked their teams into the championship final, Andrew Goode of the Redblacks and Aiden Vesnaver of the Argos. Jake Heideman of the Tiger Cats was the senior Merit Award winner
Coaches Awards were handed out to Jack McNamara of the Redblacks, Zachary Hill of the Argos, Ruari Nolan of the Eskimos and Bradley Buchanan of the Tiger Cats.
The first-time winner of the Perseverance Award, given to a player who combined character and ability, was given to Carly Lachmannn of the Eskimos who showed that girls can play this game too.
The KMFL’s Most Valuable Player trophies went to a pair of high scoring running backs from the championship teams, Lincoln Landry of the junior Tiger Cats and Devon Johnson of the senior Argonauts.
Volunteers were also recognized with special plaques including Bryan Junkin and John Parsons who have served in various positions with the league over the years as managers, organizers and coaches and Ric Johnson who worked in media relations and publicity.
As the league enters its 40th year, the KMFL is one of the longest running minor football leagues in the province, having provided training to players who have gone on to help Peterborough high schools win COSSA and OFSAA championships and numerous players who have taken their talents to university football fields across Canada.