Cade Hendrix named first-team in AA 7
Gordon Central senior center Cade Hendix was named to the 7A All-Region football team when a list of the league’s best players in 2021 was recently announced.
Hendrix, a three-year starter and one of four senior offensive linemen on the team, was a solid blocker all year and did a nice job with the snap as the transition from him to the quarterback went pretty smoothly all season long.
Not counting the Player of the Year honors, 13 players were named to the 2A All-Region 7 first team offense and a dozen more were named to the first team defense.
Chattooga, which was third in the Region during the season, had the most first teamers on offense with four, including the league’s top kicker. Region champion Fannin County and Dade County, which was second, each had a trio players on the first-team offense.
Fannin County senior quarterback Seth Reece was named the Region Player of the Year and Reece, who is a three-year starter and played a few other positions for the Rebels, led the league in all-purpose yardage on offense, as he was one of the top passers and runners in the league.
The other three All-Region awards went to players from three other schools.
Pepperrell running back D.J. Rogers, who led the league in rushing, was named the Offensive Player of the Year. Dade County linebacker Cody Williams, who led the league in tackles, and Chattooga defensive back Rowan Burdick were both voted the Region’s Defensive Players of the Year by the coaches.
Dade County head coach Jeff Poston was named the Region 7 Coach of the Year.
Only five of the Region’s seven teams had a first-team representative on the offense and Model and Coosa didn’t have anyone.
Defensively, Fannin County had five, or nearly half of the 12 first-team players, who were selected by the coaches, including the league’s top punter.
Pepperrell had three players on the AllRegion defensive unit while Chattooga, Coosa, Model, and Dade County each had one player selected.
Gordon Central had two players named to the All-Region second team offense and one more to the second defense.
Senior lineman Brock Shellhouse, who was playing on the basketball team, along with junior lineman Paul Guerrero were the two Gordon Central football players chosen to the second team offense. At this point, Guerrero is the only returning starter for next year for the Warriors in the line.
A total of 11 players were named to the second team offense and another 11 were voted onto the second team defense.
Dade County had the most second teamers on offense with three players while Gordon Central and Coosa each had two gridders on the backup squad.
Defensively, Gordon Central defensive back Skyler Hill was named to the second team.
Model had the second-most third teamers with three while Coosa and Dade County each had two. Besides the Warriors, Fannin County, Pepperell, and Chattooga each had one.
Hill was one of the team’s leading tacklers and had two interceptions this past year.
The Warriors did have a large number of honorable mention with 10 players earning that recognition.
The good news for head coach T.J. Hamilton is that three of those guys are freshman and six of them overall are underclassmen who should return next season with a year of experience under their belt.
Offensive lineman Ethan Hendrix, offensive lineman Zac Pardue, athlete Sean Gray and linebacker Isaac Campuzano, who led the league in tackles, were the four Gordon Central seniors nominated for honorable mention.
Junior quarterback Peyton Wilson, who started all 10 games this year for the Warriors, along with sophomore running back Braxton Carnes, sophomore tight end/defensive end Peyton Chastain, and freshman tight end/defensive end Matthew Hammock, freshman wide receiver Jayden Sibley and freshman running back Jayden Jones were the underclassmen who also received honorable mention for the Warriors.