Local players awarded for Ultimate plays

Local players awarded for Ultimate plays

DANVILLE - Oakwood/Armstrong-Potomac senior Douglas Pierce knew when he got blasted earlier this season against Bismarck-Henning it was going to be an award winner.

Little did he know that the person collecting the award was going to be himself.

Pierce earned the Buffalo Wild Wings You Got Hit award during the first-ever Ultimate Hitman Awards Ceremony at the New Life Christian Center in Danville.

"I figured there would be an award for that hit,'' said Pierce, who also collected a pair of weekly Ulitimate Hitman awards during the season for his hits. "I didn't just get hit, I gave out a few of my own.''

Taking home the night's top honor of The Ultimate Hit was Salt Fork junior Tony Marrow for his hit on a kickoff coverage unit.

"I didn't even know I got nominated,'' Marrow said. "It's a unique honor to be the very first winner of The Ultimate Hit.''

Marrow, who won two weekly awards during the season, said he was in the right place at the right time.

"I was following Rileigh Darnell down the field and the runner was behind two of his blockers,'' Marrow said. "He tried to follow them and he just cut right in front of me.

"It was a big hit.''

The Ultimate Hitman program served the Vermilion Valley Conference schools along with Danville from the Big 12 Conference and North Vermillion from the Wabash River Conference.

Each week, a representative from the Oneighty program at the New Life Christian Center visited a team's practice and award a t-shirt to the player with the Hit of the Week.

Each team also had a special night at the Oneighty during the season. The program culminated with Sunday's awards program.

"I was really impressed with this program,'' Pierce said. "This was something new for us this year and it was really neat to see someone, outside of our football programs, that actually cared about what we were doing.

"You look at the turnout here tonight and you can see this was a big deal for all of the schools.''

Lucas, Smith, director of The Ultimate Hitman program, said this first season blew away their expectations.

"We were hoping for the best, but we never would have guesses that we would have this kind of response.''

Other award winners on Sunday night were:

n Salt Fork's Brandon Dixon for the Ultimate Punt/Kick Return.

n Danville's Shavon Morris for the Ultimate Play by a Lineman.

n Westville's Brendon Severado for the Ultimate Catch.

n Westville's Brandon Pratt for the Scion of Danville Ultimate Run.

n Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman's Alex Pratt for the Ultimate Big Play.