Vanden is tops in tough grid season

FAIRFIELD — It’s no secret: The 2012 high school football season wasn’t the best for the city.

With no playoff team for just the sixth time since 1980 and no team with a winning record for the first time since 1982, you could say it ranks as one of the worst.

Scores and standings aside, there were some great individual efforts and of such are all-city teams made. Here’s a look at the Daily Republic’s 2012 All-City Football Team.

Offensive Player of the Year

Jadon Brisendine, Vanden, QB — Following in the footsteps of Chad Hurst and Ben Scott as sophomore starters for the Vikings, Brisendine turned in a solid campaign, completing 126 of 242 passes for 1,732 yards, the sixth-best total in school history, and 19 touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Year

Elijah Williams, Vanden, LB — Despite having to deal with a broken hand, Williams amassed a city-best 111 tackles, 53 of them solo. He also had two sacks and returned a fumble 29 yards for a touchdown. Not surprisingly, he was the co-Solano County Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Lineman of the Year

Kenny Brand, Vanden, OL/DL — The two-way starter was named the SCAC Lineman of the Year, anchoring the Vikings’ offensive line at left tackle and tying for the team-lead with three sacks on defense.

Coach of the Year

LeVon Haynes, Vanden — Sure, his team finished with a losing record and missed the playoffs, but Haynes’ Vikings had nearly as many wins (four) as the other three schools in town combined (five).

Offense

Ren Littlepage, Vanden, RB — Thanks to 206 yards in the season-finale with Fairfield, the junior standout finished with 1,005 yards, the first Vikings 1,000-yard rusher since Damon Treat in 2009 and 16th in school history.

Damian Simpson, Armijo, RB — Regardless of whose stats you go with – the Daily Republic had Simpson for 982 yards on 182 carries, Maxpreps.com for 1,051 yards on 140 carries despite omitting the 35 yards and a TD he had in the season opener – he had a solid season with five 100-yard games.

Gage Ealy, Rodriguez, RB — Despite attempting just seven passes, the versatile Ealy threw for 207 yards, just 33 fewer than Armijo. He also ran for 453 yards, including 110 in the season finale against the Indians.

Eric Clark, Fairfield, RB — As the Falcons’ lone rushing threat, Clark ran for 441 yards and three touchdowns, going for 110 yards and two TDs against Rodriguez.

Aaron Short, Rodriguez, WR — It’s safe to say the Mustangs didn’t throw the ball often enough in Short’s direction. On just 16 receptions he had 495 yards for a city-best 30.9 yards per grab and seven TDs, also tops in town.

Christian Basden, Vanden, WR — Turning in another solid season, Basden had a city-best 35 catches for 481 yards and five TDs.

Dion Williams, Vanden, WR — Williams led city receivers with 515 yards and his 29 catches, 18.4 yards per catch and six TDs all ranked second among city receivers.

Aron Kirschbaum, Vanden, OL — The senior helped the Vikings average a city best 323.3 total yards per game.

Rito Gomez, Fairfield, OL — The only senior among Fairfield’s five all-SCAC second team picks, Gomez helped junior QB Michael Arredondo stay upright long enough to throw for 1,001 yards and 10 TDs.

Mark Papish, Rodriguez, OL — The 6-foot, 210-pound Papish joined Short and Ealy on the all-MEL second team.

Danny Charos, Armijo, OL — The Indians were looking for better things on offense, especially in the running game, and Charos helped them average 226.3 yards per game, an improvement of 162.6.

Eduardo Nuno, Rodriguez, K — As the city’s only regular place kicker, Nuno booted home 16 conversions and one field goal.

Defense

John Stevenson and Sergio Barajas, Vanden, DL — Stevenson and Barajas had 40 and 43 tackles, respectively, as the Vikings held opponents to 145.2 yards per game rushing.

Marcus Blanton, Fairfield, DL — Blanton was one of the few bright spots in a tough defensive season for the Falcons.

Mark Papish, Rodriguez, DL — The two-way all-MEL second team pick also makes it on both sides of the ball in all-City selections.

John Forsythe and Mike Weaver, Vanden, LB — Forsythe finished second to Elijah Williams on the Vikings with 90 tackles, while Weaver amassed 61 with two sacks.

Eric Clark, Fairfield, LB — The junior joins Papish as the only two-way all-City players.

Enrique Garrido-Ramirez, Armijo, LB — The senior returned from a serious neck injury as a junior to record a city-best 64 solo tackles, winding up with 80 overall.

Zack Williams, Rodriguez, LB — Listed as a defensive back on the Rodriguez roster, Williams made the all-MEL second team at linebacker.

Cedric Taylor, Vanden, DB —Taylor made his mark by becoming the first Viking to return an interception and a fumble for touchdowns in the same game. He led the team with five interceptions and was third with 90 tackles.

Billy Hurst, Devin Bruner, Vanden, DB — Hurst and Bruner finished with remarkably similar stats with the former recording 48 tackles, the latter 43 with each getting an interception. Bruner led the team with 10 passes defensed, Hurst taking second with eight. They helped the Vikings allow a city-low four TD passes.

Tyler Ross, Fairfield, DB — One thing the Falcons did well was defend the pass with Ross helping them hold seven of nine opponents under 100 yards through the air.

Hashim Boyd, Rodriguez, DB — With Boyd in the secondary, the Mustangs surrendered just nine TD passes and more than one just once — two to run-happy Vacaville, of all teams.

Enrique Garrido-Ramirez, P — It’s tough to make it twice on the all-city defensive team in the same year, but a city-best average of 42.7 yards per boot will do that.

Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646, ext. 264, or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pfarmerdr.