Written by John Metcalfe
The G.T.A. All Stars vanquished the Ottawa Invaders in the League Championship game, and the All Stars mastery continued in the League All Star and Awards voting/selections for the recently completed season. The All Stars proved more dominant in the Awards section as they earned nine of twelve honours and seven All Star nods. Pivot Tom Denison led the way with his fourth Most Valuable Player Selection, third Offensive Player of the Year nod and fifth selection as the All-Star quarterback. Defensive Lineman Michael Livingston also has multiple honours as Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Lineman of the Year, Defensive Championship Game M.V.P. and All-Star on the Defensive Line.
Veteran Brandon Lewis of the Sault Ste. Marie Steelers, earned his 19th All Star nod on the Defensive Line which extends his record for one position. Lewis has also garnered 18 straight nods on the Defensive Line which is also a record. Sarnia kicker Kevin Allaer swept the special team kicking kudos as punter and place kicker and for the first time ever, there was a tie for the Mike Jackson Memorial Special Teams Player of the Year with Archelaus Jack (Oakville) and Bill Nyantakyi (G.T.A.) splitting that honour. Like teammates Denison and Livingston, Nyantakyi also grabs multiple plaques as Rookie of the Year and Kick Return All Star. Jack joins the multiple winners club as an All-Star Receiver and also earned his first August Kangro Memorial Trophy as the League’s leading scorer which ended Josh Gauthier’s grip on that kudo. Gauthier had won seven of the last nine seasons.
Honours are determined from votes cast by coaches and players, along with statistical performance weighting for all All Star positions and some awards honours.
The Oakville Longhorns were next in the All-Star honours with five and two league awards. Sarnia Imperials had three all-stars and an award. Hamilton Steel City Patriots, the Steelers, Sudbury Spartans and Tri City Outlaws earned two all-star nods each and Montreal Transit has one all-star honour. The Champion G.T.A. will be hosting the C.M.F.L. Final which is slated for Saturday September 26th at a yet to be determined location. The Alberta Football League champion will be determined on September 12th. The All Stars will be looking to retain the C.M.F.L. title that Montreal won 49-26 over the Calgary Wolpack in Calgary last Fall.
2015 also sees the continued recognition of Second Team All Stars. The complete listing of those earning honours is below:
AWARDS
Most Valuable Player Tom Denison – GTA Also honoured in 2007,11 and 12
Offensive Player of the Year Tom Denison – GTA Also honoured in 2011 and 12
Defensive Player of the Year Michael Livingston – GTA First Honour
Offensive Lineman Bjoern Hanser – GTA First Honour
Defensive Lineman Michael Livingston – GTA First honour
Rookie of the Year Bill Nyantakyi – GTA Third time for this franchise
(Leo Troy Memorial)
Coach of the Year Jake Cherski – Sarnia First honour
(Sid Forster Memorial)
Special Teams Player Archelaus Jack – Oakville First tie for this honour
(Mike Jackson Memorial) Bill Nyantakyi – GTA
Leading Scorer Archelaus Jack – Oakville First Longhorn since 2004
(August Kangro Memorial)
Championship Game M.V.P. Michael Livingston – GTA First honour
Jahmeek Murray – GTA First honour
OFFENCE ALL STARS
Position Player, Team Previous Selections
Quarterback Tom Denison – GTA 2007,11,12 and 14
Running Back Josh Cuomo – Sudbury 2013
T J Williams – Ottawa First selection
Receivers Skyler Hurst – Hamilton First selection
Archelaus Jack – Oakville 2014
Ryan Lounsbury – Sarnia First selection
Mark Simone – GTA 2012
Offensive Line Wayne Brock – GTA First selection
Darren Castalto – Ottawa First selection
Joel Charron – Ottawa* First selection
Bjoern Hanser – GTA First selection
Amir Farhat – Ottawa* First selection
Greg Torrance – Sault 2010,11,12,13 and 14
*Indicates tie for position
SPECIAL TEAMS ALL STARS
Punter Kevin Allaer – Sarnia 2010,11 and 12
Punt Return Archelaus Jack – Oakville First selection at this position
Kicker Kevin Allaer – Sarnia First selection at this position
Kick Return Bill Nyantakyi – GTA First selection
DEFENCE ALL STARS
Defensive Line Mark Hillock – Sudbury First selection
Brandon Lewis – Sault 19th selection
Michael Livingston – GTA First selection
Adrian Malcolm – Oakville First selection
Linebackers Liston Bates – Oakville First selection
Andrew Blevings – Montreal 2013
Kris Kusch – Tri City 2012,13 and 14
Defensive Backs Chris Hibbert – Oakville First selection at this position
Cleon Holmes – GTA 2009
Deryl Kelly – Tri City First selection
Lavone Nelson – Hamilton First selection
Wassim Sayegh – Ottawa First selection
SECOND TEAM ALL STARS
Quarterback Mathieu Rene – Montreal
Running Backs Scott Smith – Sudbury
Roland Tremblay – Tri City
Receivers Jean Fritz Charles – Montreal
Brad Churchill – Sarnia
Phil Dixon – Toronto
Patrick Jerome – Montreal
Jahmeek Murray – GTA
Offensive Line Michael Antoine – GTA
Tom Bailey – Tri City
Francis Cloutier – Ottawa
Bassai Taha – Ottawa
Brady Taylor – Tri City
Punter Ovidu Coca – Hamilton
Punt Return Bill Nyantakyi – GTA
Kicker Andrew Posteraro – GTA
Kick Return Archelaus Jack – Oakville
Defensive Line Winston Blake – Oakville
Travis Doyle – Hamilton
Joe Shyminsky – Sudbury
Kevin White – Sudbury
Linebackers Erik Conrad – Sudbury
Dustin Murray – Toronto
Marcus Wisdom – GTA
Defensive Backs Jean Fritz Charles – Montreal
Kevin Coxall – Toronto
Spencer DaCosta – Ottawa
Adrien Kellman – Montreal
Lusson Pierre – Montreal
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