Ricebird football earns six all-district honors

senior wide receiver Quincy Thornton.

Dorotik protected the quarterback’s blindside this year and played on the defensive as well. El Campo would motion him on certain running plays and have running backs run behind him. He allowed one sack this season, the only one in his career at left tackle with 391 dropbacks.

“James for the last two years has been a mainstay for us. He’s been all-state, all-district and all-area last year and I think he was even better this year. He had a great offseason and got really strong,” Ricebird head coach Travis Reeve said. “To do that while also being a starter for us on the defensive line and being a force over there is not easy to do and he did a great job with it.”

Thornton had speed to burn and was hard for defensive backs to stay with him throughout the season. Thornton was one touchdown shy of the Ricebird receiving triple crown, which is the leader in touchdowns, yards and catches. The Ricebird senior finished with 549 yards and three touchdowns on 38 catches.

“Qunicy really became the go-to guy for us in the passing game and I thought he really had significant improvement from last year to this year,” Reeve said. “Obviously, his speed was a factor in his ability to make plays, but for him to take on the role of being a relied-on receiver, especially whenever one knows he’s a focal point, I thought he handled it really well.”

On the defensive side of the football, in district the Ricebirds allowed 15.2 points per game, with two shutouts. El Campo earned four all-district honors with senior defensive back Austin Babcock, senior defensive lineman Clayton Stehling, senior linebacker Riley Riha and junior linebacker Will Rod earning recognition.

Babcock wasn’t a true defensive back, playing more of a hybird role for the Ricebirds and was a key in helping slow other team’s passing games. Babcock had 35 tackles with four tackles for loss, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

“Last year that’s where we had him but when he had all those injuries we moved him to corner and then to safety, but I always felt like this was his natural position,” Reeve said. Him alone shut down a lot of the outside screens and things that people made against us. A year before that was a weakness and this year it was a strength and that was because of him.”

Stehling, like his cousin counterpart Dorotik, was a two-way starter for the Ricebirds. Stehling has a big part of the defense line, making a number of plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. He finished 17 tackles, six for loss and five sacks.

“[He was] tough as nails. He is a guy that every week gave everything that he had and was a great leader by example, like a lot of our guys. He could play inside for us and outside for us at defensive end. His ability to get off blocks and run and make tackles and hold up against bigger offensive line and also be a full-time starter on offense was really remarkable,” Reeve said.

Riha had a knack for making big plays and was seemingly always around the football. He was second on the team with 75 tackles and had a Ricebird-high nine sacks. He has caused three fumbles, recovered two and blocked a punt.

“He’s a really good linebacker. He plays with great intensity and extremely hard. He has a great ability to find the football and make plays when he gets there,” Reeve said.

Rounding out the Ricebirds first-team honors is Rod, who’ll return next season. Rod was a tackle machine and was one shy of 100 on the season. He also had 5.5 tackles for a loss, five sacks and two pass breakups.

“He plays with a lot of heart and a lot of ability. He’s very talented and takes a lot of pride in being a great linebacker and he made a ton of plays for us this year,” Reeve said.

El Campo picked up eight second-team honors, split evenly between the offense and defense.

Ricebird senior offensive lineman O’Brayven Ball, senior tight end Spencer Wishert, junior wide receiver Kylon Taylor and junior quarterback Ridge Spenrath received recognition.

Ball helped the Ricebirds pound out close to 4,000 yards this past season (3,998 yards). Wishert finished with the team lead in touchdowns with four. Taylor had 270 combined rushing and receiving yards. Spenrath had 1,691 passing yards to go with 13 touchdowns.

El Campo senior defensive end Darrion Holmes, junior kicker Landon Smith, junior defensive back Luke Rod and senior Jabary Foley rounded out the second time honors.

Holmes had seven tackles for loss and three sacks. Smith was a prefect 49 for 49 on point after attempts and went 5-6 on field goal kicks. Rod had 39 tackles and two for loss. Foley had 69 tackles and one interception.

Receiving honorable mentions were seniors Camdyn Phillips, Bryan Cisneros, Brayden Korenek and Peyton Perkins, juniors Marqui Hebert, Ben Clifton and sophomores Cade Stehling, Vladimir Garcia and Izik Mendez.

El Campo this past season made it to the playoffs but lost in the first round to Calallen,

DISTRICT 15 TOP HONORS

MVP - Alex Estrada (Bay City, senior)

Offensive Player of the Year - Xylan Williams (Bay City, senior), Fischer Franck (Calhoun, senior), Sean Garza    (La Vernia, junior)

Offensive Lineman of the Year - Donnie Jurek (La Vernia, senior)

Offensive Newcomer of the Year - Ty Carter (La Vernia, sophomore)

Utility Player of the Year - Keaton Nunez (Bay City, senior), Davyn Perez (Beeville Jones, junior), Aden Hajek (La Vernia, senior)

Defensive Player of the Year - Darrik Salinas (Calhoun, senior)

Defensive Lineman of the Year - Cameron Spencer (Bay City, senior)

Defensive Newcomer of the Year - Vinny Capparelli (La Vernia, junior)

Special Teams Player of the Year - Izaiah Cabrales (Calhoun, junior)

Coach of the Year - Robert Jones (Bay City)