Good Hope's Bailey Quick (2), Isaiah Green (15) and Matt Dixon (44) were selected as this year's County Offensive, Defensive and Overall MVP, respectively. Also pictured is Good Hope senior Preston Bagwell (3) (Nick Griffin for The Cullman Tribune)
CULLMAN COUNTY – This year’s All-County Football Teams, voted on by area coaches, were announced recently along with this season’s top awards, which were swept by the Good Hope Raiders after a stellar 2018 campaign. Two-way star Matt Dixon was selected as the Overall MVP after helping lead the best team in the county on both sides of the ball and even improving as the season progressed. In the Raiders’ three playoff games alone, Dixon racked up 510 yards on the ground and seven total touchdowns.
Dixon had two teammates take home MVP honors as well. His partner in the backfield, quarterback Bailey Quick, was selected as the Offensive MVP and defensive end Isaiah Green was named this season’s Defensive MVP. Along with Dixon, Green was able to make a big impact on both sides of the ball, becoming a big part of the Raiders’ running attack as the season progressed. Quick was instrumental in the success Good Hope enjoyed this season as the leader of the offense.
All three of this year’s MVPs were critical in helping put together the Raiders’ 11-2 season and reaching the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs for the first time since 1997. They were led by the 2018 Coach of the Year, Alan Scott.
Scott coached a Good Hope team littered with All County selections this season, but his trio of MVPs was impossible to ignore.
“Obviously all three of those guys deserved the rewards they received today and I’m thankful that they were able to. Each one of them meant a tremendous amount to this team. This is a team sport and I love that part of it because everybody contributes from ninth graders all the way up to the seniors, but these guys in particular really stood out as far as what they were able to accomplish offensively and defensively and how they played the game,” Scott said. “I just couldn’t be prouder.”
Scott was happy to brag on his star players from this season for their performance, their effort and their accolades, starting with one of the best defensive players in the county.
“Isaiah has worked very hard to be a good defensive end. Coach (Justin) Ray, his position coach, has really worked with him like he does all the guys, and Isaiah just seemed to always be around the ball making plays this year. He ended up with 13 sacks so he just kind of had a nose for the ball and had a feel for how the play was developing, and that is something that you can’t really coach,” Scott said. “That’s instinctive, and he just found a way to get to the quarterback on those sacks and he had an additional seven tackles for loss on top of that. He just played his position and didn’t try to do more or less than what the play called for.”
Scott looks for a lot of intangibles as well as talent in his quarterbacks and this year he had a senior under center with all of those things and more. As the offense continued to evolve, Quick evolved as well, helping to lead the Raiders on their postseason run.
“The quarterback, in my opinion, has to be very tough mentally and physically, they have to handle a lot. With the way offense has progressed even in the last 10 years, there’s a lot that gets put on the quarterback’s shoulders as far as making the right reads,” Scott said. “We ran the option a lot this year and for him to be able to understand what the defense was giving him and look around pre-snap to see what was available if we were trying to throw the football, to make all those decisions, I thought he did an excellent job there and you’ve got to have a guy there at quarterback that the kids believe in and they definitely felt that way about Bailey, rightfully so. He’s a very confident player and I thought he handled it very well.”
Perhaps the most impactful player on the field for the Raiders this year was the season’s Overall MVP, Dixon, who was as much of a force off the field for Good Hope during his career as he was on it.
“Matt played on both sides of the ball and on several of our special teams and he’s just a great young man, has been since I’ve been at Good Hope. When I came here, everybody told me that he was a special young man and they were right,” Scott said. “He never misses practice, he’s always there, always ready to go, has a good attitude; he’s buddies with almost everyone on the team and he’s not one of those superstar type of kids that feels above everyone else. He wants to work hard and do all the little things and there was nobody that had more fun at practice than he did. It’s just fun to see and we’re going to miss him.”
Offensive MVP: Bailey Quick, Good Hope
Defensive MVP: Isaiah Green, Good Hope
Overall MVP: Matt Dixon, Good Hope
First Team Offense
Quarterback: Rylan Jones, West Point – Dayne Black, Fairview
Running Back: Hunter Persall, West Point – RJ Evans, Hanceville – Tyvn Ellis, Fairview
Receiver: Fred Ellis, Hanceville – Kolton Sapp, West Point – Teague Whatley, Vinemont – Preston Bagwell – Good Hope
Offensive Line: Jacob Ring, Holly Pond – Carson Moon, West Point – Dakota McGraw, Vinemont – Jackson Hancock, Good Hope – Peyton Hill, Good Hope – Jared Bachelor, Fairview – Will Swann, Cold Springs – Tyler Brown, Vinemont
Tight End: Francisco Ayala, Cold Springs – Tyler Boatright, Holly Pond
Athlete: Kyler Chaney, Holly Pond – Dustin Moore, Vinemont
Kicker: Walter Perez, Good Hope
First Team Defense
Defensive Line: Riley Kilpatrick, Good Hope – Colyn Cofield, Holly Pond – Brodie Curvin, Vinemont – Brayden Martin, West Point – Levi Garner, Fairview – Alex Corneglio, Holly Pond
Linebacker: Colton Bagwell, Good Hope – Dylan McDonald, Good Hope – Brody Rusk, West Point – Romael Simmons, Hanceville – Jordan McCormick, Holly Pond
Defensive Back: Levi Farley, West Point – Isaac Ludwig, Holly Pond – Roberto Ayala, Cold Springs – Donte Dumas, Fairview – Matt Schwaiger, Good Hope
Punter: Devan Jennings, Fairview
Second Team Offense
Quarterback: Jack Hill, Vinemont
Running Back: Jeremiah Holmes, Holly Pond – Ayden Alexander, Cold Springs – Dallin Dinkle, Vinemont
Receiver: Mason Black, Fairview – Logan Guthery, Hanceville – Lawson Burgess, Cold Springs
Offensive Line: Logan McKee, Hanceville – Isaac Schwaiger, Holly Pond – Dawson Speegle, Good Hope – Will Bailey, Fairview – Will Akin, Hanceville – Michael Roberts, West Point – Sam Jones, Good Hope
Tight End: Hudson Wood, Vinemont
Athlete: Brody Rowell, Holly Pond – Will Cochran, West Point
Kicker: Daniel Flores-Carreno, Vinemont
Second Team Defense
Defensive Line: Tyler Thompson, West Point – Jayden Perkins, Holly Pond – Ethan Rasco, Good Hope – Austin Knight, Good Hope – Colby Jones, West Point – Travis Hopper, Vinemont – Jacob McClendon, Cold Springs
Linebacker: Levi Boatright, Holly Pond – Caleb Smith, West Point – Jake Griggs, Vinemont – Jared Pugh, Good Hope – Dalton Payne, Fairview
Defensive Back: Johnny Quick, Good Hope – Tanner Malin, Good Hope – Rip McBee, Holly Pond – Whitt Laney, West Point – Parker Martin, Fairview
Honorable Mentions
Tyde Bagwell, Good Hope – Antonio Bautista, Hanceville – Kobe Bowers, West Point – Jager Burns, Good Hope – Anthony Brasher, Vinemont – Will Brown, West Point – Cam Carter, Vinemont – Tristin Cornelius, Hanceville – Cooper Couch, West Point – Mitch Ford, Vinemont – Andy Garcia, Holly Pond – Erik Giggs, West Point – Riley Gillilan, Holly Pond – Matt Hancock, Good Hope – Bo Joles, Hanceville – Caleb Lambert, Holly Pond – Collin Leathers, Holly Pond – Houston McCarn, Cold Springs – Alex Medina, Fairview – Trevor Pace, Good Hope – Adam Parker, Fairview – Doston Putman, Good Hope – Justin Rasco, Good Hope – Todd Sears, Holly Pond – Tyler Simmons, Holly Pond – Eli Speegle, Fairview – Zeke White, Cold Springs
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