Brian Rosener is the keeper of the Semoball Cup which is presented to the school with the most successful season. It is based on a formula that takes into account the combined winning percentage of all sports teams plus bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both teams and individuals. The bonus points are divided by the number of teams a school fields. Rosener has been the sports editor for the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff, Mo. since December 2001. He was born and raised in St. Louis, where he attended Lindbergh High School and Webster University. He is married to Jennifer, a Poplar Bluff native, has a son Jack and a dog named Satchel who stands in for his @semoballBrian photo.

Carr Trophy goes to Darrell Monroe

Posted Wednesday, December 4, 2013, at 11:07 PM

Darrell Monroe

Darrell Monroe finally took home that elusive Carr Trophy as the most outstanding football player in the SEMO Conference.

A finalist for a second straight year, Monroe picked up the honor Wednesday night at the 68th annual Poplar Bluff Letter Club Gridiron Banquet.

Poplar Bluff's Jacob Sliger was named the most outstanding defensive player, becoming the first Mule to win the Derland Moore Award.

Monroe was a four-time All-SEMO player, earning the honor as a freshman on the defensive line. As a sophomore he ran for over 1,000 yards and was an All-SEMO running back while sharing the ball with Elbie Fonda, who won the Carr that season.

Last season Monroe was a finalist for the award, given annually since 1979, after rushing for over 1,100 yards but Malden's Romello McCoy took home the trophy.

Monroe was named to both the offensive and defensive All-SEMO Central team.

He ran for 1,430 yards, averaging 11 yards per carry and scoring 20 touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for 433 yards and five scores while returning three kicks for 99 yards.

On defense, the linebacker made 54 tackles including 44 solo and 14 for a loss. He also had an interception.

The Tigers lost in the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinals to Lutheran North 56-41 this fall to finish 10-2. Caruthersville reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Lamar last year after consecutive quarterfinal losses to Maplewood-Richmond Heights.

During his four years, the Tigers were 43-8.

Monroe is the fifth player from Caruthersville to win the award since 2003.

There was a three-way tie for second in the voting, which is done by a committee of eight area high school football officials and named in honor of E.E. "Bus" Carr.

Mikey Jones of Cape Central, Peyton Montgomery of Chaffee and Jackson's Dante Vandeven joined Monroe on the stage as finalists.

Jones led a Tiger team that advanced to the Class 4 state semifinals, rushing for 2,045 yards and 25 touchdowns. He won the North's Scoring Award with 27 touchdowns and 172 points.

Vandeven threw for 2,240 yards by completing 58 percent of his passes. The junior threw 22 touchdown passes and ran for 20 more with 913 yards for over 3,150 yards of total offense for a Jackson team that won a district title.

Montgomery led Chaffee with 1,404 passing yards by completing 57 percent of his passes while running for 712 yards. The junior threw for 15 touchdowns and ran for 18 as the Red Devils went 9-2.

Sliger led Poplar Bluff's defense as a defensive lineman with 91 tackles including 38 solo and 19 for a loss. He had seven sacks, forced two fumbles, recovered two and blocked a punt leading to a touchdown.

Malden's Dremond Robinson won the SEMO South scoring award with 180 points while Monroe took the Central scoring title with 170.

The Outstanding Lineman Award went to Preston Hobeck of Jackson for the North, Landon Stricklin of Caruthersville in the Central and Chaffee's Trevor Morehead in the South.

Al Jackson of Hayti was presented the Sam Giambelluca Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication and service to high school athletics over the past 35 years.

New Madrid Central was given the SEMO Football Officials Association Sportsmanship Award.

Todd Richards of KFVS-12 was the guest speaker.

ALL-SEMO CONFERENCE TEAM

North Offense

QB -- Dante Vandeven, Jackson, jr. 6-2, 185

RB -- Mikey Jones, Cape Central, sr. 6-2, 190

RB -- Bi Nguyen, Poplar Bluff, jr. 5-5, 130

RB -- Colten Proffer, Jackson, sr. 5-9, 175

WR -- Xominique Davis, Jackson, jr. 5-10, 170

WR -- Al Young, Cape Central, so. 5-11, 175

TE -- Bo Wilferth, Cape Central, sr. 6-7, 225

OL -- Scottie Thomas, Cape Central, sr. 5-10, 240

OL -- Caleb Jones, Cape Central, sr. 6-0, 260

OL -- Lorenzens Brookins, Cape Central, sr. 6-0, 230

OL -- Nick Keser, Jackson, sr. 6-1, 235

OL -- Quentin Michel, Poplar Bluff, sr. 6-4, 255

P -- Brendan Ferris, Farmington, jr. 6-3, 200

North Defense

DL -- Darville Hopkins, Cape Central, sr. 5-10, 320

DL -- Preston Hobeck, Jackson, jr. 5-10, 245

DL -- Garrett Koch, Jackson, sr. 5-11, 225

DL -- Jacob Sliger, Poplar Bluff, sr. 6-1, 235

LB -- Clay Porter, Sikeston, sr. 5-9, 175

LB -- Garrett Miller, Jackson, sr. 5-9, 185

LB -- Josh Stone, Jackson, jr. 6-0, 195

LB -- Collin Jones, Poplar Bluff, sr. 6-1, 185

DB -- Ty Selsor, Jackson, sr. 5-11, 185

DB -- Reese Porter, Sikeston, sr. 6-3, 195

DB -- Jalen Reddin, Cape Central, jr. 5-8, 160

DB -- Jacob Pulliam, Poplar Bluff, sr. 5-9, 175

K -- Brayden Krause, Farmington, 6-1, 165.

Coach: Brent Eckley, Jackson

Central Offense

QB -- Tyler Grissom, Caruthersville, sr. 6-4, 215

RB -- Darrell Monroe, Caruthersville, sr. 6-3, 220

RB -- Robert Bogan, Charleston, sr. 5-10, 192

RB -- Treyvon Bradford, Kennett, sr. 5-6, 130

WR -- Jamal Johnson, Caruthersville, sr. 6-0, 185

WR -- D.J. Dowdy, Dexter, sr. 5-9, 160

WR -- Antavies Drake, Kennett, sr. 5-11, 160

OL -- Joey Middleton, Caruthersville, sr. 5-10, 210

OL -- Landon Stricklin, Caruthersville, jr. 6-4, 280

OL -- Ryan Housman, Charleston, sr. 5-11, 310

OL -- Brandon Wick, Dexter, jr. 5-10, 220

OL -- Bud Hilburn, Kennett, jr. 6-2, 220.

K -- Colt Callens, Caruthersville, sr. 6-0, 195

Central Defense

DL -- Landon Stricklin, Caruthersville, jr. 6-4, 280

DL -- Colt Callens, Caruthersville, sr. 6-0, 195

DL -- Deon Cherry, Charleston, sr. 6-3, 275

DL -- Bryce Smith, New Madrid Central, sr. 5-4, 145

LB -- Darrell Monroe, Caruthersville, sr. 6-3, 220

LB -- Trevor Waldner, Dexter, sr. 5-7, 145

LB -- Bron McPherson, Kennett, sr. 6-1, 200

LB -- Mikeal Walker, New Madrid Central, jr. 5-10, 170

DB -- Jamal Johnson, Caruthersville, sr. 6-0, 185

DB -- Delfincko Bogan, Charleston, jr. 5-9, 180

DB -- Edward Wilson, Kennett, so. 5-10, 160

DB -- T.J. Clark, New Madrid Central, jr. 5-10, 165

P -- Austin Hailey, Charleston, sr. 6-1, 180

Coach: Nathan Morgan, Caruthersville

South Offense

QB -- Peyton Montgomery, Chaffee, jr. 6-0, 167

RB -- Jimmy Golden, Chaffee, sr. 5-10, 214

RB -- Dremond Robinson, Malden, jr. 5-6, 165

RB -- Ben Story, Portageville, sr. 5-9, 170

WR -- Charlie Montgomery, Chaffee, sr. 6-2, 176

WR -- Demetrius Luster, Hayti, sr. 6-2, 200

TE -- Devan Riddick, Hayti, jr. 6-2, 208

OL -- Gavin Seyer, Chaffee, sr. 5-8, 274

OL -- Javiel Cooper, Malden, jr. 5-8, 226

OL -- Derrick Priggel, Portageville, sr. 6-1, 195

OL -- Tyler Manley, Malden, sr. 5-11, 182

OL -- Trevor Brands, Portageville, sr. 6-0, 195

P -- Bryce Wallace, Portageville, sr. 5-10, 150

South Defense

DL -- Trevor Morehead, Chaffee, jr. 6-2, 262

DL -- Mike Hopkins, Portageville, sr. 5-9, 245

DL -- Cordiero Clark, Malden, jr. 6-0, 220

DL -- Taylor Raines, Scott City, sr. 6-0, 191

LB -- Devon Yahn, Chaffee, sr. 5-9, 163

LB -- Nick Thompson, Malden, so. 5-11, 218

LB -- Derrick Priggel, Portageville, sr. 6-1, 195

LB -- T.J. Shands, East Prairie, jr. 5-9, 170

DB -- Layton Tenkoff, Chaffee, sr. 6-3, 175

DB -- Brandon Stanley, Malden, jr. 5-8, 150

DB -- Ben Story, Portageville, sr. 5-9, 170

DB -- Skyler Bewley, Scott City, sr. 5-9, 145

K -- none

Coach: Charley Vickery, Chaffee

Comments

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Are you kidding me? How is it possible that Moore won this award over Mikey Jones? At the very least, the numbers do not lie:

Moore:

He ran for 1,430 yards, averaging 11 yards per carry and scoring 20 touchdowns. He also caught 12 passes for 433 yards and five scores while returning three kicks for 99 yards.

Jones:

Jones led a Tiger team that advanced to the Class 4 state semifinals, rushing for 2,045 yards and 25 touchdowns. He won the North's Scoring Award with 27 touchdowns and 172 points.

600+ more yards rushing, 5 more rushing TD's (2 more overall), and all this done in the SEMO North, where 4 of the top 10 teams in SE Missouri play, and against a more difficult schedule than anyone else in SE Missouri. Don't get me wrong, both players had very good years, and both deserve all the accolades they receive. But IMO Jones season by far was a better one than Moore's, and one that is more deserving of the Carr trophy, which is supposed to be awarded to the player with the most outstanding season. Once again, the PB Letter Club got it wrong in the SEMO Conference. But it's not the first time that this has happened, and I am sure it won't be the last. Perhaps it is time for the coaches to select the Carr trophy winner?

-- Posted by OldBallCoach on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 9:03 AM
Who's this Moore guy? At least know the kid's name before you say he isn't worthy. You must be close to Jones because most people would agree the best player won this year.

-- Posted by Cheesehead. on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 10:33 AM
You are correct. My mistake. Monroe. However, I am not close to either player, and I did not say that Monroe wasn't worthy. You read that into my comments. I said he did have a very good year, but in my opinion, Jones' year was better.

-- Posted by OldBallCoach on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 11:37 AM
Monroe was the best player in SEMO this year and also last. I thought he should have been the winner last year as well.

Monroe is a great player on both sides of the ball. And you have to remember his stats are huge but how big would they have been if he would have played all games and played in the second half of most games?

-- Posted by Steve Frey on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 12:10 PM
I appreciate the fact that he is a great player and had a great year. I agree that he is, and he did. I just don't believe you can use the argument of "how huge his stats would have been" to determine the winner of an award like the Carr trophy. And in my opinion, Jones' year, or even Vandeven's year, were both superior to Monroe's.

-- Posted by OldBallCoach on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 12:49 PM
i would guess that you've never seen monroe play a game in person. sometimes it's not easy to pick the winner for this award, but this year the committee came to the conclusion that monroe was the best player in the conference. he was a game changer on both sides of the ball that the other team keyed on each and every play.

-- Posted by myershallred on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 12:58 PM
I agree it's sometimes not an easy task, and this year was no exception. I assume that from the comment that you made about the committee coming to a conclusion that Monroe was the best player in the conference, that now the committee awards the Carr trophy to the "best player" rather than to the player who they feel had the best season. Same difficult decision as MVP vs. Player of the year, etc. I just felt like Jones' season, and even Vandeven's year, were both better. I do believe level of competition does impact it, just as performance, stats, etc. does as well. All 3 players mentioned were game changers. All 3 were keyed on by the opposing team. Those arguments help prove my point as well.

-- Posted by OldBallCoach on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 1:15 PM
it's always been awarded to the best player AND the one who had the best season. you seem to be hung up on certain stats regarding jones compared to monroe. jones may have had about 600 more rushing yards than monroe but he did it in more games with more rushing attempts. the committee focused more on the yards per carry which were in monroe's favor by an 11 to 7 margin. monroe was also a force on the defensive side of the ball and jones was not. bottom line is that monroe was the better player.

-- Posted by myershallred on Fri, Dec 6, 2013, at 9:51 PM

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