Press release by d9sports.com
CLARION, Pa. – Shane Rolick led the Kane Wolves to a second straight District 9 Class A championship with his arm, his legs and his defense, and it’s all three aspects of his game that make him the 2015 Jim Kelly Award winner as the District 9 MVP presented by The Rehab Centre and D9Sports.com.
Rolick finished the season as the third-leading rusher in District 9 with 1,529 yards on 172 carries (8.9 yards per carry) while scoring 24 touchdowns. He also threw for 532 yards and five touchdowns while going 46 of 97 passing with eight interceptions. An all-around threat on offense, the senior even managed to catch five passes for 82 yards and three scores giving him 2,143 yards of total offense with 27 offensive touchdowns.
Nearly as good on defense, the safety helped the Wolves to the stingiest defense in D9 (10.9 ppg) by recording 62 tackles, including eight for a loss, with a team-leading six interceptions, tied for the second most picks in the district. To add to his all-around ability, he returned a kickoff for a touchdown as well giving him 28 touchdowns on the year.
At his best when the games counted the most, Rolick ran for 625 yards and seven touchdowns in four playoff games while throwing for 326 yards and three more touchdowns. His touchdown pass to twin brother, Tyler, with under a minute to go in the District 9 title game lifted the Wolves to the D9 title.
Joining Rolick in being honored on the 2015 Rehab Centre District 9 Football Awards presented by D9Sports.com are DuBois’ Matt Miller as the Offensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Indvidual Performance of the Year, Clearfield’s Matt Collins as the Defensive Player of the Year, Karns City’s Reese Barger as the Offensive Lineman of the Year, Redbank Valley’s Wyatt Hetrick as the Special Teams Player of the Year, Kane’s Todd Silfies as the Coach of the Year, long-time Karns City and East Brady announcer Sam Swick as the Special Contributor of the Year and the Brockway/Kane District 9 Class A title game as the Game of the Year. Information on all of these award winners is listed below.
ABOUT JIM KELLY
Kelly is a 1978 graduate of East Brady High School (now part of the Karns City School District) where he threw for 3,915 career yards and 44 touchdowns and also scored over 1,000 career points in basketball while averaging 23 points and 20 rebounds as a senior. He went to college at Miami (Fla.) and then played in both the USFL for the Houston Gamblers and in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills. He led the Bills to four straight AFC Championships and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. The District 9 MVP award was named after Kelly, with his permission, in 2014.
ABOUT THE REHAB CENTRE
The Rehab Centre offers five state-of-the-art rehabilitation centers (Clarion, Kittanning, Apollo, Lower Burrell and its newest location on Pittsburgh’s North Side) that offer chiropractic, massage therapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitation. One of the four doctors at the Rehab Centre is former District 9 football and wrestling star Isaac Greeley (Port Allegany). The Clarion office is located just off South Fifth Avenue before the Clarion Mall on Dolby Street across from Aldi Foods and next to the Comfort Inn. The Kittanning office is located on Arthur Street in Kittanning. Information on The Rehab Centre can be found at their web sitewww.therehabcentres.com or by calling the Clarion office at 814-226-8002 or the Kittanning office at 724-545-3215.
ABOUT D9SPORTS.COM
Located at www.d9sports.com, D9Sports.com is in its 15th year of covering athletics within the PIAA’s District 9. The site, which is not affiliated with the PIAA in any way, covers all 25 football playing teams playing in District 9. For more information on the site, please visit it or e-mail the staff at sports@d9sports.com. The site can also be followed on Twitter @D9Sports.
All award winners will receive plaques/trophies courtesy of All American Awards & Engraving in Shippenville.
THE AWARDS BY THE NUMBERS
Jim Kelly Award (District 9 MVP) Presented by The Rehab Centre
Shane Rolick – Sr., QB/WR/S, Kane
Offensive: 172 carries, 1,529 yards, 24 touchdowns; 46 of 97 passing, 532 yards, 5 touchdowns, 8 interceptions; 5 catches, 82 yards, 3 touchdowns
Defensive: 67 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 6 interceptions
Special Teams: 5 returns for an average of 25.2 yards per return with 1 touchdown
The Rehab Centre Offensive Player of the Year AND The Rehab Centre Rookie of the Year
Matt Miller – So., QB, DuBois
206 of 326 (63.2 percent) passing, D9-leading 3,620 yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions; 15 yards rushing, 2 rushing touchdowns
The Rehab Centre Defensive Player of the Year
Matt Collins, Jr, LB, Clearfield
D9-leading 15.2 tackles per game with 167 tackles, with 1.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered
The Rehab Centre Offensive Lineman of the Year
Reese Barger, Sr., C, Karns City
Was the best lineman on a Karns City team that averaged 311.2 yards per game on the ground and 403.3 yards per game overall. Paved the way for one 1,000-yard rusher (Collin Dunmyre) and three other rushers over 500 yards.
The Rehab Centre Special Teams Player of the Year
Wyatt Hetrick, Sr, KR/P, Redbank Valley
Returned 3 kickoffs for touchdowns and averaged 37.1 yards per return on 15 kickoff returns; As the Bulldogs punter, averaged 35.1 yards per kick on 24 punts with a long of 51 yards. Also kicked off a few times during the season with one touchback on eight kicks.
The Rehab Centre Coach of the Year
Todd Silfies, Kane
Led the Wolves to a 12-1 overall record and a second straight District 9 Class A title despite having to replace seven offensive and six defensive starters from the 2014 title team including his starting quarterback and both starting running backs. It was the fourth straight D9 title game appearance for the Wolves, who lost the 2012 and 2013 Class AA championship games to Karns City. He is the third different Kane coach to win Coach of the Year in the 15 years of the award.
The Rehab Centre Special Contributor
Given to an individual or individuals who are deemed to go above and beyond in their support of District 9 football or a District 9 football team.
Sam Swick – Announcer, Karns City
Sam has been announcing District 9 football and basketball games since the late 1960s and is in his 48th year of announcing. He is currently the announcer for Karns City football and Karns City boys’ and girls basketball. Sam got his start announcing at East Brady High School where he announced for the football and basketball teams and was the announcer during the time Jim Kelly played for the Bulldogs. At some point in the 1970s when Karns City moved its games to Friday nights and East Brady still played on Saturday afternoons, Sam announced for both football teams. When East Brady closed its doors in the early 1990s, Sam moved down the road full time to Karns City doing football and boys’ and girls’ basketball. A fixture in the press box and at the scorers table, Sam probably has seen as much District 9 history as anyone having announced for two state-championship basketball teams (1980 East Brady boys and 2000 Karns City girls) as well as many District 9 championship football and basketball squads.
The Rehab Centre Individual Performance of the Year
Matt Miller, DuBois – Sept. 11, 2015
Miller’s high-school debut is one that will be remembered for years to come not only in District 9 but across the state and perhaps the nation.
Miller set a national high-school record for passing with 787 yards on 31 of 55 while throwing a Pennsylvania-record 10 touchdowns which tied the national mark. In addition, he ran for a touchdown, and the 787 yards of offense set a national record as well. The Beavers lost the game to Meadville, 107-90, but the contest made national news making it onto ESPN’s SportsCenter that night and the next day, and Miller was interviewed on Pittsburgh’s The Fan, 93.7 FM.
The Rehab Centre Game of the Year Â
Kane vs. Brockway, District 9 Class A title game, Nov. 28, 2105 – Kane 21, Brockway 17
Kane led most of the afternoon at DuBois’ Mansell Stadium after scoring on the game’s first drive and building the lead to 14-3 at halftime when Shane Rolick scrambled 35 yards on the final play of the opening half for a touchdown.
But Brockway came roaring back in the second half and cut the lead to 14-10 on a 42-yard Hunter Miller run off what looked like a broken play early in the third quarter.
The game remained that way into the fourth quarter when Brockway appeared to catch a break when it recovered a fumble at the Kane 30-yard line with 6:41 to play and quickly moved the the Wolves 17. But the drive went backwards, and Kane’s defense held.
It was then Brockway’s defenses turn to come up with a stop forcing a Kane punt that was returned 22 yards by Troy O’Brien to the Brockway 34-yard line with 2:27 to play.
The Rovers then hit a 58-yard screen pass from Miller to Mark Latuska that moved the ball to the Kane 2-yard line. Near disaster struck on the next step for Brockway when the ball was fumbled, but the Rovers recovered and Latuska scored on the next play to all but give the title to Brockway with a 17-14 lead with just 1:23 to play.
The kickoff backed Kane up at its own 21-yard line with just 75 seconds left and no timeouts.
A Shane Rolick scramble on first down put the ball at the Kane 24, and then bedlam broke out.
First, Shane Rolick found twin brother Tyler behind the Brockway defense for a 51-yard pass to the Rovers 25-yard line. And on the next play, the brotherly duo sent the Kane sideline into celebration with a 25-yard touchdown pass that gave the Wolves the lead with just 47.2 seconds to play.
The Kane defense did the rest, and the title went back up north for the second straight season.
