Nine schools made up the Cumberland Times-News All-Area football team, led by Fort Hill and Mountain Ridge, which occupied a combined 26 spots on the first and second teams.
Area head coaches were requested to submit nominations from their own team. Those were used to create a ballot for coaches to vote on. Ten coaches submitted nominations and eight returned ballots.
Fort Hill, which finished 13-0 and captured its third consecutive state championship, nabbed 10 first-team selections and 15 overall.
Mountain Ridge (11-2), the Class 1A runner-up for a third straight season, placed four on the first team and 11 on the first and second teams combined.
Allegany followed with nine overall selections (four first team), followed by Frankfort (six overall, three first team) and Keyser (five overall, four first team).
Northern nabbed two first-team slots, and East Hardy had four second-team selections. East Hardy and Petersburg had one first-teamer each. Hampshire had one second-team player.
First Team Offense
The first-team quarterback was Mountain Ridge senior Will Patterson (5-foot-11, 180 pounds), an unanimous selection after completing 146 of 226 passes for 1,739 yards, 21 touchdowns and five interceptions. His completions, completion percentage, passing yards and passing touchdowns all led the area.
Patterson, who was the Co-Offensive Player of the Year along with Fort Hill’s Jabril Daniels, was also second in the area in rushing yards (1,166) and touchdowns (20).
Daniels (6-0, 185) was an unanimous pick at running back after a record-setting season that saw him set a Fort Hill single-season record with 34 touchdowns — equalling a city record with Karson Robinette (2017) and one off the area record.
The 6-0, 185-pound junior back carried the ball 190 times for 1,826 yards and 33 touchdowns. Daniels’ rushing total is the 15th-most in area history and fourth most in school history.
Daniels was joined in the backfield by Northern senior Kyle Broadwater (5-8, 155) and Frankfort senior Tyrique Powell (5-10, 205).
Broadwater was sixth in the area in rushing and fifth in rushing scores after having 113 carries for 849 yards (7.5 yards per rush) and 12 touchdowns.
Powell had 118 carries for 923 yards (7.8 ypc) and 15 scores. The Frankfort fullback was the area’s fourth-leading rusher and was third in scores on the ground.
Frankfort senior Rocky Fontenot (5-8, 155) and Keyser senior Jack Stanislawczyk (5-10, 165) made the first team as all-purpose backs. Both were unanimous selections.
Fontenot averaged more than 15 yards every time he touched the football, gaining 1,283 total yards and scoring 16 touchdowns. He had 62 carries for 876 yards for an area-best 14.1 yards per carry, and he scored 13 times on the ground. He also caught 13 balls for 253 yards and three more scores to go along with 154 return yards.
Stanislawczyk was the area’s most dangerous return man, racking up 595 return yards and two touchdowns as part of his 1,347 total yards. The slot back caught 19 passes for 438 yards and five scores, and he rushed it 48 times for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
Rounding out the skill positions is a pair of wide receivers from the Western Maryland Athletic Conference in Mountain Ridge senior Andrew Ketterman (6-0, 180) and Northern junior Luke Ross (5-9, 145).
Ketterman, an unanimous selection, led the area in receiving with 694 yards and in catches with 40, finding the end zone eight times. Ross made 29 grabs for 487 yards and five touchdowns.
Allegany senior Zach Michael (6-4, 225) is an unanimous pick for the first-team tight end after catching an area-best 10 touchdown passes. He made 25 receptions for 529 yards.
The offensive line features three Sentinels in Logan Vanmeter (5-11, 215), Brayden Sines (6-1, 260) and Cam Banks (6-2, 250). They’re joined by Mountain Ridge senior Cooper Lindeman (6-0, 280) and Keyser junior Jake Anderson (5-11, 190).
The first-team place kicker is Fort Hill senior Cooper Silber, who made an area-best six field goals in seven attempts with a long of 40 and connected on 49 of 54 extra points. His 67 points led all specialists.
Defense
The first-team defensive line features two award winners, headlined by Fort Hill’s Carter Hess — the overall Player of the Year — and Mountain Ridge’s Will Bannon — the Lineman of the Year.
Hess (6-2, 295), an unanimous selection from the interior line, racked up an area-best 145 tackles (74 solos) and 13 sacks to go along with 23 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.
Bannon (6-1, 159), a defensive end, finished the year with 58 tackles (42 solos), 17.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, three fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
They’re joined by Silber (6-3, 190), Allegany senior Brett Patterson (6-0, 205) and Alco sophomore Amanni Blowe (5-8, 210).
Silber had 70 tackles (30 solos), eight tackles for loss, five sacks, and one fumble recovery.
Patterson ended with 67 tackles (19 solos), seven tackles for loss, three sacks, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
Blowe garnered 72 tackles (16 solos), four tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception and a defensive touchdown.
Defensive Player of the Year Jaylan Atkinson (6-0, 185), a Fort Hill senior, leads the linebacker corps. He was an unanimous pick along with senior teammate Bryson Metz (6-1, 200).
Atkinson finished with 91 tackles (32 solos), one fumble recovery, one interception, one sack, two blocked kicks and two tackles for loss. Metz ended with 100 tackles (36 solos), 11 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and a blocked kick.
They were joined on the first team by a pair of junior backers in Keyser’s Julian Pattison (6-2, 210) and Allegany’s Jackson Resh (5-8, 180).
Pattison tallied 71 tackles (20 solos), 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a pair of blocked field goals.
Resh was the Campers’ leading tackler at 115 stops (22 solos) with three tackles for loss, one sack, an interception, two fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and a defensive touchdown.
The first-team secondary is comprised of players hailing from four schools and includes the area’s two leading intercepters.
East Hardy senior Brandon Jones (5-10, 150) topped the area with seven picks, adding 56 tackles (30 solos) a tackle for loss and a defensive touchdown.
Frankfort junior Jacob Nething (5-10, 165) was just one pick short of the area lead. He tallied six interceptions and three pass breakups to go along with 49 tackles (33 solos).
Fort Hill senior Steven Spencer (5-11, 175) joins that duo after making 41 tackles (13 solos) and intercepting two passes, as does Keyser sophomore Owen Rotruck (5-7, 135), who garnered 69 tackles (24 solos), three tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries.
The first-team punter was Petersburg junior Peyton Tingler (6-1, 180). Tingler led the area in punt average (40.3) and punts inside the 20-yard line (10). He had 23 punts for 927 yards.
Second Team
The second-team offense is quarterbacked by a pair of gunslingers in Allegany senior Brody Williams (6-1, 170) and East Hardy senior Damien Dellinger (5-11, 205).
Allegany seniors Isaiah Fields (5-11, 160) and Patterson are the running backs along with Fort Hill freshman Carson Bender (6-0, 170). Fort Hill junior Tristan Ross (6-0, 160) is the second-team all-purpose back.
The wideouts are Jones (5-10, 150) and Mountain Ridge senior David Miller (5-9, 155), and Mountain Ridge junior Eli Sibley (6-3, 200) is the tight end.
Hess, Frankfort senior Matthew Jackson (5-11, 245), Mountain Ridge senior Dayton Llewellyn (6-0, 285), Frankfort junior Daniel Marley (6-2, 225) and Allegany junior Lucas Bahrenburg (6-6, 275) make up the second-team offensive line.
Allegany senior Blake Powell (6-1, 170) is the kicker, and Ketterman is the second-team punter.
On the other side of the football, Keyser senior Wyatt Murray (6-0, 180), Frankfort senior Hayden Nester (6-3, 325), East Hardy senior Justin Parker (6-3, 222), East Hardy junior Price Strawderman (5-5, 164) and Fort Hill junior Nick Willison (5-11, 180) are the defensive linemen.
The linebackers are Ketterman — the lone three-way performer — Mountain Ridge senior Garrett Michaels (5-8, 175), Northern junior Nick Riley (6-0, 180) and Petersburg senior Colton Vance (6-1, 150).
Daniels, Patterson and Hampshire senior Caleb Vandevander (5-9, 160) are the second-team defensive backs.
Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.