Todd Dodge Named Area Coach Of The Year

Eagle-96 · January 4, 2007

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...ll.2376675.html

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: WILLIAM COLE

Cole pulled out all the stops to lead Cedar Hill to perfect season

Nothing could touch William Cole during the 2006 football season. Cole sprinted through it seemingly without anyone, or anything, laying a hand on him.

Moments after another dazzling display in the Class 5A Division II state championship game, Cole even tried to sprint away from the spotlight.

"I didn't really come in here to prove anything," Cole said after rushing for 290 yards, including touchdowns of 63, 75 and 71 yards, in the 51-17 win over Cypress Falls. "I just wanted to show people that Cedar Hill is not just the William Cole Show."

Maybe not, but what a show Cole put on.

Whether it was a burst of speed, an almost undetectable change of direction or a perfectly placed throw, Cole wasn't just the Offensive Player of the Year. He was Entertainer of the Year.

He led area 5A players in rushing and scoring. In the regular season, he led Cedar Hill to a 24-point fourth quarter in a 40-37 double-overtime thriller against DeSoto. In the state semifinal against Garland, he scored the winning touchdown with a 77-yard run in the final minutes.

Several Big 12 schools are among the Division I-A colleges interested in Cole.

"I just know that Will Cole is something special," Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire said.

Although surrounded by talented players on a loaded Cedar Hill squad, Cole's ability and leadership stood out.

In the end, he was simply untouchable.

William Cole

CEDAR HILL, SR., QUARTERBACK

Height, weight: 6-0, 175

Key stats: Led area 5A rushers with 2,966 yards and 41 touchdowns. Passed for 1,606 yards and another 21 touchdowns. Led area 5A players in scoring with 254 points.

About Cole: Led Cedar Hill to the program's first playoff win and its first state title. With Cole guiding the offense, Cedar Hill finished 16-0 and won the Class 5A Division II crown.

Did you know? Cole, who can also play receiver and running back, wasn't supposed to be Cedar Hill's full-time quarterback until projected starter Cortney Roberson suffered a knee injury before the season.

RECENT WINNERS

Year Player Pos. School

2001 DaBryan Blanton RB Forney

2002 Bill Foran QB Highland Park

2003 Graham Harrell QB Ennis

2004 Chase Daniel QB Southlake Carroll

2005 Matthew Stafford QB Highland Park

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: YOURI YENGA

Once he took up the game, Trinity defensive end was a quick study

Youri Yenga didn't like football at first.

Soccer was the sport he grew up playing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After he moved to the United States in 2002, he resisted the urgings of his junior high friends to play football until one of them signed him up anyway.

"I found some shoulder pads and a helmet in my locker," Yenga said. "I thought I'd try it."

By his senior season at Euless Trinity, Yenga was a football star. He was a dominant force on a defense that allowed just 233.6 yards per game.

Trinity's only loss in an 11-1 season was to Southlake Carroll, the eventual Class 5A Division I state champion. Yenga played a big role in holding Carroll to its lowest scoring total, by far, of the season in Trinity's 22-21 loss.

It was during Trinity's state title run a year earlier that Yenga began to break through.

"We knew we had a special player in the spring," Trinity coach Steven Lineweaver said. "We couldn't fool him. We couldn't block him. We couldn't run away from him because of his speed. And we couldn't run at him because of his strength."

For Yenga, playing football was like learning a new language. In fact, Yenga grew up speaking French in his hometown of Cité Mama Mobutu. His only exposure to football was the movie Any Given Sunday.

Yenga's soccer-playing days are long gone. Football soon will pay for his college education. Yenga said SMU has offered a scholarship; he wants to attend an area college.

"He was just kind of a name in junior high, and knowing his background as we learned later, he didn't know anything about football," Lineweaver said.

But, Yenga said, "I'm kind of a fast learner."

Youri Yenga

EULESS TRINITY, SR., DEFENSIVE END

Height, weight: 6-2, 210

Key stats: 111 tackles (53 solo, 58 assists), 17 tackles for loss, 71/2 sacks, seven passes broken up, two interceptions, five fumbles caused, one fumble recovered.

About Yenga: The most disruptive force on one of the area's top defenses, Yenga had the power and strength to match up with the biggest offensive linemen and the speed to occasionally be used as an outside linebacker.

Did you know? Yenga is the fourth-oldest of a family of eight children – four boys and four girls.

RECENT WINNERS

Year Player Pos. School

2001 Aaron Harris LB North Mesquite

2002 Stephen Hodge DB Lake Highlands

2003 DeMarcus Granger DT Kimball

2004 DeMarcus Granger DT Kimball

2005 Sergio Kindle LB Woodrow Wilson

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR:Jackson Jeffcoat

PLANO WEST, FR., DEFENSIVE END

Height, weight: 6-4 ½ , 235

Key stats: 28 tackles, four sacks, seven quarterback pressures, three tackles for loss, one interception returned 70 yards for a touchdown in six games as a starter in District 9-5A, one of the state's toughest.

About Jeffcoat: The ninth-grader blossomed in midseason when he was switched from outside linebacker to defensive end, the position his father, Jim, played for 15 seasons in the NFL.

Did you know? Jackson didn't like going to his father's NFL games because Jim wouldn't let him play football until the sixth grade.

RECENT WINNERS

Year Player Pos. School

2001 Graham Harrell QB Ennis

2002 Byron Eaton QB Lincoln

2003 Jamaal Evans RB Irving

2004 Clint Renfro WR Southlake Carroll

2005 Tre' Newton RB Southlake Carroll

COACH OF THE YEAR:Todd Dodge

SOUTHLAKE CARROLL

Key stats: With just a handful of returning starters and a new quarterback, Southlake Carroll went 16-0 to win the Class 5A Division I state title. Carroll finished with the area's top-ranked 5A offense (504.2 yards per game) and No. 3 defense (223.6 yards allowed).

About Dodge: Dodge, who is moving on to North Texas, capped his Carroll career by winning a third straight state title. Under Dodge, Carroll was 79-1 with four state titles in five seasons in Class 5A.

Did you know? As a senior at Port Arthur Jefferson in 1980, Dodge was the state's first 3,000-yard passer (3,135 yards) and led his team to the 5A championship game.

RECENT WINNERS

Year Coach School

2001 Radford Taylor Sunset

2002 David Beaty Irving MacArthur

2003 Tim Beck Mansfield Summit

2004 Reginald Samples Lincoln

2005 Gerald Brence Plano

Edited January 4, 2007 by Eagle-96