Dirickson, Schelling earn top honors

The awards piled up for the Fallon football team.

The Greenwave nabbed two players of the year, six first-team, six second-team and two honorable mention All-North Division I-A selections, which were released last week.

In addition, coach Brooke Hill was tabbed co-Coach of the Year along with Elko’s Luke Sellers.

Quarterback Morgan Dirickson and linebacker Dakota Schelling were named offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively. Lowry quarterback Calvin Connors was named Player of the Year, while Elko’s Angel Lievanos was tabbed Lineman of the Year.

Fallon’s first-team contingent consisted of wide receiver Tyler Bagby, offensive lineman Brennan Lewis, return specialist Cameron Matzen, linebacker Trent Tarner, defensive lineman Justin Hatfield and cornerback Nathan Heck.

The Greenwave’s second team selections included Tarner at running back, Matzen at receiver and safety, Hatfield on the offensive line, linebacker Evan Bitter and Bagby at cornerback.

Offensive lineman Cody Stadtman and linebacker Rylie Williams earned honorable mention.

Dirickson completed 95 of 192 passes for 2,244 yards (postseason included) with 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He had a career day against Elko in which he threw for 440 yards and seven TDs.

He guided the Wave to their first league/division title in more than two decades.

Schelling anchored one of the best defenses in the state and tallied 99 total tackles (nine for a loss), had seven sacks and two interceptions with one returned for a TD.

Bagby had a breakout season with 30 receptions for 875 yards and nine TDs. He recorded 33 tackles and was second on the team with five interceptions.

Matzen, meanwhile, made a name for himself with four TDs in the Wave’s first game of the season against Wooster. He returned seven punts for TDs and averaged 27.7 yards per punt return. He also had six kickoff returns for 152 yards.

On defense, he led Fallon with six interceptions and had 82 tackles. He also had 23 TDs.

At linebacker, Tarner tallied 29 tackles, had two interceptions and four fumble recoveries. At running back, he ran for 1,386 yards and 19 TDs.

Hatfield led the defense with nine sacks and 70 tackles. Heck, meanwhile, had 58 tackles, a team-high 13 passes defended, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Lewis was the leader on the offensive line as he opened holes for Tarner and protected Dirickson. Lewis and Stadtman helped pave the way for an offense that averaged more than 40 points per game and 382 yards of offense.

Bitter and Williams, meanwhile, bolstered the linebacking corps. Bitter tallied 76 tackles and five interceptions, while Williams added 72 tackles and had one fumble recovery.