Skip to content

Falcon Players Honored at Awards Night to Close Football Season

From left, sophomore Talon Jerabek and seniors Keelan Hecker, Kyler Colwell and Zane Clemmer are recognized for their conference honors. (Photo by EHS parent Toni Hecker)

Football season has officially come to an end at Elmira High School after the Falcon’s loss to the Cottage Grove Lions on Nov. 1.

Senior Keelan Hecker gets his helmet signed by head coach Bo Highburger. (Photo by EHS parent Toni Hecker)

The Falcons put forward a valiant effort, even being up at the end of the first half, but they ultimately lost 42-17.

The Falcons finished with a record of 4-5, just barely missing out on a chance to qualify for playoffs.

Falcon News reached out to senior linemen Zane Clemmer on how he felt about his final season at EHS.

“I feel like we had a lot of improvements throughout the season as we learned how to win,” Clemmer said. “I’m just really glad I got the chance to play with these guys.”

Junior receiver and defensive back Eben Dickinson had a positive outlook on next season.

“I feel like we could easily be better next year than we were this season,” the junior said. “We aren’t losing as many seniors as we did last year, and I’m confident that our younger guys can really improve.”

Head coach Bo Highburger also feels confident about next season due to the younger core the team had this year.

“We are going to have a lot more varsity experience next year than we did this year,” Highburger told Falcon News. “I think we will be a pretty formidable squad next year as we are returning a majority of our starters.”

12 Falcons earned conference awards and recognition:

  • Sophomore Talon Jerabek was honorable mention quarterback
  • Senior Kyler Colwell was 1st team wide receiver and honorable mention returner
  • Senior Keelan Hecker was 2nd team wide receiver, 1st team linebacker and honorable mention punter
  • Senior Zane Clemmer was 1st team offensive line and 1st team defensive line
  • Sophomore Jonah Cooper was 2nd team defensive line
  • Junior Ali Garza was honorable mention linebacker
  • Junior Dallas Mark was 2nd team defensive back
  • Junior foreign exchange student Danis Smajic was 1st team kicker

Many players were honored with team awards:

  • Senior Keelan Hecker was recognized as the most valuable player
  • Senior Kyler Colwell was offensive player of the year
  • Junior Ali Garza was defensive player of the year
  • Senior Zane Clemmer was recognized as the most valuable lineman
  • Junior Dallas Mark was recognized as the most improved player
  • Sophomore Jonah Cooper was awarded the Falcon Award
  • Seniors Logan Burnett and Liam McGuire were scout team players of the year