Wildcats place 4 players on squad

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 10:23 a.m.

After rolling to a 9-0 regular season record, the Las Vegas Wildcats were rewarded by area coaches, who voted four of the school's seniors onto this year's All-Conference football first team.

Running back Coy Boykin, receiver Harry Mills, inside linebacker Jonathan Pollard and outside linebacker David Frelow give Las Vegas the most first-team selections.

Zone champion Cimarron-Memorial, Durango, Chaparral and Cheyenne placed three players each on the first squad, while Eldorado, Western and Bonanza wound up with two apiece.

Durango senior quarterback Jamaal Brimmer, who helped his club to a second-place finish in the Sunset Division and an appearance in the zone semifinals, was selected the conference's Most Valuable Offensive Player.

The 6-2, 205-pound Brimmer racked up 1,714 yards and 11 touchdowns on 107-of-190 passing and ran for 593 yards and 16 touchdowns on 111 carries. He also knocked through 38 extra-point attempts and three field goals as the Trailblazers' kicker.

"It's a good award for me," Brimmer said. "It gives me pretty good confidence I can take it to the next level. I think I can play offense if (colleges) give me a shot, but I'm happy with whatever I get. I'll even go as a kicker."

Brimmer also made the first team at defensive back, joining Western senior Marcus Levi and Chaparral senior John Ream -- both offensive tackles/defensive linemen -- as this year's only two-way selections.

Pollard and Cimarron-Memorial senior inside linebacker Taylor Miller shared Most Valuable Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading their clubs to berths in last week's 4A Southern Zone championship.

Pollard, a 6-2, 225-pounder, finished the season with a team-high 91 tackles along with a pair of sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He also scored two defensive touchdowns.

"It feels good being recognized by the whole city," Pollard said. "It was a fun season. I learned how to read plays and make the big play, and I learned how to be a leader."

Miller, a 6-2, 215-pounder, has anchored a Spartan defense that has allowed only 95 points in 12 contests -- an average of 7.9 points per game. Heading into Friday night's state title game against McQueen, the senior has 106 tackles, including 12 for losses, along with three sacks, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and an interception return for a touchdown.

"I was happy to see that the coaches in the city felt I was good enough to deserve this honor," Miller said. "It means a lot coming from coaches. We had a lot of good players on defense, and I wouldn't be here if not for a lot of them."

Durango's John Mausbach was tabbed as the 1999 Coach of the Year after a season that saw his Trailblazers go 9-2 after few had picked them to compete for a playoff spot in the deep Sunset Division.

"Anytime you get an award like that and it's voted on by your peers, it means a lot, especially when there are so many great candidates out there," Mausbach said.

"At the beginning of the year, we only had two returning starters on offense and four on defense, and on paper we didn't look like we'd be too competitive. But our first win over Western got the kids thinking they could be competitive, and it sort of snowballed from there."

Joining Brimmer and Boykin in the first-team backfield are Cheyenne senior Deon Ned and Chaparral's Mario Hagan, the area's leading rusher with 1,645 yards. Along with Mills, Durango senior Troy Bosley was selected at the receiver position while Silverado senior Steve Vaccaro got the nod at tight end.

A pair of Western Warriors -- senior center Mark Foster and Levi -- make up two-fifths of the first-team offensive line. They were joined by Cimarron senior guard Jason Orians, Eldorado senior guard David Larsen and Ream.

Along with Brimmer, the first-team defensive backfield is comprised of three juniors: Cimarron's Kyler Rushton, Chaparral's Dallas Dobbs and Eldorado's Bryn Frank.

Cheyenne senior Chris Hall and Frelow made the first team at outside linebacker, with Bonanza senior Adam Seward joining Miller and Pollard at inside linebacker.

On the defensive line, Cheyenne senior Lynn McGruder and Durango senior Robert Varela were chosen alongside Levi and Ream.

Bonanza kicker Derek Jaekle is the first-team kicker, while Valley junior Julio Moreno made the club at punter.