On Monday, November 28, the Ponies formally concluded their 2016 season, honoring graduating seniors, underclassmen, and team leaders at the annual Varsity Awards banquet. Almost all varsity players and their families attended the event.

Senior defensive back Ben Peterson earned four awards including: Mr. Weight Room, the Big Red Hitter Award, Team Most Valuable Player (MVP), and the Kearney Award for the player with the most outstanding career on and off the field. Fellow captain, senior quarterback Grayson Hosch, earned Offensive MVP while senior linebacker Aidan Steeves was named Defensive MVP and was also awarded a Big Read Hitter award. By tradition, the Big Red Hitter Award requires a 70% vote of the players and coaches, the three MVP honors are awarded by team vote, while the Kearney Award is selected by a community panel.

Other Team Awards selected by the coaching staff:

Scout Defense Player: Kevin Thole

Scout Offense Player: Mark Roettger

Most Improved – Defense: Alex Oshin

Most Improved – Offense: Charlie Meyer and Jackson Dunleap

Coaches Award: Mason Schwerzler

Mr. Weight Room: Connor Weiss

Mr. Football: Tyler Olson

Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman: Tyler Olson

East Metro Blue Awards:

Honorable Mention - All Conference: seniors Thomas Bruchu, Noah Jakupciak, Mason Schwerzler, Connor Weiss, and junior Devantae Hatcher

All Conference: seniors Grayson Hosch, Fisher Jakupciak, Tyler Olson, Ben Peterson, and Aidan Steeves

“We got a lot out of this group of young men,” said Stillwater Head Coach Beau LaBore. “They started strong, endured a three game skid against some good teams, found a way to finish strong, and, along the way, had some fun.  They are better young men because of our experience.”

LaBore noted that for the sixth consecutive year the high school players completed more than 1,500 hours of community service work. This includes 20,800 meals prepared for people in the St. Croix Valley and Haiti, 1,629 pounds of food collected for Valley Outreach, and assisting in raising $8,201.44 for Tackle Cancer. The Tackle Cancer effort was the second best total of the more than 150 schools participating.

Earlier, the Minnesota Football Coaches Association selected Peterson to the 20-man Class 6A Academic All State team. Peterson has a weight grade point average over 4.0 and has taken seven AP courses. The team was also recognized for the fifth consecutive year, earning Silver distinction. Like the 2015 team, which earned Gold, the 2016 team had a grade point average at or above 3.0.

At the banquet, the team announced that Mason Green, Mark Roettger, and Andrew Weisbrod have been chosen by their teammates to serve as captains for the 2017 Red and Black. The players select their captains to represent the team and promote the good character, academic achievement, and athletic improvement and performance that is expected of all Ponies football players. These young men are responsible to carry out this mission of the program throughout the months leading up to and during the 2017 season. Like 2016, a fourth captain could be named at a later date.

For a final look at this season, watch 2016 Boys of Fall