NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Hat High Mohawks running back Piercen Meier holds his most valuable player award after earning the accolade at the Rangeland Football Conference banquet on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019 at Hat High.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Rangeland Football Conference celebrated its best on Sunday afternoon at Medicine Hat High School.
Hat High Mohawks running back Piercen Meier took home top honours as the RFC’s most valuable player after leading his team to a sixth consecutive title on the local gridiron.
“It’s an honour,” said Meier. “There are lots of players in this league who push themselves every day to be the MVP of the league, so it means a lot to me.”
Mohawks offensive co-ordinator Ross Lyttle spoke glowingly of the Grade 11 two-way player while introducing Meier as one of the conference’s four nominees for MVP. In a rebuilding year, Lyttle says Meier was the foundation.
“We had a very young team this year and the dynamic of our offence was a lot different,” said Lyttle. “We ran the ball a lot more than we normally do and a lot of weight was put on this young man’s shoulders. It’s really fun to coach a guy who you knew would get you five (yards) and maybe sometimes 65 on any carry. That was huge for us.”
Lyttle added Meier was a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball, as he took the same tenacious approach to defence as he did to punching in touchdowns.
“I kind of compare his running style to a mini Marshawn Lynch. He knows where he’s going and he goes there with a ferocity. And he does the same thing on defence as a linebacker,” said Lyttle. “He reads the play very well, he does a ton of work in film.”
Meier was nominated alongside Tony Simmons, of the Crescent Heights Vikings, Haedyn Davies, of the McCoy Colts, and Brooks Buffalos’ Dominic Ferris.
Meier added it was a solid season not just for his Mohawks, but for the RFC in general.
“There was lots of competition in the league this year,” he said. “McCoy really stepped up their game this year, they got a lot of new good players and lots of veterans.”
All four teams in the conference had at least one player take home an award. McCoy’s Dan Gervais earned the title of most outstanding lineman, while Crescent Heights’ Brian Davies was named defensive player of the year and Brooks’ Declan Ring picked up most outstanding rookie. Rounding out the accolades, Hat High’s William MacDougald took home the commissioner’s trophy – which is awarded to the player who best combines academic success, character, leadership, representation of the commissioner and all-star-level playing abilities – and Crescent Heights’ Sean Davis was named coach of the year.
The RFC also named its 24-player all-star team Sunday, which featured nine members of the Mohawks, seven Vikings, five Colts and three Buffalos.
Crescent Heights is the lone local squad still in the mix for a provincial title following Hat High’s season-ending loss to Cardston Friday. The Vikings will host the Croxford Cavaliers on Saturday at the Methanex Bowl for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
