Long County High School honored its 2008 participants in football, cross county and softball last Thursday at its annual fall sports banquet.

Chosen the Most Valuable Player for the softball team was Kayla Mills, who also earned the Highest Batting Average Award. The team’s Most Improved Player Award went to Skylar Ogden, and the Blue Tide Award went to Kelby Manning.

Also, Linda Stevens received the 2008 Academic Achievement Award, while Brittany Mills earned the Golden Glove Award. Mills also was honored by being named to the All-Region 2-AA first team.

Long County players who earned honorable-mention all-region selections were: Kayla Mills, Brittany Lee, Manning and Ogden.

The MVP award for football went to Ricky Rivera. The senior also received the Offensive Specialist of the Year Award and was a first-team All-Region 2-AA pick at wide receiver.

The other football awards handed out were: Student Athlete Senior Award (Stevie Harrison); Special Teams Award (Harrison), Big Team/Little Me Award (Jake Durham); Student Athlete Junior Award (Durham); Offensive Lineman of the Year (Chris Banks); Most Improved Offensive Player (Micah Frank); Top Defensive Specialist (Brandon Hadley); Mr. Long County Football (Hadley); Top Defensive Lineman (BernabyGuada-lupe); Most Improved Defensive Player (Robert Goslee); and Top Student-Athlete Sophomore (Caleb Bailey).

Also, Harrison, Durham, Donte Brown and Justin Boyd were honored for being second-team all-region picks. Harrison was also chosen for the all-region academic team, and Miguel Hernandez was named to the all-region freshman team.

The junior varsity football awards given were: MVP (Jermaine Gibbs), Defensive MVP (Dominique Torres), and Liberty Chrysler Hustle Award (Shane White).

The cross country and cheerleading awards were: Best All-Around Runner (Masson Tucker); Most Dedicated Cheerleader (Octavius Baker); Most Spirited (Lexi Flourney); Great Attitude Award (Lashanna Howard); Most Improved (A’lesa McElroy).

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