Player
of the Year
Wayne Gilmore
Teamkong
The
2003 season was a memorable one.
Think back to the second game of the season. The atmosphere was about as good as we have seen at Carnie
Smith Stadium. The
last couple of years Pitt State has not played a quality
non-conference schedule (to say the least) but to me the St.
Cloud game made up for it.
This year’s team had high expectations.
Deservedly so. On
paper this team was as talented as we have seen at Pitt State. They had power, they had speed, they had size.
Leading
the list of players possessing these traits was senior, Aaron
McConnell. He is
the best defensive lineman ever to play at Pitt State, period,
and his performance this year has earned him the first annual
Teamkong Player of the Year award.
There
was little doubt in every game this season he was the best
player on the field. Against
St. Cloud, with Harlon Hill finalist QB Keith Heckendorf playing
against Pitt, McConnell was fabulous.
Versus Central Missouri, with Mel Kipper top 25 prospect
Roderick Green playing against us, there was no question who was
the top player that day. Then
in his final game as a Gorilla, against second best team in the
country, Aaron McConnell again was the best player on the field.
Aaron
would be the first to give credit to the others on the defensive
line. First would
be fellow senior defensive tackle Mark Stephen.
Mark’s performance this year earned him all conference
honors and a honorable mention All-American award.
The defensive ends Josh Lawson, Calvin Mitchell, Chauncey
Jones, and Ryan Meredith all did their part to help take the
heat off of McConnell, and Lawson and Meredith were recognized
with MIAA post-season honors.
Obviously
to receive the type of recognition McConnell has, there has to
be talent around him, and great coaches guiding him.
But make no mistake, Aaron’s talent, size, strength,
and speed allowed him to dominate his opponent this year.
Take
a look at his stats. 56
tackles, 25 tackles for loss, including 7.5 sacks.
All of this despite being double and triple teams on
nearly every play.
Now, don’t forget his performance on the other side of the
ball. We all know his ability to block in the “rhino” set.
But this year McConnell’s athletic ability was displayed on
offense has a running back . . . carrying the ball.
His 6 carries were all memorable, but the best carry had
to be his seven yard carry against Missouri Western when the 300
pound McConnell hurdled the “all-attitude” player Pierre
Thomas. Aaron
scored 4 touchdowns, and was rarely even tackled.
And when he didn’t carry the ball, the threat that he
would neutralized the opponents defense on the goal line.
It is a pretty safe prediction we will never see a 300 pound
All-American defensive lineman who dominated his position for
four seasons, earning All-American honors all four season. (Only
NFL player, Brian Moorman has accomplished this feat at Pitt
State) And who
contributed as a running back in goal line situations, and was a
member of the Gorillas national-caliber Cheer Squad. And lastly, we will never see a 300 pound athlete with all of
these accomplishments, who by-the-way can do a standing back
flip!
For this honor, Aaron will receive a plaque commemorating this
award.
To read each week's Player of the Week honorees and columns
click here.
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