The Bonnyville Renegades looked back on a successful season at their year-end banquet.
Along with family members and coaches, the players celebrated their accomplishments and received awards for their hard work on and off the field.
“We gave a lot of really deserving kids awards,” noted head coach Josh Jubinville. “There was a lot of kids that didn’t get awards that really deserved them. But, that’s the way it goes and you can only hand out so many in a year.”
The players made the decisions this year hard, Jubinville described the time coaching staff took to decide as difficult.
“We pull what we have left for hair after the end of the season, and it just came down to the group of kids that we had based on performance and how much character they show on and off the field,” he said.
Rookie of the year started the evening’s awards off, with Sara Fagnan receiving the honour.
Gabriel Bowering and Tanner Massick tied for most improved offensive player, while Evan Spiess took home the honour of defensive player that saw the most improvement.
For linemen, Dannae Paul and Brooklyn Graham were announced as co-offensive and Grady Blain was chosen as defensive player of the year.
The players who did the most work in the backfield were Alex Maruniak and J’den Friesen for offensive, while Gunnar Ives took home the defensive side. Honourable mentions went to Sherone Daugdaug, Ryley Kyle, Beau Mallery, CJ Kowlski, and Owen Woodward.
The heart and hustle award went to Erik Desnoyers, while Matthew Delpeche received the sportsmanship honour.
For MVPs, Nicholas Morgan was named offensive while Liam Critch won defensive. The team MVP title went to Zayden Ward, who was surprised to get the award he did.
“I was thinking I was going to get one of the MVPs, because I’m always leaving my heart on the field no matter what condition it is. I’ll always be there for the team,” he expressed.
Jubinville said, “That kid, I don’t care what anybody says about his size, he’ll play college football, I can guarantee it. He’ll be one of the definite Bonnyville prospects that will go up through the grapevine, and make it through to college and hopefully university football.”
While the banquet was a night of celebration, it was a reminder for Jubinville that he won’t be returning as head coach for the Renegades next season.
“It was a great year. I wouldn’t have picked a better year to leave off with, I left off with a good foot, obviously. Sadly, with the little family that I have now, it’s just pretty hard to manage football and life,” he explained.
