By Robert Morgan | Published Thursday, December 18, 2008
The first undefeated season under coach Danny Neighbors proved fruitful for more than a dozen of his players. In fact, the Panthers had four athletes capture superlative awards to lead the way for Wise County schools in district voting.
Nick Pike was a jack-of-all trades this year as he did a little bit of everything to make sure Paradise took home the district championship. The senior was named by district coaches as the 9-2A Most Valuable Player.
Pike started on both sides of the ball in his final season. He ran for 582 yards, had 588 yards receiving and had a combined 15 touchdowns. He also racked up 118 tackles.
Quarterback P.J. Fuller was selected the Offensive MVP this year. The senior, who had to adjust to a new offense this season, was not fazed by the changes as he completed 175 of 289 passes for 2,513 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Cody Webber was the district's top defensive player, and the coaches agreed as he was tabbed the Defensive MVP. The senior had 76 tackles, 10 for a loss, as well as seven sacks and four caused fumbles.
The next top defensive player could be Alvord's T.J. Houston. The sophomore was named the Defensive Newcomer of the Year
There was a tri-Utility Back of the year with Paradise's Caleb Read, Boyd's Ryan Wilson and Jacksboro's Logan Gunter.
Chico, Boyd, Paradise and Alvord all had athletes earn first- and second-team all-district honors this year.
