Surprising results lead to All-Bi-City awards

This is the first of the two All-Bi-City football teams. This one includes players from Class 1A through 3A. Coming Friday: Classes 5A-7A.

Some things never change in football, like Marion County's Lorenzo Smothers who was as consistent as ever at reaching the end zone and pulling off jaw-dropping plays throughout the 2015 football season.

But, then again, some things do. Like the Spencer football team, which put together its best season since joining the Georgia High School Association, almost 50 years ago.

Whatever the case, it was an impressive season for a number of teams and individuals in Class 1A-3A, earning nods for the top All-Bi-City awards of the season.

Smothers is this year's Ledger-Enquirer Athlete of the Year, while Spencer running back Tyrell Smith represents his team as the Offensive Player of the Year. Chattahoochee County linebacker Isaiah Carter put up impressive individual numbers in the midst of a disappointing season for his team to earn Defensive Player of the Year, and the man who led Spencer, Pierre Coffey, is an easy selection as Coach of the Year.

For Spencer, it all began when Coffey got the head coaching job nearly a year ago. The Greenwave had just finished a 1-9 season and appeared worlds away from postseason contention.

Even Coffey said he never would have expected the kind of season the team had when he first took the job.

"Not right away," he said. "The first thing was to go in there and get the kids to buy into the philosophy and vision and then build from there. Did we know a year ago that we'd have the type of season today? Of course not."

But, over the course of the summer, the team improved. It added a couple of good athletes, such as Smith, who would become difference makers, and they all began to believe they had a chance to be something greater than they had been in the past.

The result was far more than anyone could have anticipated.

Spencer went 8-4, its first winning record since 1977, and advanced to the second round of the playoffs in its first postseason trip since 1993.

Smith was a big part of the success. He finished the year with 1,518 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing and had another touchdown pass reception. His consistent ability on the ground was the driving force to the team's offense.

"I just felt like I had to do my job," Smith said. "Everyone played their part, and that was mine."

While so much changed down on Victory Drive, it was more of the same from Smothers in Buena Vista. For the past three years, Smothers has been one of the area's best athletes, and he proved it again and again in his senior season.

On offense, he rushed for 1,063 yards and 13 touchdowns, caught 26 passes for 371 yards and eight touchdowns and even tossed a touchdown pass. Defensively, he had 54 tackles, five interceptions and one touchdown. On special teams, he returned a kickoff and three punts for touchdowns.

The Eagles offense was lost without him when he suffered an injury and couldn't play in the team's state quarterfinals game. He was, quite simply, the biggest gamebreaker on any team this year.

And not all great individual seasons come on the absolute best teams in the area. After a playoff trip last season, Chattahoochee County suffered through unexpected injuries and some growing pains during a 3-7 season in 2015.

But Carter was one of the bright spots. The junior linebacker recorded 147 tackles, 10 sacks, four interceptions and two defensive touchdowns for the Panthers, leading coach Josh Kemp to call him the "best linebacker (he's) ever coached."

"That just makes me feel like I've put the work in, come to practice every day even through injuries, to give my coaches what they're looking for," Carter said.

David Mitchell, Follow David on Twitter@leprepsports

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 4:56 PM with the headline "Surprising results lead to All-Bi-City awards ."