On-field success leads to All-Bi-City football awards

The top awards for the Ledger-Enquirer's All-Bi-City football team for Classes 5A-7A mirror the season.

Two players represent the area's strongest football team. Two coaches and another player represent two of the big surprises in one of the tightest region races in recent memory.

On the Alabama side of the Chattahoochee River, Central quarterback Quan Weaver was named offensive player of the year, while defensive end/linebacker Walter Pritchett was named defensive player of the year.

In Georgia's Region 1-5A, Northside coach Morgan Ingram and Columbus coach Phil Marino were inseparable as the top two coaches of the year, while Blue Devils senior leader Essang Bassey stood out as the top all-around athlete.

Weaver's season was an interesting one. His numbers were strong, but perhaps the most impressive facet of his year was his ability to adjust to a new situation on the fly.

After junior quarterback Zion Webb suffered a knee injury in the season-opener, Central's offense was suddenly left in disarray. Enter Weaver, who had played quarterback until his freshman year at Central before moving to wide receiver. All he did after the position change as a senior this year was put up nearly 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns passing, and over 700 yards and seven touchdowns rushing to help Central to its third semifinals appearance in school history.

"I've been playing the position all my life," Weaver said. "I just moved positions my ninth grade year. I felt like it was normal, I just had to do whatever it took to step up for the team. The only thing I wasn't comfortable about was my mindset. I had the mindset of a receiver. I had to be calm, cool and collected as a quarterback."

That offense was helped by an extremely talented defense, which, in truth, had a handful of players who could have been selected as the year's best on that side of the ball. Pritchett stood out because of his senior leadership and his ability to get to the opposing quarterback.

He finished the year with 14.5 sacks, 63 tackles and three forced fumbles.

"I just wanted to help," he said of his season. "Help the younger guys who were with us, talk to the older guys, keep us together as a family and keep the eyes on the prize."

The area's top athlete was Bassey, who led Columbus on both sides of the ball and in the return game to help it to its most wins since 1994.

Bassey finished the season with 536 yards and two touchdowns rushing, caught 21 passes for 577 yards and four touchdowns, recorded 50 tackles, an interception and three fumble recoveries. He also averaged 29.9 yards per kickoff return and had a touchdown.

"On defense, I didn't get tried much, so that can take away the other team's passing game," Bassey said. "I had to contribute in other ways. With some offensive changes, I was able to put up some yards and help my team."

Columbus' coach Marino had a notable impact on the success, of course.

His biggest goal in helping Columbus to a 7-4 record and a playoff appearance just a year after finishing 3-7 and two years after finishing 1-9 was for the players to be competitive every week.

"Years prior, we weren't very competitive," he said. "This year, we competed in every game and we gave ourselves a chance to win."

After its first loss of the year against Carver to open region play, Columbus rebounded with a victory over LaGrange, setting the tone for a crazy run to the playoffs.

One of the most exciting games of Columbus' season was against Northside, which only just edged the Blue Devils out of a home playoff game because of a head-to-head victory. Ingram led the Patriots to the playoffs last year, but they finished just 4-7. This year, the team only narrowly missed a region championship and finished second in the region.

"Having some continuity with the players coming back," Ingram said when asked the reason for the team's success. "We didn't really do anything different. I think the focus was better, guys had a little more belief going in this year than in years past. They set goals for themselves, they reached some, not all, but those were the things that allowed us to move forward."

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 5:18 PM with the headline "On-field success leads to All-Bi-City football awards ."