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Senior captains Noah Krall and Brandon Park were honored as co-Most Valuable Players for the 2008 Talawanda football team when it held its annual awards program Nov. 23.

They were both heaped with awards and recognitions for their play this past season — Krall on defense and Park on offense — bringing their high school careers to an end after Krall played four years on the varsity team and Park three.

Krall also was recognized for his accomplishments by being named to the All-Butler County first-team squad, Fort Ancient Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Division II Associated Press All-Southwest District first-team honoree.

That latter recognition means he will be no less than honorable mention for the All-Ohio team, which is yet to be announced, head coach Mike Wright said.

In making the MVP announcement, assistant coach Brad Hoblitzell called Krall "an absolute beast at linebacker" and a "pacesetter" for the team.

"Noah has set a new standard of how you play defense and work in the classroom," Hoblitzell said. "Over 130 times this year an opposing player has met the same fate: He met Noah Krall and was slammed to the ground."

Wright agreed that Krall was the pacesetter defensively and called Park, the team's quarterback, the pacesetter offensively. Park accounted for 2,700 yards of the team's total of 3,200 yards this past season.

"Braden and Noah epitomize the things we are trying to put out in the community," Wright said.

In addition to his team MVP award, Park also was recognized as honorable mention all-district and second-team all-county, where he was edged out of first-team honors by Badin's Zach Toerner, who was the county's Offensive Player of the Year.

Krall and Park were two of the three Talawanda players who tied or set school records this year, as well.

Krall set a record for most tackles in a career with 239 solo tackles and 178 assists in his four-year career, while missing five games his sophomore season due to an injury.

Park's 5,943 total career yards, 341 passes, 4,562 total career passing yards and 419 yards in a single game are all Talawanda records.

Other awards

Senior Josh Wright also was recognized for tying a single-game standard with his three touchdowns scored in one game, putting him in a tie with three other Talawanda players in the 50-year history of the school.

Wright was one of four Talawanda players given Honorable Mention on the all-county team, along with Michael Krall, Marshall Newman and Travis Reffitt.

Wright said the coaches stress three qualities for their team — discipline, effort and enthusiasm — presenting a Braves Award for each category.

Recipients of the Braves Awards were: Alex Calhoun, discipline; Reffitt, effort; and Matt Clark, enthusiasm. All three are seniors.

The team's Most Improved Player award was presented to sophomore Chris Seyberth, an offensive lineman.

Freshman award

Zach Sens received the Braves Award for the freshman team this year at the awards banquet.

Coach Don Johnson said the 2-8 freshman Braves showed a lot of heart and promise as 11 of the team's 25 players scored points this year.

Junior varsity award

The junior varsity team presented its Scout Team Player of the Year award to Conner Smith for his leadership on the field.

Wright praised his 2008 varsity team for its effort and hard work, especially when the wins were not coming as expected.

"This group this year had a never quit attitude," the four-year head coach said. "It was an enjoyable group of guys to coach."

He said the team stuck together on and off the field, adding that one off-the-field event made him very proud of his team. That involved the tragic death of the brother of one of the players.

"Every one of these guys rallied around that player and tried to take away pain that player and his family were feeling," Wright said. "That's how you know when you're getting beat on Friday night that you're doing something right. They stayed together as a family. When you're losing, a lot of teams will begin fighting and bickering. These guys did not do that."

Contact this reporter at (513) 523-4139 or bratterman@coxohio.com.