Phipps, Pollock named all-state
Grove City running back Wes Phipps and Union defensive back Brody Pollock have been named first team all-state this season.
Phipps, a two-time Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy winner, rushed for 1,269 yards and 28 touchdowns in leading the Eagles to the District 10 championship and PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals.
Pollock had 55 tackles, intercepted seven passes and forced two fumbles in helping Union reach the District 9 Class A playoffs for the first time in school history. He also had 29 catches for 491 yards offensively.
Rushel Shell of Hopewell did not have the perfect football season.
Shell, a senior running back, suffered an injury at the midpoint of the 2011 high school football season that forced him to sit out one full game and part of another. His Hopewell team was unable to advance past the quarterfinal round of the District 7 Class AAA playoffs.
His absence those six quarters threatened to derail his quest to become the state's career leading rusher.
It didn't.
Despite the injury and Hopewell's second-round playoff exit, Shell still managed to accumulate a career total of 9,078 yards, easing past Steelton-Highspire's Jeremiah Young (9,027 yards) to become the state's most prolific running back.
Along the way, the University of Pittsburgh recruit established a national record by rushing for at least 100 yards in 39 consecutive games played, breaking the previous NFHS mark of 38 consecutive 100-yard rushing games established by Billy Sims. Sims, who went on to play for Oklahoma and the Detroit Lions in the NFL, accomplished the feat from 1972 through 1975 at Hooks High School in Texas.
That was enough for Shell to be named the Pennsylvania Class AAA player of the year on the 2011 Pennsylvania Sports Writers' All-State Football Team.
Another District 7 player, Clairton junior running back Tyler Boyd, was the runaway winner of the Class A player of the year honors after playing a major role in the Bears' third straight PIAA Class A championship.
Shell and Boyd were among several prominent names on the Class AAA and Class A teams released Wednesday.Shell, a three-time all-state selection, was joined as a three-time Class AAA pick by Allentown Central Catholic quarterback Brendan Nosovitch. He passed for 3,809 yards this season, giving the University of South Carolina recruit a career total of 9,249 passing yards and 106 career touchdown passes. Both totals are just shy of Pennsylvania career records.Nosovitch, last year's Class AAA Player of the Year, was also a prolific runner, finishing with 3,628 rushing yards and career total of 12,877 offensive yards, most likely a state record.Shell was the lone Hopewell player to make the Class AAA all-state team while Allentown Central Catholic, the 2010 PIAA Class AAA champion which reached the state semifinals this year, posted three all-state selections: Nosovitch, record-setting wide receiver Kevin Gulyas and offensive lineman Tad McNeely. Gulyas caught 122 passes for 2,031 yards and 27 touchdowns, all Pennsylvania single-season records.In Class A, Boyd was a versatile player and key figure in Clairton's record-setting run to its third straight state championship.In the process of going 16-0 for a second straight year, the Bears ended the season with 47 consecutive victories, a District 7 record and the longest active winning streak in the nation. Next season, Clairton has a chance to attack the state record for consecutive wins (59) established by Central Bucks West from 1997 through 2000.Boyd scored nearly 300 points this season for Clairton, topped off by two long touchdown runs in the PIAA Class A championship game against Southern Columbia.Boyd is joined by three other Clairton players on the all-state team: offensive lineman Carvan Thompson, defensive lineman Eric Walker and defensive back Trenton Coles.No other team placed as many players on the all-state team as Clairton.
