Green, Stivers top long list of Modesto JC honorees on all-league team
Modesto Junior College freshman running back Jay Green, the state scoring leader with 19 touchdowns, has been named the Offense Player of the Year in the Valley Conference.
Green, the Beyer High School graduate who’s rushed for 1,071 yards for the league-champion Pirates, also leads the state with 16 rushing touchdowns. His 107.1 yards-per-game average is third-best.
Rusty Stivers, MJC’s second-year coach, was named the Coach of the Year for leading Modesto (8-2, 5-0) to its first league title since 2008.
Green and Stivers lead a list of 12 MJC honorees. First-team selections on offense include Green, lineman Vaatofu Sauvao, wide receivers Michael Thompson and Ravon Alexander, and quarterback Wyatt Clapper. Making the first team on defense were safeties Jevan Hogan and DaShawn Holcombe, linemen Rob Luckett and Elliot Leiberger, cornerback Brandon Dabney and linebackers Santiago Medina and Kekupa’a Freehauf.
Thompson’s 93.6 receiving yards per game is eighth in the state, and his 24.2 yards per catch is No. 1. Clapper has passed for 1,849 yards and 15 touchdowns and has only three interceptions. He’s also rushed for seven TDs.
Modesto travels to American River for the North State Bowl, the Northern California semifinal game, at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Notes – MJC was ranked third in Northern California and eighth in the state in the season’s final rankings. ... The Pirates won their first outright title in a Tier 1 league since the 11-0 1980 team, which was ranked No. 1 in the country at season’s end. Their other Tier 1 titles, in 1977 and 1995, were shared. ... In the other NorCal semifinal, San Mateo travels to Butte in Oroville on Saturday afternoon. MJC defeated San Mateo 37-27 in the season opener. ... In Southern California, the semifinal matchups are Ventura at Fullerton and Saddleback at Riverside.
This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Green, Stivers top long list of Modesto JC honorees on all-league team."