4 local football players all-state

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

November 25, 2008 12:00 am

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Traverse City St. Francis junior Max Bullough and Frankfort senior Max Banktson were the top vote-getters among linebackers on the Associated Press Division 7-8 All-State football team announced today.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Bullough anchors a Gladiators defense that is limiting opponents to just nine points a game. St. Francis (12-1) plays Ubly (13-0) for the Division 7 state title Saturday morning. The Gladiators have allowed just 980 yards on the ground and are holding teams to less than 3 yards per carry. They'll be tested by an Ubly offense that has churned out 4,347 yards on the ground -- and has two rushers over 1,000 yards.

The 6-3, 225-pound Banktson is a repeat pick on the All-State team. He led the Panthers defensively, averaging almost 12 tackles a game. The Northwest Conference MVP started 47 games in his varsity career at linebacker and finished with nearly 600 tackles. Frankfort ended the season 11-2, losing to Crystal Falls 8-6 in Saturday's Division 8 semifinal.

St. Francis put two players on the first-team. In addition to Bullough, Joe Kerridge was selected as the punter. He's averaging 42.5 yards on 23 punts.

Central Lake junior Jared Danbert earned first-team honors as the all-purpose back. Danbert rushed for 1,385 yards and 21 touchdowns, caught 10 passes for 195 yards and four scores and returned four punts for touchdowns. On defense, he had 57 tackles and one interception. He was also Central Lake's punter, kicker and return specialist.

Grass Lake's Skyler Stoker, who rushed for 2,225 yards and 42 touchdowns, was named the Associated Press Division 7-8 Player of the Year by a statewide panel of 10 sports writers.

"He's something else," coach Randy Cole said. "I'd love to have another one of him. He was just a huge big-time player for us. We asked him to do a lot, and he delivered 99 percent of the time."

A 6-foot, 205-pound senior, Stoker led the Warriors deep into the playoffs each of his three years on the varsity team, including a trip to the Division 7 state finals his sophomore season.

He finished his career with 4,610 yards rushing and 74 touchdowns.

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