For the second time in two years the Bobby Bell Award trophy will be at Platte County High School.
On Thursday, Dec. 12, standout linebacker Garret Watson was named the winner of the award and was handed the trophy by the namesake at a ceremony at Olathe North High School, part of the Simone Awards.
Along with Bell, a Chiefs hall of famer, were former Bell winners Anthony Simone and Charlie Simone, both from St. Pius X and Platte County’s Brian Koechner, who won the first Bell Award in 2000.
The next time a Pirate won the award was in 2017 when Michael Smith took home the honor after setting a school record in sacks. Watson came just shy of tying Smith’s school mark of 17 ½ sacks, getting 16 this past fall.
“It is really neat to have another kid represented,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “That is the crazy thing. When you win it once you are hungry for other kids to win it. Mike had a great year and Mike set the standard and Garret tried to get to it the whole time. For him to win something like this allows other kids to set goals to get. Garret is setting the bar for whoever is next.”
Watson added 18 tackles for loss, 86 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He had six games with at least one sack and five games with multiple tackles for loss.
KMBC’s Mick Shaffer interviewed Watson after winning the award and asked how Watson got those sacks.
“You have to have a solid interior line to keep pressure on the inside and keep them going out side and then my thing was speed,” Watson said. “Speed kills.”
Platte County joins Harrisonville and Kearney as schools with three different winners of the Bell Award, given to the top lineman/linebacker from Class 1-4 in Missouri.
“It is a blast to be honored with this and I’m filled with emotion,” said Watson, who led the Pirates in tackles in the Class 4 championship game against Webb City. “It (winning) was kind of a shock. There was a bunch of good people up there so it is an honor.”
Park Hill can also lay claim to having a third standout defensive player as Johnny Wilson won the Junious ‘Buck’ Buchanan Memorial Award.
CODY THORN/Citizen photos
Park Hill’s Johnny Wilson (below) holds the Buck Buchanan Memorial Award trophy.
The future Iowa State product follows Chester Graves (2016) and Bear Collins (2007).
Wilson won the award handed out to the top lineman/linebacker in Missouri or Kansas in Class 5-6.
“It feels good,” he said. “I was there when Ronnie won (the Simone) and I saw when Chester won (the Buchanan). It is an honor to continue the legacy of Park Hill. I’m grateful and I’m blessed.”
Wilson racked up 97 tackles, 28 TFL, 13 sacks, 18 quarterback hurries, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, one blocked punt and one blocked field goal. He finished his career with 23 sacks.
Wilson will graduate from Park Hill on Friday, Dec. 20 and will head for Ames, Iowa on Jan. 8.
One other area player was a finalist for an award as Platte County junior quarterback Chris Ruhnke was up for the Frank Fontana Memorial Award. He was one of five finalists for an award that went to Odessa quarterback Josey Meierarend, who guided his team to the Class 3 title.
Ruhnke is set to be the first starting quarterback for Platte County to start in consecutive seasons since Justin Mitchell.
Former Platte County standout Zach Sherman was among the group that handed out the award to Meierarend. Sherman won the award in 2001. Brandon Gutshall (2000) and Spencer Stewart (2018) were other winners from Platte County.
At the end of the ceremony, the All-Simone Team was announced.
Park Hill had a pair of first team picks in Wilson (defensive line) and Mikey Miles (linebacker). The Trojans joined Washington (Kan.) as the only team on defense with multiple picks. St. Thomas Aquinas and Mill Valley each had two total picks as well.
Watson was named to the second team defense at linebacker.