Written by John Metcalfe

The G.T.A. All Stars vanquished the Ottawa Invaders in the League Championship game, and the All Stars mastery continued in the League All Star and Awards voting/selections for the recently completed season.  The All Stars proved more dominant in the Awards section as they earned nine of twelve honours and seven All Star nods.  Pivot Tom Denison led the way with his fourth Most Valuable Player Selection, third Offensive Player of the Year nod and fifth selection as the All-Star quarterback.  Defensive Lineman Michael Livingston also has multiple honours as Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Lineman of the Year, Defensive Championship Game M.V.P. and All-Star on the Defensive Line.

Veteran Brandon Lewis of the Sault Ste. Marie Steelers, earned his 19^th All Star nod on the Defensive Line which extends his record for one position.  Lewis has also garnered 18 straight nods on the Defensive Line which is also a record.  Sarnia kicker Kevin Allaer swept the special team kicking kudos as punter and place kicker and for the first time ever, there was a tie for the Mike Jackson Memorial Special Teams Player of the Year with Archelaus Jack (Oakville) and Bill Nyantakyi (G.T.A.) splitting that honour.  Like teammates Denison and Livingston, Nyantakyi also grabs multiple plaques as Rookie of the Year and Kick Return All Star.  Jack joins the multiple winners club as an All-Star Receiver and also earned his first August Kangro Memorial Trophy as the League’s leading scorer which ended Josh Gauthier’s grip on that kudo.  Gauthier had won seven of the last nine seasons.

 

Honours are determined from votes cast by coaches and players, along with statistical performance weighting for all All Star positions and some awards honours.

 

The Oakville Longhorns were next in the All-Star honours with five and two league awards.  Sarnia Imperials had three all-stars and an award.  Hamilton Steel City Patriots, the Steelers, Sudbury Spartans and Tri City Outlaws earned two all-star nods each and Montreal Transit has one all-star honour.   The Champion G.T.A.  will be hosting  the C.M.F.L. Final which is slated for Saturday September 26^th at a yet to be determined location.  The Alberta Football League champion will be determined on September 12^th.  The All Stars will be looking to retain the C.M.F.L. title that Montreal won 49-26 over the Calgary Wolpack in Calgary last Fall.

 

2015 also sees the continued recognition of Second Team All Stars.  The complete listing of those earning honours is below:

 

AWARDS

 

Most Valuable Player             Tom Denison – GTA              Also honoured in 2007,11 and 12

 

Offensive Player of the Year        Tom Denison – GTA              Also honoured in 2011 and 12

 

Defensive Player of the Year          Michael Livingston – GTA     First Honour

 

Offensive Lineman                 Bjoern Hanser – GTA             First Honour

 

Defensive Lineman                 Michael Livingston – GTA     First honour

 

Rookie of the Year                 Bill Nyantakyi – GTA                        Third time for this franchise

(Leo Troy Memorial)            

 

Coach of the Year                  Jake Cherski – Sarnia             First honour

(Sid Forster Memorial)         

 

Special Teams Player             Archelaus Jack – Oakville       First tie for this honour

(Mike Jackson Memorial)      Bill Nyantakyi – GTA

 

Leading Scorer                       Archelaus Jack – Oakville       First Longhorn since 2004

(August Kangro Memorial)                                                  

 

Championship Game M.V.P.        Michael Livingston – GTA       First honour

Jahmeek Murray – GTA                      First honour

 

OFFENCE ALL STARS

 

Position                                 Player, Team                                                        Previous Selections

 

Quarterback              Tom Denison – GTA                         2007,11,12 and 14

 

Running Back           Josh Cuomo – Sudbury                       2013

T J Williams – Ottawa                        First selection

 

Receivers                    Skyler Hurst – Hamilton                     First selection

Archelaus Jack – Oakville                   2014

Ryan Lounsbury – Sarnia                   First selection

Mark Simone – GTA                          2012

 

Offensive Line           Wayne Brock – GTA                          First selection

Darren Castalto – Ottawa                   First selection

Joel Charron – Ottawa*                      First selection

Bjoern Hanser – GTA                         First selection

Amir Farhat – Ottawa*                       First selection

Greg Torrance – Sault                         2010,11,12,13 and 14

*Indicates tie for position

 

SPECIAL TEAMS ALL STARS

 

Punter                                    Kevin Allaer – Sarnia                          2010,11 and 12

Punt Return               Archelaus Jack – Oakville                   First selection at this position

Kicker                                    Kevin Allaer – Sarnia                          First selection at this position

Kick Return               Bill Nyantakyi – GTA                        First selection

 

 

DEFENCE ALL STARS

 

 

Defensive Line           Mark Hillock – Sudbury                     First selection

Brandon Lewis – Sault                       19^th selection

Michael Livingston – GTA                 First selection

Adrian Malcolm – Oakville                First selection

 

 

Linebackers               Liston Bates – Oakville                      First selection

Andrew Blevings – Montreal                         2013

Kris Kusch – Tri City                          2012,13 and 14

 

 

Defensive Backs        Chris Hibbert – Oakville                     First selection at this position

Cleon Holmes – GTA                         2009

Deryl Kelly – Tri City                         First selection

Lavone Nelson – Hamilton                 First selection

Wassim Sayegh – Ottawa                   First selection

 

 

SECOND TEAM ALL STARS

 

Quarterback                Mathieu Rene – Montreal

Running Backs            Scott Smith – Sudbury

Roland Tremblay – Tri City

Receivers                     Jean Fritz Charles – Montreal

Brad Churchill – Sarnia

Phil Dixon – Toronto

Patrick Jerome – Montreal

Jahmeek Murray – GTA

Offensive Line             Michael Antoine – GTA

Tom Bailey – Tri City

Francis Cloutier – Ottawa

Bassai Taha – Ottawa

Brady Taylor – Tri City

 

Punter                         Ovidu Coca – Hamilton

Punt Return                 Bill Nyantakyi – GTA

Kicker                          Andrew Posteraro – GTA

Kick Return                 Archelaus Jack – Oakville

 

Defensive Line             Winston Blake – Oakville

Travis Doyle – Hamilton

Joe Shyminsky – Sudbury

Kevin White – Sudbury

Linebackers                 Erik Conrad – Sudbury

Dustin Murray – Toronto

Marcus Wisdom – GTA

Defensive Backs          Jean Fritz Charles – Montreal

Kevin Coxall – Toronto

Spencer DaCosta – Ottawa

Adrien Kellman – Montreal

Lusson Pierre – Montreal