Jackson QB Vandeven claims Carr Award

POPLAR BLUFF -- The Jackson Indians swept the two biggest awards Wednesday night during the 69th Annual Poplar Bluff Letter Club Gridiron Banquet at the Black River Coliseum.

Dante Vandeven was awarded the SEMO Conference's highest honor with the Carr Award as best high school football player in Southeast Missouri.

Vandeven's teammate Preston Hobeck was also honored with the Derland Moore Award as the top defensive player in the conference.

"It's really awesome to do that," Hobeck said of winning a top award along with one of his teammates. "Not many teams can do that."

Vandeven was the seventh Jackson Indian to win the Carr Award since the award was first handed out in 1979. The most recent Jackson player to garner the award was Matt Lang in 2007.

"It's great, it's something you look forward to as sophomore, as a junior coming here," Vandeven said. "Last year, standing up there being a finalist, you want to look to next year."

Vandeven, who has given a verbal commitment to play at Southeast Missouri State, enjoyed a stellar season for Jackson.

He was the catalyst for an offense that scored 452 points this year, reached the MSHSAA Class 5 quarterfinals and finished with a 10-2 record.

Vandeven passed for 2,210 yards and had 24 touchdown strikes to go along with a 58 completion percentage (159-for-273). He also rushed the ball 158 times for 954 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground.

"High school football has been a really good experience," Vandeven said. "It made me into a man and a better person. It's a cherry on top."

Jackson coach Brent Eckley saw a lot of growth and positive attributes in his quarterback the past couple years.

"He developed into a really good leader for us," Eckley said. "Outstanding athlete. A very calm leader on the field and very encouraging to his team. He did a lot of good things with the ball for us this year. We really leaned on him."

The award is named in honor of the late E.E. "Bus" Carr, who was an early member of the Poplar Bluff Letter Club and a sports announcer for KWOC radio. Carr passed away in 1983 after devoting over 50 years of service to Southeast Missouri high school sports.

The two other Carr Award finalists were Malden running back Dremond Robinson and Central wide receiver Al Young.

On the defensive side of the ball, Hobeck anchored the line at end and had a big season.

The senior totaled 65 solo tackles, 20 for loss. He also assisted on 12 tackles. He sacked the quarterback 11 times, recovered three fumbles and forced three fumbles and broke up two passes.

Hobeck became the first player from Jackson to win the Derland Moore Award, named after and presented by the Poplar Bluff alum who played at the University of Oklahoma and played for the New Orleans Saints in the NFL. The Derland Moore award has been handed out since 2011.

In some ways, it felt like winning the award for Hobeck was delayed a year. It was awarded to Poplar Bluff senior Jacob Sliger last year.

"I remember the Poplar Bluff kid getting it last year -- Jacob Sliger," Hobeck said. "I dreamed of getting it this year and it came true. I really like that I got the linemen of the year, too."

Said Eckley, "I was wondering if it was a year late myself. I think Preston had 33 tackles for loss a year ago, and I thought he was outstanding. That's not to take anything away from the Poplar Bluff kid, the Sliger boy, last year. He was really a great player, too."

Kennett's Bud Hillburn and Central's Jalen Reddin were the other two finalists for the Derland Moore Award.

Other awards handed out included the scoring awards. Al Young was the top points producer SEMO North for Cape Central while Edward Wilson led the Central for Kennett and Dremond Robinson led the South for Malden.

Hobeck also won the lineman award for the North. Caruthersville's Landon Stricklin won for the Central and Malden's Javiel Cooper was the winner for the South.

Coach of the year honors went to Nathan Norman (North, Cape Central) and Joel Wyatt (South, Malden). Jimmy Jackson (Caruthersville) and Justin Peden (Dexter) were co-coaches of the year for the Central.

Norman added the coach of the year title to his linemen of the year and the Carr Award from his playing days at Jackson in 1995.

John Muench, a long time football official who called four state titles games in his career, was honored with the Sam Giambelluca Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of service.

Jackson (North), Dexter/New Madrid/Caruthersville (Central) and Malden (South) were presented awards for winning its conference championships. Kennett was awarded the team Sportsmanship Award.

Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz delivered the keynote speech.