LOGAN -- Matewan's Calvin Joplin made a lot of defensive players look bad this season.
Joplin's blazing speed and quick moves allowed him to zip by defenders to score 27 rushing touchdowns, six kick return TDs and five receiving scores. He was second in the state in scoring with 232 points and helped the Tigers to a second-round playoff berth and an 8-4 record.
For his impressive season, Joplin was named the Class A First Team All-State captain.
Joining Joplin on first team is Notre Dame defensive back Mark Jones. Teammates T.J. Wright and Steve Cross were selected to the second team.
Jones did it all for the Irish for the past three seasons. This year, he rushed for 929 yards and 13 TDs and caught 19 receptions for 216 yards. He was also a presence in the Notre Dame secondary where he had three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
"Mark was always the one chosen to cover the opponent's toughest receiver," Notre Dame coach Robert Shields said. "I think his offensive stats speak for themselves. He was a very important part of our team and he'll be missed.
"I think having T.J. and Steve selected on the second team speaks well for not making the playoffs."
Also named to the first team-offense are Matewan's Tony Ross at offensive lineman and quarterback Todd Adkins as a utility player.
Moorefield won its fifth state championship in six years and garnered three first-team selections: Adam Fisher at quarterback, Daniel Barb at end and Ryan Kesner as an offensive lineman.
Fisher completed 161 of 277 passing attempts for a 58 percent completion rate for 2,074 yards, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 13 games.
Barb had 63 catches for 950 yards and 12 TDs for an average of 14.9 yards per catch. He also had nine interceptions as a defensive back and made the all-conference team.
Gary Davis from Williamson, Shawn Harvey of Van and Chris Singewalt of runner-up Wheeling Central were also given first-team honors as offensive linemen.
Jarrod Pittman of Mount Hope was named first-team end.
Allen Gilmour of Van and Preston Caudill of Midland Trail joined Joplin as the first-team running backs.
At the utility position with Adkins was Justin Havens of Montcalm and the first-team kicker was Vince Black of Parkersburg Catholic.
Captaining the first-team defense was linebacker Jon Gordon of Wheeling Central. He was joined on the team by defensive linemen Seth Cook of Gilbert, Jeremy Moore of Fayetteville, Brad Ross of Hamlin and Daniel Hatcher of Paden City.
The linebackers included Jamie Dent of Hundred, Jake Wilson of Moorefield and Jon Brockman of Valley-Fayette; defensive backs Garrett Gregory of Williamson, Tucker Brown of Cameron, Jones of Notre Dame and Jesse Neely of Meadow Bridge; utility player R.J. Zitzelberger of Linsly and punter Justin Edwards of Wheeling Central.
Captaining the second team was Chris Green of Moorefield as an offensive lineman. Joining Green on the second team offensive squad was quarterback Eric Sperlazza of Madonna; running backs Aaron LoPoe of Clay-Battelle, David Jones of Matewan, Tony Cline of Paden City; ends Wright of Notre Dame and Wade Bell of Montcalm; offensive linemen Matt DeSantis of Wheeling Central, Scott Johnson of Wahama, David Moore of Van and Michael Underwood of Midland Trail; utility players Michael May of Pocahontas County and Chris Miller of Wirt County and kicker Blake Spryn of Wheeling Central.
Captaining the second team defense was Steve Adkins of Van as a linebacker. Joining Van's Adkins on the second team was defensive linemen S.C. Woods of Burch, Andy Haviland of East Hardy, Cross of Notre Dame and Nick Henderson of Paden City; linebackers Fred Russell of Williamson and Reed Williams of Moorefield; defensive backs Ryan Mitchell of Wahama, Jason Smith and Jeremy Cobb of Buffalo Putnam, Josh Hicks of Parkersburg Catholic and Steve Carter of Baileysville and utility players Matt Thornsbury of Matewan and Keith McGraw of Midland Trail.
