After a successful 2023 season, the Morgan County football team earned many postseason honors.
The Bulldogs went 10-2 with a second-round playoff appearance and won the Region 4-AAA championship, so it’s safe to say they earned all of these recognitions after their best season in 10 years.
Morgan County had six offensive players and six defensive players named to the All-Region team. The Bulldogs also had five players earn honorable mentions following the 2023 season.
Also, third-year coach Clint Jenkins was named the Region 4-AAA Coach of the Year, and senior inside linebacker Landen Vickers earned the Region 4-AA Defensive Player of the Year honor.
“I’m proud of these guys for all their hard work,” Jenkins said after the season. “They deserve it.”
Jenkins has helped the program grow ever since taking the job after Bill Malone retired three years ago. He’s relied on players such as Vickers to help lead the team over the last couple of years.
“Landen [Vickers] is a guy that comes to work every day. He’s a good kid and he never causes any problems. He’s [also] always going full speed and you never have to worry about his effort, attitude, or anything like that,” Jenkins said in August before the season. “He’s a guy that’s going to show up and know that he loves playing football. We’re expecting big things out of Landen this year. ”
Vickers was the leader of Morgan County’s defense this past season and had over 100 tackles as a senior. He was a star on a Bulldogs’ defensive unit that gave up only an average of 11. 6 points per game.
“I’m the middle linebacker, which means I call the defense with coach Jenkins, I do our checks and everything,” Vickers said in August. “We have a very experienced defense. I expect them to play their part and they’ve been doing great so far [this summer]. I just want to be that teammate that puts them in the right spot, and hopefully makes the entire defense successful in what they do.”
Offensively, quarterback Talan Fuller, running back Jaydon Dorsey, wide receiver Jaylen Elder, and tight end Draco Frazzitta earned All-Region First-Team honors along with offensive linemen Jamari Munday and Cooper Pittman. Long-snapper Brody Jenkins was also a First-Team selection.
Defensively, Vickers, defensive tackles Antavious Elder and David Betrand, as well as defensive backs Trevon Rhodes, Zach Moore, and Dallas Dickerson, earned All-Region First-Team honors.
The Bulldogs who received honorable mention were quarterback Davis Strickland, wide receiver Ty Tillery, linebackers Drew Ainslie and Christian Monfort, and defensive back Jamauri Evans.
“This might be the most we’ve ever had,” Jenkins said. “This is an amazing accomplishment for our guys. It comes after a tough season and shows how hard each of our kids worked to earn this.”
While Morgan County may graduate a big senior class in May, it will return a lot of starters next year.
“We have a good group returning,” Jenkins added. “Now, we just want to build on this year as a program. We need to keep climbing that mountain because we haven’t reached base camp just yet.”