Sunday, December 24, 2000
Highlands duo finalists for Ky. Mr. Football
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON — Highlands quarterback Gino Guidugli and wideout Brett Hamblen were named Saturday as finalists for the Kentucky Mr. Football award.
The finalists include two receivers, two quarterbacks and two running backs.
This season, Louisville Male wideout Montrell Jones had a career-best 72 catches for 967 yards and 14 touchdowns in leading the Bulldogs to the Class AAAA title. In the championship game victory over Trinity, Jones caught two touchdowns and ran back a punt 41 yards for another score.
The other finalists:
• Hamblen excelled at receiver, defensive back and kick returner. He caught a state-record 27 touchdown passes and had nine other scores via rushing, interception or kick return. Over all, Hamblen caught 67 passes for 1,386 yards while playing full-time as a defensive back and kick returner.
• Guidugli passed for an impressive 4,367 yards and 51 TDs to lead the Bluebirds to their third straight Class AAA championship. He completed 65 percent of his passes (260-of-404) and threw only 10 interceptions.
• Quarterback Harry Lewis of Mason County. Lewis, who was chosen first-team all-state as a defensive back and has committed to Kentucky as a wideout, passed for 1,551 yards and ran for another 519 yards. For his career, he had 2,391 passing yards, 1,410 rushing yards, 777 receiving yards and 54 touchdowns.
• Running back Matt Quinn of Boyle County. Quinn was one of only two players to make the first-team all-state squad on both sides of the ball. He rushed for 1,886 yards and 36 touchdowns this season while racking up more than 150 total tackles as a full-time linebacker. He has been an integral part of 30 straight victories and back-to-back Class AA titles at Boyle County.
• Running back Eric Shelton of Bryan Station. Despite a nagging ankle injury, Shelton rushed for more than 1,200 yards this season. He also registered 129 tackles, including 41 for losses, as a defensive tackle. For his career, Shelton rushed for nearly 5,000 yards, including 2,537 as a junior, and 59 touchdowns.
The finalists were chosen by a group of AP member sports editors. Voting will be conducted this week by sports writers and sportscasters.
Last year's Kentucky Mr. Football was quarterback Travis Atwell of Hancock County, who now is at Toledo.
Sports Stories
Bengal helps bail out murder suspect
Many questions for 2001
High stakes for Eagles
Who's got the edge?
Bengals-Eagles by the numbers
Players to watch
Xavier 63, Toledo 61
Hard work pays off for Chalmers
Some players get to go home for holidays
Playing two sports puts weight on Peek's shoulders
Tourney honor surprises UC's Davis
Johnson still searching for NBA foothold
Reds keeping Sullivan - for now
Reds eyeing Stinnett as backup catcher
Highlands duo finalists for Ky. Mr. Football
