Southwest Wake Athletic all-conference football teams, 2015

The Southwest Wake Athletic Conference’s all-conference awards for football have been released.

Middle Creek senior wide receiver Johnathan Spencer was named the offensive player of the year and shared the special teams player of the year award with Panther Creek junior wide receiver Justin Smalls.

Fuquay-Varina senior linebacker Austin Pluckhorn was the defensive player of the year.

Middle Creek coach Randy Ragland and Fuquay-Varina coach Jeb Hall earned co-coach of the year honors after guiding their teams to first and second in the league.

The all-conference team was done differently than in previous years, with more players making the first team than the second team, rather than having equal sides.

It was a good year for two-way players. Fuquay-Varina junior lineman Jonathan Cole, Panther Creek senior wide receiver/defensive back Diamante Taylor, Spencer and Green Hope senior athlete Bryce Dixon were named to the offensive and defensive all-conference teams.

Dixon and senior running backs Isaiah Totten of Apex and Tray Staten of Holly Springs are the SWAC’s only three-time all-conference picks.

Pluckhorn, Cole, Taylor, Spencer were among the two-time picks, including: Apex wide receiver/tight end Ian Boyd and linebacker Jordan Mann; Athens Drive defensive lineman Nate Gatling; Cary defensive lineman Rod Perry; Fuquay-Varina offensive lineman Jake Slater; Green Hope kicker Nolan Paussa and offensive lineman Grant Pacanovsky; Holly Springs punter Josh Howard; Middle Creek offensive linemen Connor Baroniunas and Bobby Marshewski and linebacker Brenden Weinberg; Panther Creek defensive back Isaiah Laster and wide receiver Caleb Cross.

Middle Creek (14-1, 7-0), the SWAC champions and 4AA state semifinalists, had the most all-conference picks with 13.

Fuquay-Varina (12-2, 6-1), which finished second in the SWAC and only lost to Middle Creek this season, had nine all-conference players.

Holly Springs (7-5, 5-2), which lost to Richmond County in the first round, had nine all-conference players.

Green Hope (7-5, 4-3), which lost in the first round of the playoffs to Fuquay-Varina, had six all-conference players.

Apex (4-6, 3-4) had four players selected to the team while Panther Creek (4-7, 2-5) had nine and Cary (2-8, 1-6) had eight.

Gatling was the only all-conferece pick for Athens Drive (0-11, 0-8).

Offensive player of the year: Johnathan Spencer, Middle Creek

Defensive player of the year: Austin Pluckhorn, Fuquay-Varina

Special teams player of the year: Johnathan Spencer, Middle Creek and Justin Smalls, Panther Creek

Coach of the year: Jeb Hall, Fuquay-Varina and Randy Ragland, Middle Creek

First team offense

QB: Dominique Shoffner, junior, Middle Creek

QB: Dom Samson, senior, Panther Creek

RB: Isaiah Totten, senior, Apex#

RB: Josh Arrington, senior, Fuquay-Varina

RB: Colten Smith, senior, Fuquay-Varina

RB: Tray Staten, senior, Holly Springs#

RB: Isaiah Gibbons, senior, Cary

WR/TE: Ian Boyd, senior, Apex*

WR/TE: Bryce Dixon, senior, Green Hope#

WR: Johnathan Spencer, senior, Middle Creek*

OL: Connor Baroniunas, senior, Middle Creek*

OL: Jake Slater, junior, Fuquay-Varina*

OL: Jonathan Cole, junior, Fuquay-Varina*

OL: Keanu Gonzales, senior, Green Hope

OL: Alijah O’Neal, junior, Holly Springs

OL: Isaac Williams, senior, Panther Creek

OL: Max Wagner, senior, Cary

K: Nolan Paussa, senior, Green Hope*

First team defense

DL: Nate Gatling, senior, Athens Drive*

DL: Jonathan Cole, junior, Fuquay-Varina*

DL: Ryan Fealey, senior, Fuquay-Varina

DL: George Maya, junior, Middle Creek

DL: Brandon Bennett, junior, Panther Creek

DL: Keenen Evans, senior, Cary

DL: Rod Perry, senior, Cary*

LB: Austin Pluckhorn, senior, Fuquay-Varina*

LB: Bryce Dixon, senior, Green Hope#

LB: Brenden Weinberg, senior, Middle Creek*

LB: John Singleton, junior, Middle Creek

LB: Jordan Mann, senior, Apex*

LB: Dawson Wright, junior, Holly Springs

LB: Noah Goldman, senior, Cary

DB: Daniel Jackson, junior, Middle Creek

DB: Jonathan Spencer, senior, Middle Creek*

DB: Isaiah Laster, senior, Panther Creek*

DB: Jeff Gavalier, senior, Cary

P: Nolan Paussa, senior, Green Hope*

Second team offense

QB: Brycen Braswell, junior, Fuquay-Varina

QB: Tucker Burkinshaw, senior, Green Hope

RB: DeAndre Jones, sophomore, Middle Creek

RB: Toney Bass, senior, Panther Creek

WR: Matt Schmitt, senior, Middle Creek

WR: Diamante Taylor, senior, Panther Creek*

WR: Caleb Cross, senior, Panther Creek*

OL: Grant Pacanovsky, senior, Green Hope*

OL: Bobby Marschewski, junior, Middle Creek*

OL: Alec Wurstbaugh, senior, Panther Creek

K: Nate Davis, senior, Apex

K: Quinn Dunphy, junior, Cary

K: Jared Shea, senior, Middle Creek

K: Josh Howard, senior, Holly Springs*

Second team defense

DL: Daniel Ligons, senior, Holly Springs

DL: Jason Gerber, senior, Holly Springs

DL: Ben Williams, junior, Panther Creek

DL: Robert Robinson, junior, Middle Creek

LB: J.T. Berkowitz, senior, Cary

LB: Jackson Baum, junior, Holly Springs

LB: Connor Cheyunski, sophomore, Middle Creek

LB: Alex Etgen, junior, Green Hope

DB: Zack James, senior, Fuquay-Varina

DB: Eddie Okeiga, senior, Holly Springs

DB: Diamante Taylor, senior, Panther Creek

DB: Yavel Morris, senior, Holly Springs

P: Josh Howard, senior Holly Springs*

*Two-time all-conference pick.

#Three-time all-conference pick.

This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Southwest Wake Athletic all-conference football teams, 2015."