By GERRY deSIMAS, Jr.
Avon Football Online
AVON – Nine players from the two-time Uncas Division champion Avon High football team earned All-Pequot Conference honors in voting by the league coaches.
Senior back Mike D’Onofrio, who rewrote the Avon High football record book during his career, earned All-League honors for the third year in a row. He was named to the All-Pequot Uncas team in 2007 and to the All-Pequot Conference team in 2006. In 2007, there wasn’t a single Pequot Conference All-Star team but single teams for the Pequot Uncas and Sassacus Divisions.
Offensively, D’Onofrio earned a spot on the All-Pequot team at running back with T.J. Stolzenberg (wide receiver), Sonny Portelance (guard) and David Wyrick (placekicker) also earning spots on the team.
On the defensive side of the ball, defensive tackle D.L. McDonald, defensive end Lambert Givens, linebacker Mike Dugan and defensive backs Tyler D’Onofrio and Terence Olsen earned All-Pequot honors.
Mike D’Donofrio rushed for a career-high 1,201 yards and 20 touchdowns. He set new school records by scoring 24 TDs and scoring 144 points in a single season. He also caught 20 passes for 278 yards and 4 TDs.
Stolzenberg caught 19 passes for 328 yards and 3 TDs. He caught five passes for 62 yards in the 34-19 loss to Brookfield in the Class M semifinals. Sonny Portelance was a guard on offensive line that rushed for over 3,000 yards.
Wyrick began the year at quarterback for the third straight season. But after injuring his thumb in the fifth game of the season against Hyde, he couldn’t grip the ball to throw. So, he had to settle for playing safety and kicking. He made 97 tackles, recovered a pair of fumbles against Brookfield and excelled kicking.
Wyrick had a school-record 53 points kicking, including a school record 50 extra points as the Falcons (9-3, 8-0 Pequot Uncas) scored a school record 419 points this year.
D.L. McDonald had 87 tackles in the regular season along with a team-leading six sacks for 45 yards. He had 14 tackles against Canton. Defensive end Lambert Givens had 59 tackles in the regular season, including 12 against Tolland.
Linebacker Mike Dugan led the Falcons with 136 tackles including a team-high 21 against Coventry/Windham Tech and 20 each in wins over Tolland and Ellington. He had 2.5 sacks and an interception.
Junior Tyler D’Onofrio caught 9 passes for 165 yards but he was honored for his defensive work where he made 87 tackles in the regular season, picked off two passes and had a sack.
Senior Terence Olsen made contributions on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he caught 15 passes for 250 yards and two TDs. On the defensive side of the ball, he picked off two passes, blocked two field goals and had 33 tackles.
Running back Ross McDonald (99-801 yards, 13 TDs) was an honorable mention selection at running back.
