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SPORTS BANQUET: Davis named Boys' Athlete of the Year

Posted May 05, 2011 11:00 pm

Doug Daniels

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In the first Boys All-Sports Banquet held at the new Elks Lodge No. 884 location, the Sports Banquet Committee announced J.C. Davis as their winner of the 2010-11 Senior Athlete of the Year award for his efforts on the basketball court and the baseball diamond with the Du Quoin Indians.

"I'd like to thank all my teammates, because this (award) could have went to anybody," Davis said at the podium. "I just want to thank you guys for being there and supporting me through all of this."

"Also," he continued, "I would like to thank the committee for their input, and also the coaches for being there, pushing me every day. Thank you."

In past years, the Boys All-Sports Banquet had been held at the American Legion in Du Quoin. With the acquisition and completion of the new Elks Lodge No. 884 building at 300 Shagbark Road, the program returned home for it's 64th Annual installment.

Davis, an SIU-Carbondale baseball signee, also took home the Darrell Keith Anders Memorial Scholarship and Justin Willi, Sr. Memorial Athletic Scholarship awards.

The Anders Scholarship Award is in honor of the spirit of Darrell Anders, his beliefs, values, qualities of character and standards of conduct that set him apart from other athletes. Anders passed away during his senior season of basketball in 1983 from spinal meningitis. Anders' former head coach, Roger Craft, presented the award to Davis.

Established in 2005, the Justin Willi, Sr. Memorial Athletic Scholarship is in honor of long-time committee member and Du Quoin athlete Justin Willi, Sr.

The son of Tim Davis and Marcy Robison, J.C. Davis received All-South and All-Conference honors for the 2010-11 high school basketball season in addition to Special Mention for the IBCA All-State team. Currently working shortstop for the Indians, Davis has received All-Conference awards in baseball each of the past two seasons along with All-South honors for 2010. He will follow in his father's footsteps in attending Southern Illinois University this fall on a baseball scholarship.

A surprise announcement followed Davis' selection as Senior Athlete of the Year, as banquet emcee Steve Marek stated the award winner will also be presented a scholarship with which to further his education. The Huff-Holladay Scholarship is named after Fred Huff and Richard "Doc" Holladay who have been on the Elks Committee for over 85 combined years.

"This is really a surprise. I think this is a way to keep me on this committee," joked Holladay. "They just keep wanting me to hang around and I've got to work with this old geezer here all the time," gesturing towards Huff.

"I hope you've got plenty of money," Huff countered when he took the mic.

The Missouri Valley Conference Hall-of-Famer then turned things over to the night's principal speaker, former SIU football star and long-time NFL player and assistant coach Carl Mauck.

"We've had some great speakers, guys like (Stan) Musial and Gale Sayers," Huff said, "but I guarantee you none of them have been as big as our speaker tonight, Carl Mauck."

Mauck, born in McLeansboro, played center and linebacker for the Salukis before playing 13 season in the NFL and working 20 more as an offensive line coach. He also played basketball at SIU as a freshman on the same team as NBA Hall-of-Famer Walt Frazier.

After some brief retaliatory roasting, Mauck recounted his football days, playing with the likes of Johnny Unitas, Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Dan Fouts and Earl Campbell and under the tutelage of coaches that included Don Shula and Bum Phillips.

"It was a good time," Mauck said, immediately correcting himself: "It was a great time."

Mauck continued with a message to the senior class - "Don't be afraid to dream." He recalled watching a classic NFL contest on a black and white television at age 11 that started his dream.

"Eleven years later I was snapping the ball to Johnny Unitas, 1969," Mauck said. "It can happen, don't be afraid to dream, because that's where it starts."

Mauck then discussed Du Quoin graduate Nick Hill during his first season as a starter at SIU, and his 14-for-16 performance in knocking off Big Ten opponent Indiana on the road. He then issued his vote of confidence in Nick's younger brother A.J., who is competing for the quarterback job with the Salukis in 2011.

Mauck closed with a reference to the recent NFL Draft and how scouts "put everything in a computer now; height, weight, speed, size, intelligence."

"But there's something that they can't put in those computers that if they could, they'd never have a bad number one draft choice; that's the size of a man's heart," he said.

Four other prestigious awards were also handed out to graduating senior athletes from Du Quoin High School along with the "Fan of the Year" award.

The Joe E. Weber Fan of the Year Award was established in 1971 in memory of Joe Weber, a long-time member of the banquet committee and loyal Du Quoin Indians fan. For 2011, the award was given to David Eaton and Linda Paris, who received the first standing ovation of the evening from the crowded Elks Lodge.

"Linda and I would do anything for these boys," said a grateful Eaton.

In attendance were former Weber Award winners Carl Campanella (1989), Joe Gene Brewner (2001), Galen Davis (2002), and Kenny and Kathy Scaglione (2007).

Matt Mason, unable to attend, was awarded the William G. Theobald Award for his achievements with his school work.

Since 1985, the William G. Theobald Memorial Award has been given to the senior who has demonstrated excellence in the classroom and on the playing field. Theobald was a long-time educator and one of the driving forces behind the Elks Boys All-Sports Banquet.

2004 Theobald Award winner Jordan Campanella was among those in attendance.

The Whitey Miller Spirit Award went to Cory Campanella. The Du Quoin High School coaching staff selects a senior lineman each year to receive the award, which has been handed out each year since 1990.

The award was established in memory of Whitey Miller, who was killed in a 1989 car accident during the football season while Du Quoin was ranked number one in the state of Illinois.

James Williams and Brock Morgenstern were co-winners of the Carroll L. Doerner Award. The award consists of a $500 scholarship along with an award plaque and is presented to the student athlete that has earned a varsity letter in football and best demonstrates the hard work, dedication and commitment that Coach Doerner displayed during his tenure at Du Quoin.

Doerner was a long-time assistant coach at DHS and a 27-year member of the Elks Club.

The Egyptian Officials & Southern Illinois Coaches Association named Marcus Clarry their first Scholarship Award winner in 2010, and on Tuesday night, Chaz Bland became the second winner.

The scholarship is funded through the joint efforts of the Egyptian Officials and the SICA. For the past two years, an annual golf event has provided funds and scholarships for participating schools. The $750 amount is split into two scholarships, one for a male and the other a female.

The complete list of senior athletes who were recognized with medals: Will Alstat, Seth Baxter, Drew Bennet, Trent Bigham, Bland, C. Campanella, Storm Clarry, John Creekpaum, Davis, Brandon George, Bryce Hamburger, Karson Hoffman, Jerel Holmes, Jeremy Jones, Kenny Kabat, Colin Keith, Sam Kuhnert, Mason, Morgenstern, Ethan Nevill, Joey Perez, Ian Pierce, Luchie Porter, Aaron Smith, Jacob Stanhouse, Connor Wheeler and Williams.

In addition, 29 juniors, 29 sophomores and 4 freshmen also received medallions.

Past Elks Senior Athlete of the Year award winners watching on at this year's banquet included Richard Gilliam (1958), Mike Crews (1964), Alan Porter (1970), Alan Martin (1972), Stan Clarry (1974), Wade Crews (1977), Gordon Showalter (1980), John Rainwater (1981), Kent Leek (1983), Steve Marek (1984), Monte Kuhnert (1986), Jim Cravens (1991), Jason Karnes (1993), Tim Craft (1996), and Jordan Campanella (2004).

Chuck Smith took home a Mauck-autographed SIU football from the banquet's raffle drawing.

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