The 2017-18 All Area/Turlock Journal Team
Offensive Player of the Year: Isaac Sharp (Hilmar)
Defensive Player of the Year: Dustin Grein (Turlock)
1st team
Offense
Quarterback: Jonah Kosakiewicz (Turlock)
Running backs: Hunter Musgrave (Denair), Tyler Ethardige (Turlock)
Wide Receivers: Carter Azevedo (Hilmar), AJ Reyes (Pitman), Gaven Azevedo (Hilmar)
Offensive Line: Michael Jeffus (Turlock), Brock Fusi (Pitman), Jake Dirkse (Turlock), Nick Aguilera (Hilmar), Jared Collier (Hilmar)
Defense
Defensive Line: Alex Baker (Pitman), Casey Carr (Turlock), Garrett Fountain (Turlock)
Linebackers: Gabriel Cordero (Turlock), Marcus Mouro (Hilmar), Lance Bickle (Pitman), Trenton Brock (Pitman), Tyler Amarante (Hilmar)
Defensive Backs: Tyler Stout (Pitman), German Lua (Delhi), Chris Flores (Hilmar)
Special Teams: Dallin Tilby (Turlock)
2nd team
Offense
Quarterback: Treyton Fair (Pitman)
Running backs: Jakob Partida (Pitman), Justin Rentfro (Hilmar), Blade House (Turlock Christian)
Wide Receiver: Jordan Porter (Turlock), Blake Davis (Denair)
Offensive Line: Everett Johnson (Turlock), Brendan Tallent (Pitman), Julian Moreno (Delhi), Derek Starkey (Denair), Paul Rocha (Hilmar)
Defense
Defensive Line: Bryson Prock (Denair), Caelan Flowers (Turlock), Kyle Rodrigues (Turlock Christian), Will Knox (Denair)
Linebackers: Dom Nunes (Turlock), Jose Saucedo (Delhi), Drake Maliepaard (Turlock Christian) Dan Padilla (Pitman)
Defensive Backs: Antonio Suarez (Turlock), Nathan Son (Turlock Christian), Alecxis Miranda (Delhi)
Special Teams: Bryan Millan (Hilmar)
The 2017 fall season was a testament to how unique prep football is in the Journal's coverage area.
The Journal also launched the fifth season of the award-winning show, “The Blitz,” a web series that reached new homes, extending coverage with our sister papers, the Manteca Bulletin and Oakdale Leader.
This year, the All Area/All Journal team is made up of the schools from the coverage area including Turlock, Pitman, Turlock Christian, Hilmar, Delhi and Denair.
Two of the teams (Turlock and Hilmar) made the postseason, with the Yellowjackets capturing a Division VI Sac Joaquin Section Championship.
Turlock made a convincingly league run in their final season competing in the Central California Conference. going 6-0 and capturing the title for the second straight year in perfect fashion.
Pitman (5-5) failed to win at least six games for the first time in program history, however, it wasn’t due to a lack of individual talent. The Pride stayed close in over half their losses, including two contests where they lost by a combined eight points. Fortunately, they will return many players for next season.
The Hilmar Yellowjackets captured the Section banner with an improbable run after sneaking into the postseason with a 5-5 record.
From there on it was smooth sailing for the 'Jackets who started to click in all cylinders.
In the mix of it all and leading the way, aside from an overall stellar team performance, was standout running back Isaac Sharp, who was the leading rusher on the team with 1,329 rushing yards. In fact, in four playoff games, Sharp ran for 715 yards and scored nine touchdowns.
These were some of the reasons why the junior (Sharp) earned the Offensive Player of the Year honors for the Journal.
The Yellowjackets eventually went on to play in the Nor Cal Regional play-in against Strathmore, but lost in double overtime, 53-52. Strathmore went on to win the CIF State Championship.
Turlock was anchored by a hard-hitting defense and a powerful performance yet again, winning another league title, making it back-to-back CCC titles as they walk away to join the Central California Athletic League next season.
The anchor and captain of a physical defense was safety Dustin Grein, who received a full-ride scholarship to play collegiate ball at Cal Poly SLO, and earned honors as the Defensive Player of the Year. Grein was also the Most Valuable Player for the Central California Conference.
Playing mostly on the defensive side for the year, Grein finished second on the team in total tackles with 75 in 10 regular season games.
He also added a sack and finished with three touchdowns, including two pick-six plays for the season.
The players which make up the first and second-team selections were nominated by their respective coaches based on individual performance for the season.
