Eight area players make 1A all-state football teams

Eight area football players from smaller schools earned all-state honors in Class 1A for their play last season.

Port St. Joe’s Calvin Pryor and Darrell Smith earned first-team honors. Holmes County’s Jomar Concepcion made the second team. Liberty County’s Terrance Evans, Keith McCray and Kevin McCray and Bozeman’s Tyler Grier and Travis Register were named honorable mention.

Pryor was an offensive and special teams catalyst and his play netted him a spot at athlete on the first team. The junior rushed for more than 800 yards, was a potent receiver and also lined up at quarterback for the Tiger Sharks, who fell short in the District 2-1A tiebreaker.

Smith was a first-team linebacker who signed with the University of Arkansas. He had 264 tackles over his final two seasons, leading the team both years, and was second in the area this season behind Arnold’s Cullen Thompson.

Concepcion was a second-team athlete. The quarterback and special teams dynamo passed for 1,789 yards and rushed for more than 1,000. He also had 416 kickoff return yards and contributed to 34 touchdowns.

Evans was listed at athlete after leading the Bulldogs at quarterback and safety and into the regional playoffs. Keith McCray was listed at running back and Kevin McCray at linebacker.

Register finished his Bozeman career with more than 1,500 yards passing and 12 touchdowns last season. Grier, a running back, narrowly missed his second straight 1,000-yard rushing season.

The Class 1B, 2A and 2B teams also were released on Tuesday, but no area players made the lists.

All-state teams for higher classifications will be released later this week.