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The Rice Raiders football season has officially come to a close with the announcement of the players that made the All-District team.
The Raiders had 18 players named to the All-District team and 13 named to the Academic All-District team.
Starting things off on the offense, D’Neriyan Fuller was named to the first team while teammates Dyren Johnson and Jon Woods were named to the second team. All three of these players were the heartbeat of the offense and were always there when they needed a big play.
All three are juniors and are going to be chomping at the bit to get back for their senior season and make some more plays on the field.
Deveron Bennett, Gavin Tate, Ruston Krenek, Glenn Mills and Jael Valles-Serrano were all honorable mentions for the Offensive All-District team and like the initial trio they are all underclassmen ready to return. Bennett, Tate and Krenek helped anchor the offensive line while Mills was a reliable target in the tight end position and Valles-Serrano was a very consistent kicker.
Defensively, Robert Bennett was named to the first team and teammates Zayde Cunningham and Jace Upson made the second team. Bennett and Upson patrolled the secondary and were ball hawks for the Raiders which allowed Cunningham to work past the offensive lineman blocking him and secure a sack.
RJ Myers, O’Marion Johnson, Willem Burger, Keenan Hailey, Keundrik Pratt and Tate were all honorable mentions for the Defensive All-District team. This is essentially the Raiders front seven with all their lineman and linebackers being in the mix for the defensive All-District team.
The Raiders defense was very formidable all season long and now they are getting the recognition they deserve along with the players that handled their business in the classroom. Bennett, Hailey, Krenek, Fuller, Myers, Valles-Serrano along with teammates Roger Gradney, Brayden James, Draeden Amos, Luke Engelbrecht, Jayden Sanford, Arian Rico and Valencia Dancy were all named to the Academic All-District team.
These players maintained a 3.5 GPA while also being one of the top players in the district but there was one more award given out to Gradney. He was named the Utility Player of the year as he did everything, he could everywhere he could on the field for his senior season.
Congratulations to the Raiders on a great football season and congrats to the players that earned All-District honors.
