LAKE LINDEN — Lots of excellent football was played by a number of area teams, and those results showed up in the all-league honors handed out by the West PAC on Tuesday.

The 16-team league handed out separate awards in each of its eight-team divisions, the Copper that includes larger enrollment schools or cooperatives and the Iron that has the smaller enrollments.

Ishpeming in the Iron Division was the only area school that pulled down multiple special awards. Senior Ben Pruett was named Defensive Player of the Year and senior teammate Jacob Kugler earned Lineman of the Year.

Hematites senior John Corkin was also an honorable mention for Offensive Player of the Year.

Westwood’s Taylor Dellangelo talks with Patriots’ head coach Scott Syrjala during a game against L’Anse on Oct. 11 in Ishpeming. Dellangelo shared Offensive Player of the Year in the Copper Division of the West PAC. (Journal photo by Amy Grigas)

Two other area players from nonplayoff teams won other special awards in the Iron loop — Gwinn sophomore Shafaar Evans was named Special Teams Player of the Year, while Manistique senior Schyler Andersen won out as Offensive Player of the Year.

In the highly competitive Copper Division, Upper Peninsula Large Schools’ top team Calumet and Small Schools’ No. 1 Iron Mountain hogged nearly all that group’s special awards.

However, Westwood senior Taylor Dellangelo broke through to share the Offensive Player of the Year honor with Iron Mountain senior Marcus Johnson.

Counting up all the First Team honors between the two divisions, the number of awards totaled 31, with a dozen of them unanimous picks. Several players were also multiple honorees.

The seven area schools in the league are Negaunee, Westwood, Ishpeming and Gwinn from Marquette County; Munising from Alger County; Manistique from Schoolcraft County; and L’Anse from Baraga County.

Negaunee kicker Erik Salminen, right, kicks off during a game played Friday at Westwood High School. Salminen was a unanimous selection as First Team kicker in the Copper Division of the West PAC. (Journal photo by Amy Grigas)

The expanded version of the league, swelled mostly due to the absorption of the Mid-Peninsula Conference, began in 2018.

In the Copper Division, three area players drew four unanimous selections for First Team, lead by Westwood senior Erik Anderson at both tight end and outside linebacker. The others were Negaunee senior Erik Salminen at kicker and L’Anse senior Jonah Dowd at defensive back.

Other First Teamers in the Copper Division from the area are, from Westwood, junior Michael Boissineau at offensive tackle, senior Chad Pohlman at receiver, senior Taylor Dellangelo at quarterback, junior Eli Loukkala at defensive line and junior Garrett Mann at inside linebacker.

From Negaunee are junior Caulder Hewitt at guard, senior Alex Munson at receiver, senior Leo Helppi at inside linebacker and senior Jason Waterman at defensive back.

And from L’Anse is senior Jaden DeMink at guard.

In the Iron Division, there were seven players who earned eight unanimous First Team picks, led by Ishpeming’s Kugler cited at both tight end and defensive end.

Other Hematite unanimous choices were senior John Corkin at running back, senior Owen Morton at guard and senior Ty Kauppinen at defensive line.

In addition, unanimous picks were earned by Gwinn junior James Harnick at receiver, Munising senior Josh Huotari at defensive back and Manistique’s Andersen at running back. Andersen was also a First Teamer at punter.

The balance of area First Teamers in the Iron Division are, from Ishpeming, senior Otto Swanson at both fullback and outside linebacker, senior Ethan Sigala at center, senior Ben Pruett at inside linebacker and senior Tommy Sjoholm at defensive back; from Gwinn, senior Caleb Anderson at quarterback; and from Manistique, junior Rusty Schroeder at inside linebacker and senior Joey Hoholik at defensive back.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.