Hunter Jutte and Brycen Mitten were both named to the Division 4A All-State Football Team released last week by The Oregonian.
Jutte, a senior who was the Sky-Em Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, was named to the First Team as a defensive back and Honorable Mention as a wide receiver.
Mitten was named Honorable Mention as a tight end.
All-state teams are determined by a vote of the state’s coaches and compiled by The Oregonian’s high school sports staff.
“That’s wonderful,” Sweet Home Coach Dustin Nichol said. “Considering our position, finishing second in our league and everything, for them to be recognized at all at the state level is a tremendous honor on their parts.
“The other teams saw that those guys are players. In order for their teams to be successful, they had to be prepared for these guys.”
4A Players of the Year were a pair of Gladstone seniors, who helped lead the Gladiators to the state title.
Running back Handsome Smith was the offensive pick after finishing the 2014 season with 2,222 rushing yards (2,313 total yards) and 30 touchdowns. He averaged 12.6 yards per carry during the regular season. Linebacker Zach Smith was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Jutte was one of two Sky-Em players named to the First Team. The other was Elmira defensive lineman Zane Wardwell. Junction City running back Bryon Brown and offensive lineman Chris Prescott were named to the second team.
Named Honorable Mention along with Mitten were: Junction City’s Brown as a defensive back, together with defensive lineman Alex Johnston; and Elmira tight end Buddy Finder, center Ray Dollahite and offensive linemen Wardwell and Matt Engholm.
Nichol said he believes the Huskies’ non-league schedule, which matched them against teams from three separate leagues, helped Jutte and Mitten turn coaches’ heads.
“They got teams’ attention,” he said.
Nichol said he hopes at least one of the two gets selected to play in this summer’s Shrine Game. Due to the limitations of the roster for the Shrine Game, a second player could be chosen only as an alternate.
“I’m very proud of these boys,” he said. “It’s well-deserved.”