Five Warrior football players named to all-league team

Five members of the Fallbrook High School varsity football squad were selected for the Valley League's all-league team.

Valley League coaches vote on all-league honors and they named Charlie Bickel and Shon Hagan to the defensive first team, and Michael Lindsey and Kobe Stallings to the offensive first team. The coaches also chose John Brodak for the defensive second team.

All of the selected players are seniors and all played both offense and defense for the Warriors.

"All of these guys are really quality guys," said Fallbrook head coach Bob Burt. "You couldn’t ask for a better senior group."

Bickel, who in 2015 was named to the defensive second team as a defensive back, made the 2016 all-league first team as a safety.

“Charlie was as good as anybody in the league as a safety," said Burt. "He was a great run support guy. He basically ran our defense. He made all the calls. He really was a force in our secondary. In most games we played pretty decent defense and he was one of the big reasons. He also played tight end for us very well. "

Burt noted that Bickel also excels in the classroom.

"He's a straight-A student," said Burt. "I don’t think he’s had anything less than an A in his high school career. He’s just one solid guy. He’s a leader and a tremendous young man."

Hagan, the Valley League's 2015 defensive player of the year, made the all-league roster as a defensive back for the second straight year.

“He’s a very talented guy and a great kid," said Burt. "Unlike his junior year, when all he did was play defense, he was our tailback and carried the ball most of the time when we were running the football. He also played corner. He had a few nagging injuries but he was consistent in his play."

Burt noted that opposing coaches were reluctant to challenge Hagan after his award-winning defensive campaign in 2015.

"They didn’t throw in his direction," said Burt. "They were smart enough that they were going to throw the other way most of the time.”

Lindsey, who made the offensive first team as a fullback, also played linebacker for the Warriors and the Valley League coaches strongly considered him for the defensive first team.

“He could have made it offensively or defensively, but because of numbers, they put him as a fullback," said Burt. "But he was an outstanding linebacker – as good a linebacker as there was in the league – but there were a lot of nominations for linebacker, and he was equally as competitive and valuable to us as a fullback. So the coaches said, we need to put him on either way, so they put him on as a fullback."

Burt said Lindsey was a true workhorse.

"He never came off the field," said Burt. "He held on PAT field goals, he was our leading guy as far as our punt protection, and he was on every special teams. He was like an iron man."

Stallings, who last year made the offensive second team as a wide receiver, made the first team at that position this year.

“He was one of the premier receivers in the league," said Burt. "He was our go-to guy – our leading receiver and our leading scorer."

Burt added that Stallings was much more than a talented receiver.

"He also played every down on defense as a safety," said Burt. "Plus, he was a great punt and kickoff returner. He was a threat every time he touched the ball. He’s an all around quality athlete and a quality young guy.”

Brodak made the defensive second team as a defensive lineman for the second straight season.

"John’s a force on defense," said Burt. "He’s very quick and he’s very physical. He had a couple of nagging injuries that caused him to miss 1 1/2 league games, which I think hurt him a little bit in the voting. He did an outstanding job for us defensively and was also one of our other tight ends. His main contribution was as a defensive end, and people really had a tendency to try to run away from him if they could.”