Merced’s Gilliam named CCC’s top offensive player

A leg injury sidelined Ulonzo Gilliam for most of his junior season. The Merced High star was healthy this season and wanted to make sure he went all out for his senior year.

The Central California Conference coaches noticed, selecting Gilliam as the conference’s Best Offensive Player.

“It’s always good to get an award like that,” Gilliam said. “Especially with a lot of playmakers on offense throughout the league. To get picked as the top one is really special.”

Gilliam finished with 693 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 85 carries in six CCC games.

“I think for him, he’s come full circle after he didn’t play last year,” Merced coach Rob Scheidt said. “We were fortunate last year to have somebody like Paul Scroggins step in. For Lonzi to be recognized in the situation we were in with two league losses, hopefully it’s very rewarding for him. I know it’s rewarding for me.”

After leading Turlock to an undefeated run to a CCC championship, Bulldogs senior quarterback Danny Velasquez was named the conference MVP. Teammate Mustafa Noel-Johnson was tabbed as the Best Defensive Player, and Bulldogs coach James Peterson was selected as the Coach of the Year.

Pitman’s Chris Martinez was selected as the Lineman of the Year.

Joining Martinez on the all-CCC first-team offensive line were Turlock’s Nicolas Berry and Moises Garcia, Merced’s David Perales, Pitman’s Brenden Tallent and Buhach Colony’s Daniel Bernabe.

Both Perales and Gilliam were named to the first team on both sides of the ball. Perales was named to the first team at defensive line and Gilliam at defensive back.

“I think David has been a dominant player on both sides of the ball, and I was happy to see the other coaches recognize that,” Scheidt said. “I think if we were league champs he had a good chance to be Lineman of the Year.”

The first-team quarterbacks were Velasquez and Golden Valley’s Armando Muzquiz. The running backs were Gilliam, Pitman’s Devan Bass and Golden Valley’s Isaiah Montanez.

Rounding out the first-team offense were receivers Cadrian McDaniel (Golden Valley), Dustin Grein (Turlock) and Noel-Johnson at tight end.

The first-team defense was composed of defensive linemen Juan Lopez (Turlock), Perales, Julian Barrera (Pitman) and Garcia. The defensive end/outside linebacker selections were Noel-Johnson and John Becerra (Merced).

Firt-team inside linebackers were Turlock’s Dominic Silva and Pitman’s Daniel Padilla, and the defensive backs chosen were Gilliam, Bass, Grein and Merced’s Rayveon Slaton.

Turlock’s Dallin Tilby was selected as the first-team kicker and punter.

The second-team offensive choices were linemen Paul Leonardo (El Capitan), Leonard Roa (Turlock), Rual Villa (Golden Valley), JT Mercer (Pitman) and Clifford Johnson. Running backs Mark Flores (Turlock), Alex Andrade (Buhach Colony) and quarterback Jacob Perez (Pitman) also joined them on the second team.

El Capitan’s Elijah Reid and Merced’s Tanner Pellissier were named second-team receivers, and Pitman’s Lance Bickle was picked at tight end.

The second-team defense included: Bernabe, El Capitan’s Terrance Evans, and Atwater’s Samuel Jenkins at defensive line, Turlock’s Garrett Thompson and Pitman’s Brandon Pacheco at defensive end/outside linebacker and Merced’s Dustin James and Buhach Colony’s Tanner Banks at inside linebacker.

Rounding out the second team were defensive backs Brendan Patterson (Pitman), Antonio Suarez (Turlock), Lavon Wallace (Buhach Colony) and Paul Scoggins (Merced).

This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Merced’s Gilliam named CCC’s top offensive player."