Lions take 3 top All-District football awards

Coming off their best season finish since 2016 on the gridiron, the Durant Lions captured three top awards while 10 seniors were selected to the District 5A-3 All-District squad.

Jaylon Saxon was recognized as the league Safety of the Year while Carson Allivand was tabbed Lineman of the Year and Braylen Lyday earned the Kicker of the Year honor.

Saxon posted 27 tackles on the season but was a ball hawk with one of the top interception totals at six for the season. He also recovered two fumbles and broke up a pair of passes.

Moving to center in the offseason, Allivand made the most of it, developing himself to one of the best in the district while helping pave the way for 1,805 yards on the ground and 1,197 through the air by the Durant offense.

Lyday, meanwhile, had limited kicking attempts as well as practice time while starting on both sides of the ball, but displayed one of the strongest legs in the league. He booted a field goal in the closing seconds to seal a win over Broken Bow and also powered through a 48-yard field goal against Del City in the season finale.

Other first-team choices from Durant included wide receiver Kaydon Mimms, offensive lineman Tucker Dry and defensive lineman Xadavien Sims.

Mimms was a virtual big play waiting to happen in the Lion passing game, making plenty of pivotal catches throughout the season. He was far and away the team leading receiver with 40 catches for 632 yards, averaging nearly 16 yards per grab to go along with eight touchdowns.

After being plagued by injuries most of his high school career, Dry made through the 2023 season as a fixture on the Durant line, helping open holes as well as providing time for Jaylon Saxon to throw the football.

The highly regarded Sims is expected to sign with the University of Oregon later this month and remained a focus of opposing offenses as a regular disruptor in the backfield. He tallied 31 tackles, including five quarterback sacks, nine tackles for losses, forced one fumble and recovered one.

Lion second-team choices included a pair of defensive linemen in Dayton Madrid and Clay Couch along with offensive lineman Josh Hitchcock and linebacker Bo St. Clair.

Madrid notched 35 tackles, including one sack and three tackles for loss while Couch had similar numbers with 38 stops, one sack and three tackles for loss. Despite being undersized, St. Clair made the most of his abilities with 36 tackles, one sack, four tackles for loss and an interception.

“All of those guys were very deserving and vital players for us,” said head coach Todd Vargas. “We were proud to be able to get that many guys on there in a really difficult district. It was more special for me because this was the first bunch that were freshmen when I came in as coach. I love them to death.

“Jaylon was a two-way starter for us and is so deserving. Carson is just a top-notch center and one of the best I have coached in a long time. He had zero bad snaps all year in his first year doing it. Lyday has always been able to kick. He was a two-way starter as well and didn’t have much practice time in that area all season. He’ll definitely be remembered for a game winner against Broken Bow and the long kick against Del City. Mimms had all kinds of circus, highlight film catches. Sims was obviously dominant on the defensive line for us and it was fun to watch the progress of Dry in the only year of his career that he has fully been able to play due to injury.”