Freeman’s Sanders wins Flaherty

In the fall of 2001, Dan Sanders walked onto the football field at Freeman High School as a 5-foot-11, 160-pound freshman offensive and defensive line candidate.

Monday night, Sanders walked out of the Davenport Hotel as the 2004 recipient of the Ray Flaherty Scholar/Athlete Award presented by the Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

Sanders was selected from a field of 11 high school seniors in the Inland Northwest, who were finalists for the award that goes to the athlete judged to best represent athletics, academics and citizenship.

In the intervening four football seasons at Freeman, Sanders, an honor-roll student, added four inches and 60 pounds and became one of the best two-way linemen in the Northeast A League. In 2004, his senior season, he helped lead the Scotties to a 12-1 record, running off a dozen straight wins before losing to Royal 29-7 in the State 1A championship game.

Sanders, a tackle on offense and end/linebacker on defense, was selected a first-team All-NEA offensive lineman for a second straight year and added a first-team all-defensive lineman honor.

Also honored at the 11th annual banquet were Sean Lissy of Sandpoint, who received the Jim Barber Lineman of the Year Award; and K.C. Billetz of Post Falls, who received the Tuffy Ellingsen Back of the Year Award.

Lissy and Billetz, both 4.0 students, led their schools to a tie for the Inland Empire League championship and into the state playoffs, where both lost in the first round.

Lissy – 6-2, 240, was a first-team selection on both offense and defense on The Spokesman-Review’s All-North Idaho team – was the IEL’s Offensive Lineman of the Year and was a second-team all-state selection on defense.

Billetz, 6-0, 185, was a two-way starter at quarterback and defensive back. He was a first-team selection on the S-R’s All-North Idaho team on defense, was Defensive Back of the Year in the IEL and was second-team all-state at defensive back.

Other finalists were: Nathan Anderson, Timberlake; Matt Gallagher, North Central; Curtis Heyamoto, Ferris; Gabe Kiefel, Waitsburg; Jacob Kragt, Ritzville; Andrew Largent, Shadle Park; Jordan Marshall, Mt. Spokane; and Buddy Wood, Riverside.

Robb Akey, defensive coordinator at Washington State University, was the featured speaker.