Aledo wide receiver, Denton Ryan head coach win 2020 Landry Award football honors
Aledo senior wide receiver JoJo Earle and Denton Ryan head coach Dave Henigan were named the 2020 Landry Award player of the year and coach of the year on Thursday.
The Landry Award, in its 11th year, is named after legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry and honors the top high school football player and coach in North Texas who demonstrates positive character and leadership attributes.
This year’s ceremony was held online due to COVID-19 protocols with the winners announced on Thursday. The TV broadcast will run on CBS 11 at 11 p.m. Saturday.
Earle, a 4-star Alabama signee, helped Aledo to its UIL record 10th football state title over Crosby on Jan. 15. On the season, Earle finished with 87 carries for 591 yards and 12 touchdowns, and 61 catches for 1,007 yards and eight touchdowns.
Earle was named to the MaxPreps Texas all-state football first-team offense.
He finished his Aledo career with over 5,000 yards total offense and 66 TDs.
“There was a ton of surprise, but winning an award like this is a huge accomplishment for me knowing who Tom Landry was and the people who won it in the past,” Earle said. “It’s definitely a good way to end my high school career.”
Just a few hours after Aledo won its state title, Henigan and Ryan won theirs during the Class 5A Division 1 championship over Cedar Park for the program’s first ring since 2002.
Ryan went 15-0 this season and was the No. 1 team in 5A D1 from start to finish.
Other players nominated were Southlake Carroll QB Quinn Ewers, Denton Guyer QB Eli Stowers, Cedar Hill QB Kaidon Salter and Lucas Lovejoy QB Ralph Rucker. Other coaches nominated were Bob Wager (Arlington Martin), Bill Elliott (Celina), Lonnie Jordan (Lake Highlands), Kirk Martin (Colleyville Heritage) and Carlos Lynn (Cedar Hill).
Past winners include Johnathan Gray (Aledo), Jett Duffey (Mansfield Lake Ridge), Kennedy Brooks (Mansfield), Kyler Murray (Allen), John Stephen Jones (Highland Park), TJ McDaniel (Southlake Carroll) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Rockwall). Southlake Carroll’s Riley Dodge was last season’s coach of the year.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 1:23 PM.
