Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Caden Wilkinson in action for the Huskies this past season.
By Ray Hamill — The Fortuna Huskies have announced their end-of-season football award winners, including eight categories voted on by the players.
Senior linebacker/fullback Caden Wilkinson took home four awards in addition to being named all-league.
The two-way standout played a key role for the team in what was a memorable season that saw the Huskies rally to claim a share of the Big 4 championship on their way to an 8-4 record.
After dropping their conference opening game at St. Bernard’s, the Huskies won back-to-back Big 4 showdowns against Eureka and Del Norte, the latter of which ended the Warriors’ five-year unbeaten conference run.
Wilkinson won the Mr Tackler award, which goes to the team’s best defensive tackler and was voted on by his teammates.
Wilkinson also won the Most Inspirational award and was one of two players — along with senior Chad Mussey — to be awarded the Captains Award, as the players their teammates looked to for leadership.
For good measure Wilkinson also took home the Scholastic Award with a 4.25 GPA.
Jake Houseworth, meanwhile, took home a couple of awards, with his teammates voting him the Most Valuable Teammate and Mr. Back, the latter of which he earned as the team’s best skilled back.
The Most Improved Player award went to Kallen Barrote, who enjoyed a breakout season at receiver, cornerback and kicker, while standout lineman Ivan Moore took home the Mr. Blocker award as the team’s most dominating lineman.
Rounding out the awards voted on by the team, Chance Crosswhite won the Scout Team award as the player who worked hard to help improve his teammates every day.
The final team award, which was voted on by the coaches, was the Spike Sarvinski Award and went to lineman Emmitt Lumpkin as the player who played under the radar working in the trenches and was considered the ultimate team player.
The team awards ceremony also recognized the Fortuna all-league selections, including Houseworth, who was named the 2023 Big 4 co-defensive MVP, along with Del Norte’s Kai Russell.
Wilksinon, Lumpkin, Moore, Barrote and Kadian Thurman were all named to the all-league team, while Mussey, Crosswhite, Tegan Rumley, Chandler Crenshaw and Tim Still all received an honorable mention.
After claiming a share of the conference championship, the Huskies shut out Middletown 36-0 in the opening round of the North Coast Section playoffs before falling to the St. Vincent de Paul Mustangs, who would go on to win a state championship.
