MOUNT VERNON — Every once in a while, an offensive player comes along who can single-handily change the outcome of a game. This fall, there were two of those area players and both were instrumental in their team’s success.

For their efforts, Fredericktown senior Thomas Hinkle and Utica junior Jason Hoar were selected as the 2009 News’ co-Offensive Players of the Year. Hinkle led Fredericktown to an undefeated regular season and a Mid-Buckeye Conference title, while Hoar combined to pass and run for over 3,000 yards, which topped all players in Central Ohio.

Both players were also selected to the All-Area First Team at the quarterback position. Joining them on offense are: Running back — Justin Staton, Highland, and Heath Buckingham, Danville; Wide Receivers — T.T. Thompson, Centerburg, Scott Cline, Utica, and Tony Lybarger, Fredericktown; Offensive Linemen — Zak Palmer, Mount Vernon, Jacob Weaver, Highland, Logan Awwiller, Fredericktown, Creston Gray, Utica, and Josh Banbury, Danville. Earning First Team kicking honors was Branden Smith of Fredericktown.

Hinkle was the spark plug in the Fredericktown offense, which averaged over 40 points a game. In 10 regular-season games, Hinkle passed for 1,720 yards (106-of-188), and threw for 23 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 547 yards on 115 attempts and 11 touchdowns.

“The thing about Thomas is, not only is he athletic, but he is also smart,” said Fredericktown coach Luke Beal. “As a quarterback, he has great talent. He has a great arm; he moves well. More importantly, though, he was a great leader for us. Thomas is not only a competitor, but he is also a tough kid. He’s a physical player; he is an old-school throwback quarterback. He’s not the type of guy that is going to run out of bounds. He played linebacker on defense. He brought a lot of toughness to the quarterback position and really was the guy in our spread offense that made things go, whether it was running or throwing. He was the central component. We had a lot of great athletes, but in a spread offense, the quarterback is the real key. Thomas had a great season and did everything we asked him to do.”

As good as Hinkle’s numbers were, Hoar’s were just a little better. Hoar passed for 1,878 yards (113-of-220), 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,208 yards on 189 carries and 18 touchdowns.

“I don’t know if you could have a bigger impact than Jason did,” said Utica coach Randy Felumlee. “Of course, playing quarterback, the ball touched his hand every play, and that was by design because he is a good passer and an excellent runner both. Anytime the ball touches his hands, it could be a running play or a passing play. He led our team in rushing with over 1,200 yards and he led our team in passing with over 1,800 yards. In today’s offenses, if you have a kid that is a run-pass threat, it makes it awfully difficult on the defenses because you can spread teams out. Jason accounted for over 3,000 yards, and that led Central Ohio. He also scored or passed for 34 touchdowns. He was our offense.”

The kind of offensive success Hoar had carried Utica to a 7-3 finish. Combining for over 3,000 yards, however, was simply amazing.

“There are several things that go into it,” said Felumlee. “You’ve got to have the blocking and have several other kids do their part so the defense can’t just completely focus on him. Scott Cline, obviously, stepped as a receiver and several other kids did a nice job. We’ve never had a kid do that much. We hoped he would at the beginning of the season and he came through.”

Beal expected great things from Hinkle as well. Hinkle, however, surprised him at times with his ability to scramble and still make big plays.

“Mentally, quarterback is the toughest position on the field to play,” Beal said. “Thomas made tremendous strides from his junior year to his senior year in terms of understanding what we wanted to get accomplished, understanding the offense — making the right reads and those kind of things — and, the great thing about Thomas is, even if things didn’t go exactly as planned, Thomas’ athleticism and competitive nature made sure things would happen.

“The other great thing about him is there were times this year where he played hurt. He had hurt his throwing hand pretty bad during the middle of the season and played through it; you couldn’t even tell. During the Johnstown game, he played with the flu. That’s not something that many people knew about, but he is a tough kid. He never missed practice, and really worked hard in the offseason. He would come into school in the mornings before school and lift. He has done everything you would expect your senior leader and quarterback to do.”

Hoar also played injured this season, overcoming any adversity related to it and thriving. That’s what astonished Felumlee the most.

“Jason played with a cast on his left thumb the whole season because of a torn ligament,” Felumlee said. “I was always amazed how he caught shotgun snaps almost flawlessly and also took the exchange under center almost flawlessly. At the start of the year when he came in with a cast on, I had my doubts that he would be able to play, but it was amazing how he did that. I think it hurt him in positioning the football in his hands quickly, but we are looking forward to next year when he’ll have two good hands and we can throw quick passes. That was something we couldn’t do this year. All-in-all, what he did with that cast on was amazing.”

Both Hinkle and Hoar proved their worth in many different ways, but one thing is for certain — the 2009 efforts and leadership won’t be quickly forgotten.

“He was a lot more confident throwing the football this year,” said Beal of Hinkle. “His consistency and accuracy throwing the football was much improved from last year. He has always been a great runner; he has always been a physical kid, but I think this year, he was more of the complete package. As a junior, he would try to rely on his athleticism and not always make the right reads. This year, he was much more of the total package as a quarterback. He understood what we were asking of him a lot more. Also, he was a better leader this year. Not that he wasn’t a good least last year, but he really stepped up into that role as a senior, as a captain. He really developed into what you would expect out of a senior quarterback.”

“He was a team captain, and he has been the head of our offense since he was a freshman,” said Felumlee of Hoar. “There are no issues with that from anyone on our team. Everybody looks to him at that position and he relishes it. You can see it in his eyes when he has the ball. He thinks he can throw it for a touchdown or run it for a touchdown almost every play, sometimes to a fault almost. We need him, in the future, to not expect so much out of himself and not force it, but I’m never going to question what he has accomplished. What he did for our team was extraordinary.”