I live in Grand Island which is close to Giltner. Here is an article about this from our local paper.
Ott named Parade All-American - The Grand Island Independent : Local Sports: giltner, drew ott, scott frost, jeff ashby, prep football
By Dale Miller
dale.miller@theindependent.com theindependent.com | 0 comments
John Elway. Dan Marino. Joe Montana.
Scott Frost. Ahman Green. Eric Crouch.
And now Drew Ott.
The 8-man football player from small town central Nebraska has joined the ranks of the prestigious Parade All-Americans.
The 49th annual edition of the Parade All-American Team, which honors the top 53 high school football players in the country, was released in Sunday's edition of Parade magazine, which is included in the Independent.
The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Giltner tight end/linebacker and Iowa recruit was tough to surprise on the football field.
But being named to the 2011 Parade All-American football team was a different story.
"It felt really good," he said. "I was really shocked that they could find me playing 8-man football out here.
"My family was surprised like I was. It's kind of embarrassing, but I'm happy."
While Ott made a name for himself in Nebraska as a force playing 8-man football and was named to about every first team possible in the state after his senior season, this award is a whole different level of accomplishment.
"I think this is probably the highest award you could ask for a high school football player, being named to the Parade All-American team," Giltner football coach Jeff Ashby said. "If you look, he's only the 21st player from Nebraska on it out of 49 years. There's players like Scott Frost, Eric Crouch and Ahman Green. I'm glad he was chosen. He deserves it."
But even Ashby, a coach Ott credits for "doing a good job of talking me up," was surprised when he got the news.
"It caught me off guard, coming out of a Nebraska 8-man school," Ashby said. "He and Scott Frost are the only two (Nebraskans named Parade All-Americans) outside of Lincoln and Omaha."
Ott was one of 18 players selected to the team as a lineman. He plans to move to defensive lineman in college for the Hawkeyes.
The other Parade All-American linemen included three from California and three from Florida.
"This (award) is a lot to live up to," Ott said. "It adds some pressure."
But Ashby said Ott has done everything he's needed to do to become the best football player he can be and earn his accolades.
"Obviously he's put in a great deal of time," he said. "When he's out there (on the field), he's done everything he's needed to do to prepare.
"He's done a great job on offense, gone to camps and gotten recognized for what he does on the field. It doesn't matter what size of school you play at, when you go up against the big boys at camps, you can tell who is a football player."
Ott was a standout on both sides of the ball for the Hornets. As a senior, he had 52 receptions for 960 yards and 18 touchdowns.
On defense, he amassed 122 tackles (46 solo), numbers that would have been much higher except for the fact that he spent most of the second half on the sidelines during the regular season due to Giltner blowing out opponent after opponent.
"The stats he's put up over his four-year career are phenomenal," Ashby said. "As a linebacker, he had 626 career tackles. That's a pretty outstanding stat.
"It's pretty special to coach one player like him, especially at our level. With him and Logan Rath going Division I, I've only had five Division I players in the 20 years I've been coaching."
For Ott, being named a Parade All-American is a nice extra bonus to cap off his high school football career.
"My biggest goal was to get a scholarship," he said. "That was the big thing. I never thought about getting awards. But it's nice."
And it's something that the football program, the school and the community can take pride in, too, Ashby said.
"This is a really big deal for a small school," he said. "Everybody in Giltner is proud of Drew and all he's done, along with his teammates. There's a lot of talent in this program, and the guys keep working hard to keep things going.
"It's been fun having him play for us for four years. It's nice to see a kid get recognized, especially with how hard he works."
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