“Out of the sun road a stud with a gun and Lockett was his name!”—Photo by Duane Barker
The distinction we make here at MVS between Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player is this: to be a POY its all about the stats and nothing to do with wins, losses, or titles. For an MVP it is based on how crucial an individual player was to the success of a team.
It’s been a while since we’ve done this…but Pomona’s Darreon Lockett brought us to a consensus that the Mid-Valley Division player of the year and MVP were one in the same.
You want numbers? Lockett (a junior) completed 136 of his 244 passing attempts for 3,204 yards while playing in 12 games. Now take out your calculator, punch the numbers, and you’ll see the Red Devils averaged 23 yards for every one of Lockett’s completions.
He threw 45 touchdown passes, rushed for 810 yards, and 11 more touchdowns. Lockett also caught two passes for 20 yards and a touchdown.
Was he valuable? After sitting out the Santa Monica game (Pomona lost) with an arm injury Lockett returned to the field on October 10th to lead his team to a nine game winning streak, a 10-4 record, and the school’s first title since 1951.
When the coaching situation was in shambles, when the administration had its struggles, the constant was Lockett. How could we name anyone else?
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