Is LS West's Boehm next Simone winner?

Dion Clisso/PrepsKC

By Dion Clisso PrepsKC Managing Editor
Posted: December 20, 2010 - 6:02 PM



Post season Metro-wide awards usually have a way of finding their way into the hands of seniors. There isn’t a set of criteria that makes that so, it just seems to happen that way.

So when a junior becomes a finalist for an award like the Buck Buchanan it garners attention. When that same junior wins the award, it begins talk of what comes next.

Lee’s Summit West’s Evan Boehm won this year’s Buck Buchanan award given annually to the top big school lineman or linebacker. Boehm played left tackle for West and helped lead that team to a Missouri Class 5 state title.

Boehm said he felt honored to just be a finalist for the award.

“Coming in here I wasn’t going to be down about it if I didn’t win,” Boehm said. “I am a junior going against three other seniors who were great football players. They deserved it as much as I did. I am very lucky to be a part of this.”

Boehm was the leader of a talented line that cleared the path for the Titans dominant rushing attack. West racked up more than 3,000 yards on the way to a 14-1 record and the state title. The group was hailed as one of the top lines in the Metro all season long and Boehm said the work to be the best group started in the offseason.

“We all knew we were going to be the starters before the season started,” Boehm said. “Coach Barrows pulled us in one day after school. Ever since then we’ve just been hanging out.

“They are just like my brothers. I hang out with them as much as I do my own brother. We played basketball during the summer and spend the night at somebody’s house every day of the summer. We knew each other’s weaknesses and that is what helped us out a lot.”

Boehm’s win in the Buchanan as a junior makes him the favorite to repeat in that award again next year. Boehm was also a top 10 semifinalist for the Simone Award given to the top all-around big school player in the Metro with nothing but other seniors in that top 10, Boehm instantly becomes one of the favorites for next season.

Being the first lineman ever to win the Simone is something Boehm can start thinking about.

“There’s an opportunity, but I’ll just play my game better and better each time my senior year,” Boehm said. “Maybe it will happen, that will be awesome.”