By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor 

When you compete in a county where earning a hat trick seems normal and new records are set every year, it’s tough to separate yourself from other great playmakers, and during the 2019 boys soccer season across Shelby County, that was the case.

There were so many great players that not only set records, but left a mark on their respective program that won’t soon be forgotten.

Offensively, Helena’s Zachary Fuller led the county with 25 goals;  Chelsea’s Lando Nichols posted 24 goals and 17 assists setting a school record for career assists with 45; Nichols’ teammates Tony Nettuno and Andrew Messier also had incredible seasons in the midfield with each setting school records; Oak Mountain’s Patrick Guffey and Cody Wells combined for 31 goals and 25 assists to keep the Eagles ranked inside the top two all year; Pelham’s Irvin Rodriguez was key in leading his team to the Final Four with 17 goals and six assists; and Westminster at Oak Mountain’s Price Leonard led the Knights to their second straight Final Four appearance with 15 goals and 10 assists.

The 2019 season also marked the closest Shelby County has come to a defender winning the award in a while after Oak Mountain’s Ryan Webb didn’t just flash his brilliance on the field, but caught the eye of just about every coach across the area with his talent level.

Webb not only scored four goals and had eight points this season, but defensively, he cleared 15 balls from crossing the goalie line during games, which is an incredible mark and a stat line many keepers would be happy with.

But the 2019 Shelby County Player of the Year award will once again be held at Briarwood Christian School by Logan Frost.

While this year’s award was extremely close with so many talented players, Frost not only led the county with 69 points after finishing in a tie for second with 24 goals and leading the way with 21 assists, but he also showed more leadership during his senior year.

The last two years, Briarwood had heartbreakingly lost in the state championship game against Randolph School, but this season, the Lions finally got redemption with a 5-0 win against Springville thanks in large part to the leadership of Frost.

Each of the last two years, the University of South Carolina signee posted 25 and 40 goals, respectively, and this year had the chance to finish as the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Coming into this season being much faster and better than most other players he was matched up against, his main goal could have been to break that record, but instead, it was much more about the team and helping them succeed, which was seen early in the season.

While he scored his 100th career goal on March 8 for a special moment worthy of celebrating, he and the team were also in the midst of setting another record.

That night, the Lions picked up a 1-0 victory over area foe Indian Springs, as his goal made the difference, but it also marked the team’s eighth consecutive shutout defensively.

Knowing that the state record was nine, Frost, a dominant offensive player, along with his teammates, bought in and became determined to focus on that challenge defensively.  After shutouts against Pelham and Thompson, the Lions went on to break that record for most consecutive shutouts in a season, and Frost was arguably as excited for that as he was the special goal he scored two games earlier.

He went on to finish the season with 12 more goals, which put his career mark at 112, which was the third most in school history. Just as impressive was the mark he set as a teammate posting 21 assists during his senior year, which was the most in the county and gave him 80 career assists for fourth all time in school history.

After winning last year’s award, I said it would be interesting to see how two heartbreaking losses in a row would impact him heading into his senior season, and this entire year, he proved he had what it took to not only be the best he could be, but help the team be the best it could be.