High school football: Keystone's Gideon Lampron, a dominant force all over the field, named Golden Helmet winner

LAGRANGE — Great player, better person. That's what just about everyone seems to say about Keystone's Gideon Lampron, who was named this year's Lorain County Golden Helmet winner as the top senior football player. He's the second winner in the past three years from Keystone and is just the fourth overall from the school since the award's inception in 1965, joining Jacob Shackelford (2019), C.J. Conrad (2014) and Bob Hyatt (1972). The award is given annually by the Elyria Coca Cola Company. Bryan Koury, Lorain athletic director and chairman of the Golden Helmet Committee, handed out the award at Keystone's annual awards banquet Monday night. "Not only was he highly thought of as a player, he's highly thought of as a person," Koury said. "Sometimes the choice becomes very tough for us on the committee but not so much this year." Lampron certainly made his impact felt on both sides of the ball for the Wildcats over the past three seasons. Not only was he the team's leading rusher this season, he was their leading tackler as well. The numbers are impressive: 1,228 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns 22 receptions for 311 yards and one touchdown 132 tackles including 24 tackles for loss 3 sacks and an interception "I remember back in my sophomore year when Jacob Shackelford won it," Lampron said. "I was talking to his dad and he told me I was up next. "It's awesome, I'm really proud. It was something I had in the back of my mind. Senior year, I didn't expect any super crazy stats or anything. I just wanted to win games." And win games is what the Wildcats did. Keystone was 25-5 over the past three years — its best three-year period in school history. Lampron played a key role in that success. "Woody Hayes said you win with people," Keystone coach Don Griswold said. "We've got really good people. We have really good families. We have really good student-athletes. Everything Bryan Koury said about Gideon is absolutely true." "We created a whole new culture, headed by Griswold," Lampron said. "A lot of us put it upon ourselves to put in the extra work." The Wildcats qualified for the playoffs in each of the past three years after having only one appearance prior to that in 2014. They've won three straight Lorain County League championships. But to really measure Lampron's versatility, consider his accomplishments. His junior year he was at his best offensively with 1,608 yards on the ground and his sophomore year was his best on defense with 135 tackles and nine sacks. He put them both together as a senior. Lampron finished his career with 2,948 yards with 41 touchdowns (39 rushing, two receiving). On defense, he had 388 tackles, 61 for losses, 18 sacks and three interceptions. "The only time I wasn't on the field was for special teams," he said. His parents, Marty and Jen, couldn't have been more proud. "They're like a family," Marty said of the football team. "Ever since they were little, to watch them grow up together. It's pretty cool." "My parents have always been huge into sports," Gideon said. "They wanted my middle name to be ESPN — all capitals. "The biggest thing is to set an example for the middle school, going to their games, supporting them. I just hope they see that if you work really hard, you can achieve a lot." Lampron wants to play football in college although he hasn't made up his mind where. He plans to visit Dayton this weekend and has had feelers from Akron. "He likes Wyoming for some reason," Jen said. "We want somewhere close. We'll see. We don't know where he'll end up." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Lorain County Golden Helmet Year &emsp;&emsp;Player, School, Position 1965&emsp;&emsp;Randy Stevenson, Elyria, LB&emsp;&emsp;1966&emsp;&emsp;Ralph Holloway, Oberlin, FB/DL1967&emsp;&emsp;Dick Wakefield, Avon Lake, WR1968&emsp;&emsp;Jim Svoboda, Lorain, WR/LB1969&emsp;&emsp;John Husband, Elyria, FB1970&emsp;&emsp;Kurt Schumacher, Lorain, FB/DT1971&emsp;&emsp;Ike Maxwell, Elyria, TB1972&emsp;&emsp;Bob Hyatt, Keystone, HB &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; Gus Mecera, Clearview, OT/DT1973&emsp;&emsp;Bruce Yeager, Elyria Catholic, FB/DL1974&emsp;&emsp;Tim Burns, Wellington, TB&emsp;&emsp; Steve Holovacs, Firelands, TB1975&emsp;&emsp;Virgil Williams, Lorain, HB1976&emsp;&emsp;Greg Jones, Elyria West, TB1977&emsp;&emsp;Bryan Thomas, Elyria Catholic, TB1978&emsp;&emsp;Craig Best, North Ridgeville, TB1979&emsp;&emsp;Jon Burger, Elyria, LB/PK1980&emsp;&emsp;Jeff Mey, Vermilion, TB1981&emsp;&emsp;Vince Villanucci, Lorain, OL1982&emsp;&emsp;John Berner, Avon Lake, TB1983&emsp;&emsp;Bob Calamari, Admiral King, QB&emsp;&emsp; Brian Schneider, Elyria Catholic, FB1984&emsp;&emsp;Al McKinney, Elyria Catholic, TB1985&emsp;&emsp;Jeff Seasor, North Ridgeville, LB1986&emsp;&emsp;David Lyons, Clearview, FB1987&emsp;&emsp;Tyrone Nelson, Elyria West, TB&emsp;&emsp; Dennis Washington, Lorain, TB1988&emsp;&emsp;Steve Tovar, Elyria West, LB1989&emsp;&emsp;Tony Godbolt, Elyria, TB1990&emsp;&emsp;Erik Engel, North Ridgeville, TB1991&emsp;&emsp;Ron Leshinski, Vermilion, TE1992&emsp;&emsp;Ty Grude, Firelands, QB&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; LaRon Trice, Elyria West, TB/DT1993&emsp;&emsp;Tim Schumacher, Avon Lake, OT/DT1994&emsp;&emsp;Jerel Klue, North Ridgeville, LB1995&emsp;&emsp;Ricky Schneider, Amherst, QB1996&emsp;&emsp;Zach Mitchell, Avon, FB/LB1997&emsp;&emsp;Ryan Myers, Wellington, FB/LB&emsp; &emsp;Erik Rogers, Vermilion, TB1998&emsp;&emsp;Matt Wilhelm, Elyria Catholic, TB/LB1999&emsp;&emsp;Dan Rozanski, Midview, TB/LB2000&emsp;&emsp;Jeff Strauch, Avon Lake, TB2001&emsp;&emsp;Brian Cesear, Amherst, FB/LB2002&emsp;&emsp;Dustin Intihar, Columbia, TB2003&emsp;&emsp;John Schroeder, Avon Lake, TB2004&emsp;&emsp;Trey Stross, Avon Lake, E/DB2005&emsp;&emsp;P.J. Mahone, Elyria, TB/DB2006&emsp;&emsp;John McGraw, North Ridgeville, TB2007&emsp;&emsp;Mike Haddad, Avon Lake, TB2008&emsp;&emsp;Ryan O'Rourke, Avon, QB2009&emsp;&emsp;Anthony Hitchens, Clearview, TB2010&emsp;&emsp;Danny Reaser, Elyria Catholic, QB2011&emsp;&emsp;Matt Eckhardt, Avon, WR2012&emsp;&emsp;Tracy Sprinkle, Elyria, DE2013&emsp;&emsp;Jay Banyasz, Columbia, QB2014&emsp;&emsp;C.J. Conrad, Keystone, TE2015&emsp;&emsp;Logan Bolin, Midview, WR2016&emsp;&emsp;Dustin Crum, Midview, QB2017&emsp;&emsp;Justin Sturgill, Lorain, QB2018&emsp;&emsp;Brandon Coleman, Columbia, TB2019&emsp;&emsp;Jacob Shackelford, Keystone, QB 2020&emsp;&emsp;Niko Pappas, Avon, QB2021&emsp;&emsp;Gideon Lampron, Keystone, TB/LB