Menu
St. Vincent’s Robinson named top gridiron defender at 2024 Semoball Awards
Leading an elite St. Vincent defense to the state semifinals last fall, Drake Robinson was tabbed the top defensive player in all of Southeast Missouri at the 2024 Semoball Awards.
A hotly contested race with many worthy nominees, Robinson was in a neck-and-neck battle with Logan Hite of Poplar Bluff as two of the area's top linebackers over the course of the 2023 season.
So, when the My Daddy's Cheesecake Football Defensive Athlete of the Year Award came down to the final 10 players, Robinson's mix of outstanding individual success as well as St. Vincent's run made him a shoo-in for the pick.
After a deep run in the playoffs, finishing as the area’s leading tackler, Robinson came away with the top honors as St. Vincent took home its first Semoball Award since 2018.
Just the third St. Vincent Indian to ever take home an award at the event, Robinson reflected on how special his time was with the program as his time there comes to a close.
“It means a lot, and I couldn't have asked for a better program to go through,” Robinson said. “It's been truly an awesome experience.”
Robinson enters an elite club at St. Vincent, joining Levi Krauss in 2016 and Trevor Lukefahr in 2018 as the only Indians to ever take home Semoball Awards honors.
His immaculate defensive season, finishing with more than 130 tackles on the year, helped St. Vincent make one of its deepest playoff runs in program history.
The 2023 Indians’ run to the state semifinals is the longest run for the program since the legendary 2004 championship season, still the only title in the century-plus history of the program.
Losing heavily to eventual champion Marionville on the road in the state semis, it was a sour end to a season that put St. V’s football back on the map, but there’s plenty to celebrate.
“It started off a little rough, so as a captain, it was definitely nervewracking,” Robinson said.
“It was something I'd always dreamed of, going past district play. It was awesome, and to do it with my buddies, it was a cool experience.”
Robinson stressed the importance of the program around him, never taking credit for the successes up and down the program even as such a major cog in one of Class 1’s top defenses.
Moving on from the program, he expressed his thankfulness for the cast around him after being named the top defensive player in the area on July 12.
“I'm super blessed to receive this,” Robinson said. “It couldn't have been done without my coaches and teammates and everybody's hard work.
“It's not just me. It's all of the team.”