Home SPORTS St. Joseph’s Max Stineman selected as All-Area MVP

St. Joseph’s Max Stineman selected as All-Area MVP

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Jun. 19—Garnering praise from opposing coaches is an impressive feat.

Garnering effusive praise from the coach of your school’s main rival is even more impressive.

That just goes to show home dominant Max Stineman was for St. Joseph during the Knights’ shortened spring season.

Just about every opposing coaching said the same thing after facing Stineman in the trenches: “He’s the All-Area MVP.”

In fact, Righetti coach Tony Payne said exactly that after Stineman’s Knights beat Payne’s Warriors 24-0 to close out a perfect 5-0 spring season for St. Joseph.

“I told him I’m a big fan of his,” Payne said of Stineman back in April. “I think he’s the best player I’ve seen on the Central Coast, almost by far. Max Stineman should be playing at the next level. All the tape I’ve seen looks like a DI highlight tape.”

The Santa Maria Times agrees with that sentiment. Stineman, the 6-foot-4, 300-pound offensive tackle who also filled in on the defensive line, has been selected as the Santa Maria Times’ All-Area MVP.

Stineman had previously spent nearly all of his playing time at the all-important offensive tackle position. Then, St. Joseph coach Pepe Villaseñor inserted Stineman on the defensive line.

And, wouldn’t you know it, Stineman was dominant there as well. In the Righetti game, the behemoth beat double teams consistently. On one play in the fourth quarter, Stineman beat his blockers, chased down Righetti quarterback Joaquin Cuevas and wrapped him up and slammed him to the turf.

A player of his size with a motor that runs as hot as Stineman’s is incredibly rare.

“He is hands down a Division I player,” St. Joseph coach Pepe Villaseñor said when the season ended. “I’ve coached several Division I players — Pac-12, ACC, you name it — and the fact he doesn’t have offers is baffling to me.”

Stineman’s teammates also marveled at his ability to dominate the trenches on both sides of the ball this spring.

“That dude’s a beast,” St. Joseph linebacker Jayce Gamble said of Stineman. “If you’re in front of him, you’re going to hit the floor. You’ve got to find a way to get around him.”

Stineman had locked down the offensive tackle position for the past couple of years at St. Joseph. In the Templeton game this spring, he began asserting his dominance on the defensive line.

“I’m a senior and I just wanted to ball out,” Stineman said of playing both ways. “I asked coach if he’d put my on both sides and he did. It turned out decent.”

Stineman is the second straight St. Joseph player to win the All-Area MVP award after quarterback Hunter Barnhart was named MVP after the 2019 season. Before that, the most recent St. Joseph player to win the honor was running back K.J. Cusack in 2009.

The honor is typically bestowed upon a skill player that puts up eye-popping stats. Righetti’s Caleb Thomas won the award playing mostly offensive and defensive line for the Warriors in 2018. Ainuu Taua played mostly defensive line when he took the honor in 2013. Stineman is the first player to mainly play offensive lineman to be selected as All-Area MVP in years.

Now that the All-Area MVP has been announced, check back to see which players make the All-Area Team, including the All-Area Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Santa Ynez coach Josh McClurg was selected as the All-Area Coach of the Year.

The awards are chosen by the sports staff at the Santa Maria Times, Santa Ynez Valley News and Lompoc Record after consulting with coaches, viewing game tape and examining season statistics.

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